Former All-Pro receiver Steve Smith Sr. is expected to have a recurring role on ESPN studio programming, sources told Front Office Sports. 

While the plan for exactly when and where Smith will appear is still fluid, it could include shows like Get Up, First Take, NFL Live, and the expected-to-be-announced Peter Schrager show that will air at 2 p.m. ET after The Pat McAfee Show. 

An ESPN spokesperson declined to comment.

Smith comes to ESPN via Disney’s acquisition of NFL Network. ESPN has already had other talent from the league-owned network, including Kyle Brandt and Stacey Dales, on its shows in recent weeks. FOS previously reported they are expected to be recurring contributors.

Smith has a fiery personality—that was on display during his playing days with the Panthers and Ravens—that translates well to TV. It’s easy to envision him having entertaining debates with Stephen A. Smith.

Last week, NFL analysts Ryan Clark and Cam Newton were included in a round of layoffs at ESPN. Reporter Tom Pelissero, who had come over from NFL Network, was also among the cuts.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he was waiting for LeBron James to pick his next team so his league could formally set its schedule. Now that the 41-year-old James has signed with the 76ers, TV viewers should expect to see a lot of Philadelphia games this season.

James’s Sixers are expected to get the maximum 34 national game telecasts/streams across Disney’s ABC/ESPN, NBCUniversal’s NBC Sports/Peacock, and Amazon Prime Video during the upcoming NBA season, say sources. That would more than double the 14 national games that Joel Embiid’s team was featured in during the 2025–26 campaign. You can also expect to see the 76ers play a prominent role during tentpole events, like opening week and the league’s annual five-game slate on Christmas Day.

Under the NBA’s current 11-year, $76 billion media-rights deal, each of the 30 teams gets at least two national game telecasts/streams per season. But every season, there’s a handful of winning clubs that get the maximum 34 national games because they boast the biggest stars in the biggest markets.

Last year, that elite group included the eventual NBA champion Knicks in the country’s biggest TV market, James’s Lakers in the second-biggest market, four-time champion Steph Curry’s Warriors, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder, the defending champs. At the other end of the spectrum, the Wizards, Pelicans, Jazz, Raptors, and Nets were penciled in for only two national appearances each last season.

With input from its TV/streaming partners, the NBA makes the final decision on which teams get the national spotlight. With a 45–37 record, the Sixers finished a disappointing seventh in the Eastern Conference last season. But with King James gunning for his fifth NBA title in what could be the last season of his storied NBA career—on a team that also features Embiid, Jaylen Brown, and Tyrese Maxey—the 76ers are sure to be a media darling this season. 

At a recent CNBC conference, Silver noted the league couldn’t finalize its schedule until it knew where James would be playing. After announcing his departure from the Lakers on June 30, it took nearly four weeks for the Akron, Ohio, native to sign with the Sixers.

“We have to finish up the schedule, and where LeBron plays affects the schedule,” Silver said on July 16. “It will influence how we set the schedule—opening week, Christmas. So I need him to make a decision.”

Mission accomplished, Commissioner.