ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark has reached a verbal agreement to remain at ESPN, extending his time at the network. This past season, Clark appeared on a variety of programming centered around the National Football League, including NFL Live and Monday Night Countdown. News of Clark deciding to remain at ESPN was first reported by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. Additionally, Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports has reported that the deal will pay him over $2 million per year. ESPN confirmed the news on Monday afternoon, stating that he would continue his role across network programming.
Just days after the Super Bowl, Clark outlined how he wanted to prove his worth and leave no doubt the last time he signed an extension with ESPN three years ago. At the time, he felt he was worth more than what he received and set out to end the conversations about who he was in the sports media business. Although Clark’s contract expired before Super Bowl LVIII, he and the network agreed to extend it through the conclusion of the championship matchup.
During the NFL postseason, ESPN studio programming garnered multi-year peaks in viewership. Editions of NFL Live averaged 486,000 viewers over 14 programs between Jan. 9 and Jan. 26, rendering it the most-watched playoff run of the program in nine seasons. The Postseason NFL Countdown show featuring the Monday Night Countdown cast averaged 4.7 million viewers on ESPN and ABC ahead of the network’s broadcast of the divisional round matchup between the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, Jan. 20.
Outside of his role at ESPN, Clark recently completed his first year hosting Inside the NFL on The CW. The Emmy award-winning weekly series moved to the network after it was dropped by Paramount+ last April and featured a new cast starring Jay Cutler, Chad Johnson, Chris Long and Channing Crowder. He and Crowder work alongside Fred Taylor on The Pivot podcast, an independent venture outside of ESPN. Clark balanced these roles with his ESPN obligations, which has also included appearances on programming such as Get Up, First Take and SportsCenter.
