Shannon Sharpe will remain Stephen A. Smith’s First Take foil, at least through the end of the NBA regular season. ESPN announced it re-signed Sharpe to a contract extension earlier today, keeping him as a First Take panelist through the middle of April.
“Being a part of this family has been a blessing and everything about this relationship with ESPN, Stephen A., and First Take has been tremendous,” Sharpe said in a statement posted to @ESPNPR on X. “I look forward to bringing my best as we continue to go head-to-head across different sports.”
Suffice it to say, his co-hosts on First Take were thrilled with the news. Host Molly Qerim said via her X account, “Music to my ears! We’re lucky to have you @ShannonSharpe.” Stephen A. Smith playfully but graciously responded to the news as well:
Sharpe’s media career has exploded since departing Undisputed on FS1. Outside of joining First Take, which has seen multiple consecutive months of viewership growth thanks in part to Sharpe’s participation, his podcast Nightcap with Chad Johnson and Gilbert Arenas reached over one million YouTube subscribers in just five months.
Out of the sports realm, Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, which focuses more on the entertainment world than sports, also exploded in popularity, thanks in part to a viral interview with comedian Katt Williams. That one interview alone received 50 million views on YouTube, 266 million views across social channels, and resulted in almost 1 million YouTube subscribers following the Club Shay Shay YouTube channel.
