Pablo Torre believes the key to understanding ESPN’s First Take begins with recognizing the unparalleled leverage Stephen A. Smith carries inside the company. During a recent appearance on the Consensual Concussions podcast, the veteran broadcaster outlined why Smith’s role goes far beyond that of a traditional on-air personality.
Torre said Smith has been “acutely aware of his worth,” noting that the host has long viewed himself as the engine of the network’s flagship debate show. When asked about the recent departure of co-host Molly Qerim, Torre leaned into Smith’s boasting of his worth allowing him the flexibility to choose what he wants.
“He’s priced it at $100 million or whatever it is,” Torre said. “He’s like, you take me out of that show, you don’t have a show. Everybody else though, pretty much like just let me be the GM and the player.”
According to Torre, that belief isn’t bluster. It’s a reflection of the structural reality at ESPN, where Smith’s authority over First Take extends far beyond hosting duties. Torre described the show as an operation effectively built around one person.
“No one has the power that Stephen A has in sports television,” he said. “He staffs the show, and picks the players on the team. He is the star of it. That’s his.”
That level of influence, Torre admitted, has been difficult for some at ESPN to accept. Many who view themselves as part of the show’s success, he said, eventually run up against a harsh truth.
“There’s a pretty brutal math problem that I think Stephen A is happy to do in which he’s like, we can find someone to play that role. And that sucks.”
Torre added that Smith has never hesitated to articulate where he believes he stands relative to his rotating debate partners. While Torre acknowledged he isn’t privy to every internal negotiation, he said Smith’s posture has remained consistent.
“Stephen A has been extremely consistent in being pretty brutal about what his own value is and what people’s value is in comparison,” Torre said. “Like, it’s not close.”
Because of that imbalance, Torre argued that no one on the program exists as Smith’s equal—not by design, and not out of necessity. Smith’s style and the audience’s appetite allow him to cycle through debating partners without losing momentum.
“He can do this Mortal Kombat totem-pole style,” Torre said. “He can just debate whoever you want over and over again, rotating them in and out and doesn’t need an equal co-partner or the host that needs to be permanent. He’s the sun of that solar system.”
Still, Torre said critics who focus on fairness or creative merit are missing the more fundamental point. In sports media, the value equation is defined almost exclusively by audience demand, not by skill or resume.
“You could think I am the best at this, but if the metric that matters—the only stat on the stat sheet—is who’s watching, hard argument to win,” he said. Torre added that while First Take may not always represent “the best programming,” its gravitational pull is obvious. “For whatever reason, people do seem to want to watch Stephen A, and I get it.”
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