With an impressive career spanning three decades, being the face of ESPN and making $8 million annually, 53-year-old Stephen A. Smith is still chasing his dream job.
“My aspiration is to ultimately do late-night one day,” Smith told USA TODAY Sports.
Smith’s work ethic in sports media is hard to top, but his ability to keep moving career goal posts might be the key to avoiding complacency. Earlier this month, Smith launched another project for The Worldwide Leader, a new weeknight series on ESPN+ titled Stephen A’s World.
The show serves two purposes, adding star power to ESPN’s subscription platform, which costs users $5.99 per month, and giving Smith the freedom to get his feet wet in the late-night space.
“I think there’s a hole in late-night that I could help fill,” Smith added during his interview with USA TODAY Sports. “So when I think about Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon and those guys – I can’t forget Trevor Noah, who I think does a phenomenal job on Comedy Central – it’s something that I aspire to do as well.”
Smith’s biggest concern with a potential late-night show is the opening monologue, which is traditionally an opportunity for the host to begin the show with a stand-up style introduction.
“When I think about late-night, for example, the only thing I concern myself with is the opening monologue,” Smith said. “There’s nothing else in the show I don’t believe I can’t do. It’s just the opening monologue that I’ve always professed would be a challenge for me, because I don’t know if I would be funny intentionally. But nevertheless, it’s a challenge I’m ultimately willing to partake.”
A late-night show is something Smith has expressed interest in for a long time, calling it “the ultimate fantasy” in 2018. Smith ventured into the space with Quite Frankly on ESPN2 in 2005, but it was canceled after less than two years.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
