Stephen A. Smith has “agreed to a new contract with ESPN” worth at least $100M for five years, according to sources. Sources said that the agreement will result in Smith “continuing to star on ‘First Take’ on ESPN while scaling back some of his other required appearances on the network, which would free him up to talk even more about politics.” The sources added that Smith will be “less omnipresent on the rest of the network.” He will “not be a regular on ESPN’s premiere NBA pregame show anymore, though he could still make occasional appearances on top basketball studio programs, as well as the ‘Monday Night Football’ pregame or during other big time events.” The freedom “figures to allow Smith to make even more appearances on other platforms to talk politics,” and it also “gives him the chance to earn more money outside of ESPN.” Smith has “regularly made appearances on other shows,” including interviews with Sean Hannity on Fox News, and on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” talks “broadly beyond sports about issues that are in the news” (THE ATHLETIC, 3/6).
Report: Stephen A. Smith gets $100M ESPN contract
