Value is what someone is willing to pay for something. So, for anyone saying the reported 6-year, $120 million deal is too much for ESPN to pay Stephen A. Smith, they need to re-read that first sentence. ESPN doesn’t have to do this, they are choosing to do this, so all congratulations to Stephen A. for getting what he wanted all along – to be the big dog both on the air and at the bank.
I will say it was rather humorous to read what Smith told The Athletic about the report of a deal being close – “I don’t talk about my contract negotiations. Never have. Never will.” Sure, he may not talk publicly about the specifics of his negotiations, but running around telling anyone that will listen, “It’s my turn,” saying he expects to be the highest paid personality at ESPN isn’t exactly the same as being silent about negotiations.
The first thing I thought of when I read that quote were the group of memes that get circulated about not telling anyone if you won the lottery…but there would be hints!
I don’t think I would be the first person to say that while supremely talented, Stephen A.’s BS meter runs a smidge higher than most. That’s his schtick and good for him for turning that into millions and millions of dollars.
His stuff isn’t necessarily my cup of tea, I don’t like being yelled at or watching others yell at one another, so I mostly take in his content on short-form videos posted on social and that is usually about enough for me. The problem even with that though is I see clips from First Take, clips from his podcast, clips from NBA shows, clips from his newfound political analyst career and on and on. Now, it sounds like he will be creating even more content with a production company and we already kind of got a glimpse at one of those projects, with the Up For Debate: The Evolution of Sports Media project on ESPN+ which, if anything, proved not everything Stephen A. Smith is a part of turns to gold.
So, this is what I am getting at. Is anyone else concerned that Stephen A. Smith may be at his peak now. Or that the amount of Stephen A. Smith we get already is more than enough and any more of him will oversaturate it and bring his value down?
I root for any talent to get as much money as they possibly can, especially when it is from a big corporate company. Take all their money. However, I am deeply invested in the success of ESPN – what I consider to be one of the best things to ever happen to sports fans. So, that is my worry here, is that eventually, like a long-term player contract in any major sport, the team (in this case the company), will regret this down the road. It all looks good today, but will ESPN be happy paying $20 million per year in years four through six?
This is where the risk comes in. The risk of overexposure, the risk of complacency after signing the mega deal (not likely as we do know Stephen A. Smith is one of the hardest working people in the business, I doubt that changes much), the risk of the other talent who will now want more money (be it people already working for them or others they may want to poach from another network) and the risk that he will be even further out of the 25-54 demo as this deal goes along – he will turn 60 in year 3.
Tough to really compare this situation to anyone else because there really is no comparison. And that may be the very reason ESPN sees this as a great investment – Stephen A. Smith in a lot of ways is one of one.
The question is, can he stay at the top? Can he really do all of the other things that he wants to do and remain focused enough on his ESPN commitments to have it all pay off for the company?
As we like to say in this business…stay tuned.
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The Best/Worst Thing I’ve Heard/Watched/Read Recently
I spent some time over Thanksgiving week in New York and always like to listen to local sports talk radio when I am on the road. While you would expect the No. 1 market to have great programming, I am not sure that fits every show on the two major sports stations, but I do know that the WFAN morning show and the ESPN NY afternoon show (for now) are both about as good as you can expect.
I have written about The Michael Kay Show before, and to me, that is a New York sports talk show, complete with just about everything you would expect that to be. Some of the calls they take will make me laugh out loud and the person isn’t trying in the least to be funny. The three hosts have great chemistry, and Kay is one of the best to ever do it. If reports are true and Kay leaves the show to go solo earlier in the day, I will be glad I got to tune in and listen for a few days before it came to an end.
On WFAN, Boomer Esiason gives you great opinions along with the insight of a former professional athlete. The concern always is that a former athlete will only know their own sport well enough, but that is far from the case with Boomer, he really knows his stuff. Additionally, you can tell he appreciates the ‘locker room’ vibe of the show.
His partner Gregg Giannotti, in my opinion, is phenomenal. There’s something about the way Gio says things, whether he is providing information, giving what is generally a very strong opinion about something, or just bantering back and forth with the guys, that makes you want to keep listening. He is that perfect mix of both funny and serious and runs point very well, always seeming to have a good feel for when to let something breathe a bit and knowing when to cut something off before it goes completely off the rails.
Both shows kept me very entertained while I was in town and that is all a sports radio listener can ask for.
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In Case You Missed It
My colleague Peter Thiele on the news side of Barrett Media had an interesting column earlier this week. What he wrote about applies to all talent, so I wanted to make sure we posted about it on the sports side as well.
The crux of the column was that hosts need to be very aware of the revenue that is tied directly to them and their show as well as what the expectations are from the company. They need to look at things the way corporate does, which is to only look at the income versus the expense.
Thiele wrote, “The paradigm has changed. You can no longer live in ignorance over the billing assigned to your show. If you work for one of the larger companies that has debt, the bean counters are looking for things that lose the company money. Your job is a gift from your employer. There was a time when hosts did their work, and the sales department sold. The sales department and programming department had separate floors and rarely interacted unless it was for an endorsement lunch. Even the hand off for copy was rarely direct. I know a lot of hosts who love it that way. Ok crew, those days are gone.”
Peter offers some additional tips and while I disagree that anyone should offer to give salary back (it’s a revenue problem, focus on that!), it is a great thing for hosts to think about while they are still employed.
You can read the full column by clicking here.
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Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
