rewrite this title Stephen A. Smith’s new ESPN contract will pay him more than most top athletes

When it comes to sports talk, it pays to be loud. ESPN proved that again on Thursday.

According to a report from The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, ESPN and Stephen A. Smith, one of sports media’s biggest personalities, have agreed to a new five-year contract that will pay him “at least” $100 million. 

The math on that is simple: That is at least $20 million per year.

According to the report, Smith’s main focus will be with his appearances on “First Take,” while scaling back some of his other responsibilities on the network to potentially free him to do to more talk in the political arena. 

That deal not only keeps Smith with ESPN, but it also means he will be making more money than a significant number of the professional athletes he will be yelling about on a daily basis.

Just for some context on these numbers.

The highest-paid player in the NHL this season, in terms of average annual salary, is Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews at only $13.25 million per season.

There are only 68 players in Major League Baseball who have an average annual salary of more than $20 million going into the 2025 season.

Among the established stars who make less than that are Kyle Schwarber, Chris Sale, Anthony Santander, Julio Rodriguez, Kyle Tucker, Corbin Carroll, Zac Gallen, Bryan Reynolds and Brent Rooker. 

There are multiple teams — including the Oakland A’s, Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox — that have never paid any player more than $20 million per season. 

In the NBA there are 83 players averaging more than $20 million per season. Among the players not exceeding that average include Cade Cunningham, Paolo Banchero, Klay Thompson and Lauri Markkanen.

Then we have the NFL where there are currently 92 players (before the start of free agency next week) with an average yearly salary over $20 million.

Among the players below that number are Marlon Humphrey, Fred Warner, Christian McCaffrey, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews and Jonathan Taylor.

Another way to look at this: Smith’s new deal will pay him more money per year than 100% of the NHL, roughly 95% of the NFL, 90% of Major League Baseball and 80% of the NBA.

Combine that with the $85 million ESPN is reportedly paying Pat McAfee over five years and it is pretty clear what direction the network has decided to take. Noise.