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ESPN loves to concoct power rankings—creating hierarchies for players, teams, and seemingly anything else in the sports world. Turnabout is fair play.
Nothing lasts forever at ESPN. It wasn’t long ago that Mike Golic Sr., Sam Ponder, Max Kellerman, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, Suzy Kolber, and Michelle Beadle ranked among ESPN’s biggest stars. Norby Williamson reigned for decades as the network’s most feared corporate in-fighter. Now they’re all history. The power balance inside Bristol’s famous campus is constantly shifting, as new stars emerge and others fade.
A few caveats: First, I’m not including Chris Berman, Dick Vitale, Lee Corso, and Mel Kiper Jr. That’s not to say they aren’t great, but I think they belong more to an éminence grise class of ESPN legends. The same goes for Nick Saban and Bill Belichick. They’ve been surprisingly good. But they’re more coaches-in-exile than foundational talents blocks, especially The Hoodie, who could leave any second. This is more a look toward talent having the most future impact. Third, if the on-air talents I’m writing about are joined at the hip—such as ESPN’s No. 1 NFL, NBA, and college football teams—I’m counting them as a single entity.
ESPN boasts roughly 500 forward-facing on-air people. This list is full of names from ESPN’s three biggest properties: the NFL, college football, and the NBA. Unfortunately, many worthy names from ESPN’s MLB, NHL, college sports, motorsports, and UFC coverage didn’t make the cut.
I also can’t add Charles Barkley to the list. He and his Inside the NBA castmates aren’t there yet, and will still be TNT Sports employees when their show moves to ESPN next season. Feel free to tell me where I got it right and where I’m dead wrong.
1. Stephen A. Smith: What a ride it’s been for the Queens, N.Y., native. After being dumped by ESPN in 2009, he’s roared back to become the face and voice of the sports network. His First Take rules weekday sports TV. This year, he effectively ended the FS1 career of former mentor/partner Skip Bayless by persistently pummeling his Undisputed show head-to-head. Smith and talented host Molly Qerim have nurtured everybody from the veteran Shannon Sharpe and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo to up-and-comers Monica McNutt, Dan Orlovsky, and Kimberley A. Martin. Now Smith is poised to become ESPN’s first $100 million man, with a possible five-year contract extension worth $20 million or more per year. His negotiations remain an enormous topic within the media world.
2. Troy Aikman, Joe Buck, and Lisa Salters (No. 1 NFL team): Chairman Jimmy Pitaro’s raid against Fox to snatch away Aikman and Buck in 2022 has taken Monday Night Football from worst to first among NFL broadcast booths, in my eyes. The longest-running broadcast duo in NFL history is now poised to call ESPN’s first Super Bowls after the 2026 and 2030 seasons. The move to ESPN has elevated Aikman and Buck, alongside Salters, to the next level of critical game analysis. They’re a breath of fresh air given how reluctant rival analysts are to call out bad play, coaching, or refereeing.
3. Kirk Herbstreit, Chris Fowler, and Holly Rowe (No. 1 CFB team): The same goes for ESPN’s top college football announcing team. This crew calls everything from ABC primetime Saturday night games to the College Football Playoff national championship. Despite challenges from Fox and NBC, ESPN reigns supreme for college football coverage. The network’s chess move to have Herbstreit lead a college-football-focused broadcast of the NFL Draft on ABC in 2019 deftly fended off Fox. These three are excellent at what they do and highly valued by ESPN.
4. Pat McAfee: Hey, I wouldn’t want to manage this guy. But the fearless McAfee has brought new energy to the venerable College GameDay, especially with his hilarious field-goal-kicking contest. Meanwhile, his licensed weekday show is attracting many young sports viewers. And after he took out Williamson, few executives are willing to challenge McAfee.
5. Mike Greenberg: Like Smith, Greenberg has created a weekday juggernaut with Get Up. His show has become an assembly line for new talent like McAfee, Dan Orlovsky, et al. “Greeny” keeps getting rewarded with marquee assignments, such as Berman’s old Sunday NFL Countdown and NFL Draft hosting duties. He’ll be critical as ESPN tries to retain its 45-year-old coverage of the Draft from outside bidders.
