Charles Barkley Addition Reinforces ESPN’s Focus: Star Power

During ESPN’s media day in August, chairman Jimmy Pitaro talked about building a Murderers’ Row of talent to attract viewers. 

It’s natural for Pitaro—a diehard Yankees fan—to cite the nickname for the 1927 Bronx Bombers team that included Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. But the phrase applies equally to Pitaro’s recent string of marquee talent hires.

Over the last two and a half years, Pitaro and president of content Burke Magnus have scooped up the rights to Charles Barkley’s Inside the NBA while signing Shams Charania, Nick Saban, Bill Belichick, Pat McAfee, Shannon Sharpe, Jason Kelce, Joe Buck, and Troy Aikman. 

Oh, did we mention they also inked Peyton and Eli Manning, Scott Van Pelt, Doris Burke, Monica McNutt, Mina Kimes, Kendrick Perkins, Chiney Ogwumike, and Tim Legler to contract extensions?

Pitaro helped break the legal logjam between Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA by going directly to TNT Sports CEO Luis Silberwasser, according to one source briefed on the talks. It worked. Pitaro was essentially able to swap 13 Big 12 Conference college football games and 15 men’s college basketball games (mostly destined for ESPN+) for the gold standard of sports studio shows and a singular talent in Barkley that ESPN has wanted for 20 years. 

The deal allowed Silberwasser and WBD CEO David Zaslav to save face, too. They could have come away with zilch from their NBA lawsuit. Both sides would have had to reveal confidential details during the discovery process. Instead, the duo can argue they saved Inside the NBA, added domestic rights to college games, and scored an international package of 100+ games from The Association.

“The best way to judge a trade is to ask, ‘Who ends up with the best player?’” noted one source. “Well, ESPN got Sir Charles. What a steal.”

Sure, ESPN also lost a lot of talent from 2022 to 2024, some through departures and some via layoffs. First, Doc Rivers, then JJ Redick, bolted for coaching jobs in the NBA. ESPN dropped Sam Ponder, Robert Griffin III, and Zach Lowe this year in cost-cutting moves. On the talent front, 2023 was annus horribilis for ESPN as it laid off major names like Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, Suzy Kolber, Steve Young, and Keyshawn Johnson due to Disney-mandated budget cuts. And Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson remain TNT Sports employees.

Put it all together, however, and Pitaro and Magnus’s wheeling and dealing has built ESPN’s strongest talent lineup in years. 

By raiding rival Fox Sports for Aikman and Buck in 2022, ESPN went from having the worst NFL broadcast booth to the best in my book. As the longest-running broadcast duo on NFL TV, Aikman and Buck have called six Super Bowls together. They’re now poised to call ESPN’s first Super Bowls after the 2026 and 2030 seasons.

This April, ESPN signed Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions to a nine-year extension that will take the popular ManningCast through 2034. During our Tuned In media summit this September, Magnus said he’s already booked the Super Bowl–winning brothers for ESPN’s first Big Game on Feb. 14, 2027, in Los Angeles. “If we didn’t, I think I’d have a problem with those two fellows,” Magnus said. “But yeah, that’s gonna be definitely a part of it.” (During the same interview, Magnus told me he’d love to hire Barkley. Maybe he knew more than he let on?)

Meanwhile, the addition of McAfee in 2022, and Saban this year, has revitalized the iconic College GameDay at a time when Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff was poised to make inroads. In October, Magnus tweeted College GameDay was “on pace” for its best season, averaging 2.2 million viewers. McAfee’s student field goal competition has become one of the most enjoyable bits on TV. Pitaro says ESPN’s internal research indicates McAfee attracts the young viewers that sports TV networks are desperate to land.

The taciturn Belichick has been a revelation as a guest on McAfee’s eponymous weekday show and the ManningCast. Who knew when The Hoodie finally started talking, we’d never be able to shut him up?

There is a clear intentionality to this approach: ESPN is leaning in to a “big” personality strategy, according to Magnus. That means a few top people make the most money—but they also handle multiple big assignments. Mike Greenberg, host of the weekday Get Up morning show, has picked up hosting duties for the NFL Draft and Sunday NFL Countdown. While keeping his popular midnight SportsCenter, Van Pelt has added Monday Night Countdown hosting duties to his plate.

The Next Challenge

Pitaro and Magnus’s biggest talent challenge is still to come. Stephen A. Smith, the network’s biggest star, can become a free agent as of July 2025. At our Tuned In summit, Smith told me ESPN made him an offer that he turned down. He countered. The two sides are still negotiating.

Smith believes he should be the highest-paid talent at ESPN. (The network’s three highest-paid are Aikman at $18 million a year, McAfee at $17 million, and Buck at $15 million.) 

The 57-year-old Smith currently earns $12 million a year. But if he gets what he wants, he could leapfrog all three with a deal worth $20 million a year. If he signs the standard five-year contract, that would make him ESPN’s first $100 million man.

Both Pitaro and Magnus have told me they want to re-up Smith, who they consider a “bona fide superstar.” But the addition of the iconic Inside the NBA cast gives them new leverage in the Smith talks. 

Smith has leverage, too, however. I could see NBC Sports or Amazon Prime Video backing up the Brink’s truck to make him the face of their NBA coverage in 2025.

With his own podcast/YouTube show, and opportunities in late-night TV, news and entertainment, Smith is prepared to walk.

“They have their vision—and I have mine,” Smith told me at our event. “If it’s aligned, we’ll work it out. If it’s not, then decisions have to be made. I’m a big boy and I accept the fact that sometimes you don’t get what you want. You certainly sometimes don’t get it from whom you want to get it from. If it comes to a decision where I have to move on, I’ve prepared myself mentally and emotionally to be able to do that. I don’t want it to come to that. Because I am very happy at ESPN doing what I do. I love doing First Take every weekday at 10 a.m. I love the other opportunities that can potentially present itself at the world wide leader. But I’m a human being. And everybody wants to be wanted.”