ESPN pay cuts?

Yeah, got cut years ago and then was brought back a year or two later.

 

New Yorker profile published today
Malika Andrews Plays Through the Pressure

 

Incredibly well-written. And yes, I can just imagine working at ESPN is like playing for the Yankees. You're in the spotlight 24/7 and everybody's got an opinion, whether you're winning or losing. I got a pretty hard shell from years of getting berated by high school parents. I can only imagine when you're a young, black female getting threats because you're "anti-black men."

 

Scott Van Pelt should be tased if he asks a question longer than 15 words or works into the question what answer he wants. He is a fucking narcissist who thinks he is about 10 times smarter than he is

 

Why do you subject yourself to this? Why does anyone watch SportsCenter? When Yankees-Red Sox ended last night, I dove for the remote to change the channel like I was Greg fucking Louganis. And I like Scott Van Pelt.

 

https://barrettsportsmedia.com/2024/06/18/sean-mcdonough-lack-of-energy-criticism-bothered-me/

 

https://nypost.com/2024/06/20/sports/espn-has-offered-stephen-a-smith-18-million-deal/

 

He worth it - considering how much "content" he produces. That said - I'm sure ESPN could find someone else to take that offer, if Smith is serious about his interest in doing other things.

 

I would be interested to see what Stephen A could fetch on the open market. Would another media enterprise give him $15-20 million? Would several smaller companies do what James Andrew Miller suggested and combine to give him deals that equaled the number he wants? Or is his fame/value solely tied up in ESPN and their strategy of flooding their airwaves and platforms with his content?

 

For those who have a WSJ subscription. https://www.wsj.com/business/media/...-espn-how-much-is-that-worth-5cc73f48?mod=mhp

 

Maybe people will watch a SAS talk show. Or listen to his podcast. Maybe someone like Netflix or Prime will give him a live daily show. And if he has an ownership stake, he can earn a lot of coin doing so. But I think that his position as a leading voice in sports ends the second he leaves ESPN.