ESPN has “invested heavily” in Smith in recent years, even as the network “thinned its ranks"Nathanial S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith’s “uncanny ability to dominate the conversation” has “helped him become a ratings juggernaut for a network that needs one,” according to Isabella Simonetti of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. To his critics, Smith is a “loudmouth provocateur” but to others, he is a “genius who understands what it takes to grab viewers’ attention in a noisy media environment.” In an era when “hot takes win,” Smith “takes pride in having the hottest.” A source said that Smith, whose contract expires next year, has been offered $18M a year “to stay with ESPN” -- which was previously reported by Puck’s John Ourand. Another source said that it would mark a “50% pay bump from his current deal” of about $12M a year, which “might make him ESPN’s highest-paid employee.” ESPN has “invested heavily” in Smith in recent years, even as the network “thinned its ranks.” It “ousted” Max Kellerman, the “First Take” co-host, after Smith “felt like they were done as a pairing." ESPN is also “willing to assume the risk that Smith will land himself in hot water for the payoff he has provided.” Smith’s “star is bound to grow brighter” now that Basketball HOFer Charles Barkley is “planning to retire as an analyst next year.” Simonetti wrote sports-media insiders have “mixed feelings about Smith’s reporting style” as he “doesn’t break sports news -- he makes it, forcing the multibillion-dollar industry of professional athletics to address his musings.” But Smith “plays in a different lane than traditional sports journalists,” and ESPN’s highest-profile reporters say that Smith is the “best at what he does” (
WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/24).
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FRANCHISE PLAYER: ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus appeared on the “Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch” and said Smith is a “bona fide superstar.” Magnus said, “In today’s media environment, he just is, because everything he does, people have a high interest in. Nobody works harder than him. He is everywhere all the time.” Magnus: “‘First Take,’ which is his primary assignment, is a juggernaut. I think we’re going to get 24 straight months of month-over-month, year-over-year audience growth. That just doesn’t happen in today’s world. It happens because he’s built this show.” Magnus was asked to analyze his “confidence level in terms of Smith returning to ESPN.” He said, “I know he’s great for us. I know we’re great for him.” He added, “From a relevance, reach and Q score if you will, there is a rocket fuel that ESPN naturally kind of provides to big personalities by being on our platform.” Magnus: “There’s a value to that for people. I’m optimistic because I think it’s a mutually beneficial situation, and I think both sides realize that, and this is just the dance we have to dance” (THE ATHLETIC, 6/26).