6. Scott Van Pelt: When critics say SportsCenter is obsolete, I point them to SVP’s iconic midnight edition as the leading example of anchors putting their own personal stamp on the classic format. Like Greenberg, he keeps getting plum assignments. The former Golf Channel anchor replaced Suzy Kolber as host on Monday Night Countdown last year—and is a key player on ESPN’s Masters golf coverage. His sly “Bad Beats” bit was years ahead of its time.
7. Adam Schefter: He’s the country’s most influential NFL insider, with 11.3 million followers on X/Twitter. In fact, Schefter is so good that ESPN weighed making him the “ultimate insider,” covering both the NFL and NBA, after Adrian Wojnarowski’s shocking departure.
8. Peyton and Eli Manning: The Mannings are very powerful and could easily be ranked in the top five. Their ManningCast is the most popular alternative telecast in sports TV history. ESPN president of content Burke Magnus tells me he’s already penciled in the Super Bowl–winning brothers for Super Bowl alt-casts. Not to mention the popularity of their respective Peyton’s Places and Eli’s Places documentary series on ESPN+. In short, Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions can write its own ticket within the network—and the NFL in general.
9. Doris Burke, Mike Breen, and Lisa Salters (No. 1 NBA team): Burke made history by becoming the first female analyst to serve on ESPN/ABC’s No. 1 NBA TV team and call the NBA Finals. Breen’s a throwback to great play-by-play announcers like Pat Summerall. When ESPN shockingly dumped Van Gundy and Jackson, it made sure to retain Breen, who’s poised to call his record 20th NBA Finals. Bang! The question now: Will ESPN go with a two-person booth of Burke and Breen or add another analyst like Richard Jefferson, Tim Legler, or Jay Bilas?
10. Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon (PTI): They’ve almost reached Legends status. However, 23-year-old Pardon the Interruption is still drawing big ratings, while its long-time lead-in, Around the Horn, has been canceled. The chemistry between the 76-year-old Kornheiser and 66-year-old Wilbon is still the best on sports TV, outside of the Inside the NBA cast.
11. Paul Finebaum: Simply the funniest, most informed, most outspoken voice in college football. Some believe college football is actually the country’s second-most popular sport, behind only the mighty NFL. That makes the “Mouth of the South” a perfect fit for ESPN and the SEC Network.
12. Shannon Sharpe: Another huge comeback story. After getting pushed out by Bayless and FS1, “Unc” has reemerged as Smith’s possible successor on First Take. Did we mention he also boasts one of the hottest podcasts in the country with Club Shay Shay? Sharpe’s got to have clout inside family-friendly Disney to survive accidentally streaming a sexual encounter on Instagram Live. That moment was named No. 1 sports media blooper of the year by Awful Announcing.
13. Malika Andrews: One of the key tells for ESPN talent is whether they lead their own shows. The 29-year-old Andrews hosts both NBA Today and NBA Countdown. Her career has rocketed upward since embedding within the NBA bubble during the 2019–2020 season. One concern for management: Will Andrews leave for news or entertainment?
14. Laura Rutledge: The host of NFL Live seems to be everywhere on ESPN’s NFL and college football coverage. Look for the host/reporter to be a key player in ESPN’s NFL postseason coverage. I can see the versatile 36-year-old eventually hosting Sunday NFL Countdown or Monday Night Countdown as well as the NFL Draft if ESPN keeps the rights.
15. Elle Duncan and Kevin Negandhi: This dynamic duo single-handedly rebuilt ESPN’s signature 6 p.m. SportsCenter. The feisty, funny Duncan is finding a distinct voice. I could see her blossoming into a crossover star. The talented Negandhi, meanwhile, scored a contract extension in January that will keep him on SportsCenter and expand his work in college football, the NBA, and the Special Olympics.
To read the full rankings—and peruse the honorable mentions—check out the full story here.
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