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Clay Travis is poised to become a free agent across all three mediums of TV, radio, and digital media, Front Office Sports has learned.
Travis’s multimillion-dollar deals with Fox, iHeartMedia’s Premiere Networks, and OutKick are all set to expire at the end of this year, sources tell FOS. Semafor first reported Travis’s Fox deal is up at the end of the year and that he could break off on his own.
The controversial OutKick founder has been talking to a variety of media companies, and prospective investors, to get the lay of the land for his next play. Travis could announce one of his next moves in time for Super LX on Feb. 8, sources say.
As one of the most influential voices in the MAGA movement, Travis has a direct pipeline to President Donald Trump and Republican leadership (this year he interviewed Trump aboard Air Force One).
The longtime ESPN critic has become one of the most ubiquitous personalities in media via his three-punch combo of digital media/TV/terrestrial radio. He has led OutKick since 2011. He has been a regular on Fox Sports’s Big Noon Kickoff and previously hosted OutKick The Coverage on Fox Sports Radio. He appears frequently on sister network Fox News as a guest commentator with Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters, and former ESPNer Will Cain. And on national radio, he cohosts The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show.
Travis and Sexton’s program has become one of the country’s most widely distributed shows. Earlier this year, Premiere announced the weekday program had garnered its 550th national affiliate. That’s a 27% increase compared to the show’s 2021 launch in The Rush Limbaugh Show’s former time slot from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET.
The 46-year-old Travis recently made waves with his exclusive interview with ESPN’s Paul Finebaum on OutKick The Show. During the interview, Finebaum told Travis he was deeply moved by the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk—and might leave ESPN for a political run for the U.S. Senate as a Republican in Alabama. Finebaum also told Travis that his bosses at ESPN vetoed an interview with Trump. “I was devastated,” admitted Finebaum.
Following the interview with Travis, the “Mouth of the South” was pulled from his regular college appearances on some ESPN TV studio shows, but he continued to host his eponymous radio show, which is simulcast on the SEC Network. Finebaum has since returned to ESPN studio shows, appearing on Mike Greenberg’s Get Up Monday morning.
So where will Travis go? He’s in no hurry financially; the final payment from his $100 million sale of OutKick in 2021 is expected this year, sources say. But with Trump in office, his voice has never been louder and now is his time to capitalize. It’s possible Travis will return to his entrepreneurial roots by launching his own media outfit. That would explain the talks with potential backers and partners. Or, once again, build a variety of media gigs that would allow him to be his own boss.
Today’s modern media stars, such as Stephen A. Smith, Dave Portnoy, Pat McAfee, and Dan Le Batard, want to own their companies and control their IP. Their new game plan is to build and operate their own production companies, then license their content to networks for big money. That’s why Smith negotiated the freedom to launch his own production company and personally owned-and-operated YouTube show in his $100 million contract extension with ESPN.
Travis recently debated Smith onstage at FOS’s live Tuned In summit in New York City. If Smith makes good on his threat to run for the White House, Travis told moderator Baker Machado he would run for president, too, and “kick his ass.” Smith countered: “No, he wouldn’t. He’d get his ass kicked.”
Travis and OutKick could not be reached for comment.
