Amazon Paying Travis Kelce Roughly NFL Salary for Podcast

Travis Kelce’s podcasting salary this NFL season will rival his check from the Chiefs. 

Travis and his brother, Jason, who recently retired from the NFL, have sold their New Heights podcast to an Amazon division. Wondery announced the news but didn’t disclose the terms; several outlets reported it was a three-year deal worth more than $100 million.

In July, it was reported the brothers were seeking nine figures for their popular show. The show has aired only 98 episodes but went into the stratosphere when Travis started dating Taylor Swift. Despite its infancy, the show ranked fourth on Edison Research’s list of top U.S. podcasts in the second quarter and has more than two million followers on YouTube.

Wondery CEO Jen Sargent called it a “cultural phenomenon” in a company release hailing the news.

The deal pays more annually than either brother has ever made in the NFL despite both being All-Pros. Travis Kelce is currently on a two-year, $34 million deal that pays roughly $17 million per season; presumably he’ll split the roughly $33.3 million annually from Amazon with his brother.  

The deal gives Wondery the ability to sell ads for the podcast’s audio and video versions in addition to the show’s back catalog. Wave Sports + Entertainment will continue to produce the show, but it loses its distribution rights in the deal. 

Jason recently retired from an 11-year playing career as a center with the Eagles and joined ESPN as an analyst shortly after. Travis is entering his 12th season playing tight end for the Chiefs, who are seeking their third consecutive Super Bowl title. 

Jason made roughly $82 million throughout his NFL career, while Travis has made $76 million so far.

New Heights launched in 2022 and is named after the Cleveland neighborhood where the brothers grew up. They have spent episodes discussing storylines across the NFL, pop culture, and even UFOs. 

“We couldn’t be more excited to team up with Wondery for the next phase of ‘New Heights,’” the Kelce brothers said in a statement. The podcast has not aired an episode since July 3; the brothers said Tuesday a new episode would be released Wednesday.