Stephen A. Smith Keeping Options Open With Nine Months Left on ESPN Deal

ESPN’s biggest name is nine months away from free agency. And right now, he appears to have every intention of getting there.

Stephen A. Smith gave a narrow window into the state of his contract negotiations with ESPN in an onstage interview Tuesday.

At the Front Office Sports Tuned In summit in New York, FOS senior writer Michael McCarthy asked Smith for an update. “Not a word,” Smith said. 

Then, he said many words.

“They’ve made an offer; I’ve countered,” Smith said. “And that’s where we’ve left it.”

McCarthy has previously reported Smith could command a deal worth $100 million total, or $20 million annually, which would make him the highest-paid talent at ESPN again. At $12 million a year, Smith was once ESPN’s top dog but has been eclipsed in pay by NFL personalities Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Pat McAfee, who each make $15 million or more. 

“I expect to get paid,” Smith said. “When you’ve been No. 1 for 12 years, well, what the hell does that warrant?”

Smith laid out part of his case onstage Tuesday, saying that ratings juggernaut First Take generates 10 times as much revenue as when he started hosting the show in 2012.

He said he has strong relationships with Disney CEO Bob Iger and ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro, and was “still getting to know” new ESPN content chief Burke Magnus, who spoke earlier at the summit.

Magnus and Pitaro have repeatedly said they want the workhorse Smith to remain at the network.

“They have their vision, and I have mine,” Smith said. “If it’s aligned, we’ll work it out. And if it’s not, then decisions have to be made.” 

Smith would lose all leverage in negotiations if he weren’t at least threatening to leave Bristol, and he did that Tuesday.

“If it comes to a decision where I have to move on, I prepared myself mentally and emotionally to be able to do that,” he said. “I don’t want it to come to that because I am very happy at ESPN doing what I do. … If somebody wants you bad enough, they show you.”

While the sides continue to iron out Smith’s pay, he confirmed McCarthy’s reporting that a more prominent role in NFL coverage was something he had sought in contract discussions.

“It’s not always the money,” Smith said. “It’s how you’re treated. It’s the kind of latitude they give you; it’s the kind of support that they give you.”

Asked directly, Smith said yes, he was referring to being on NFL coverage.

“Last time I checked, they had a Monday Night Football game last night, with a Monday Night Countdown,” he said. “I wasn’t part of it.”

Smith made no bones about it. “I’ve been blessed and fortunate to be No. 1,” he said. “Last time I checked, the No. 1 sports brand is the NFL. So why shouldn’t the No. 1 guy on the air be a part of the No. 1 product?”

Earlier in the day, Magnus was asked about Smith’s desire to be part of NFL coverage. “He’s made that clear,” Magnus told McCarthy. “The philosophy that we put our biggest names and our biggest talent on our biggest properties and biggest shows is really, to me, a recipe for success,” he said. The ESPN content head added Smith eventually joining NFL flagship coverage was a “logical conclusion.”