Marty Smith is staying at ESPN.
According to Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter, Smith has signed a long-term contract extension with the network, keeping him in Bristol as he approaches his 20th anniversary there this fall.
Smith has re-upped with ESPN multiple times over the years — this is at least the third deal we’ve covered him signing — and has consistently been one of the network’s most valuable multi-sport reporters. Per Carpenter, Smith’s core responsibilities will remain the same, as he will continue as a College GameDay contributor, co-host of Marty & McGee alongside Ryan McGee, and a presence at major golf events.
Smith will be on site at the Masters next week — where he has a SportsCenter piece on Rory McIlroy’s hometown in Northern Ireland airing on Easter Sunday, plus a companion piece for ESPN.com — and will also contribute to the network’s PGA Championship coverage, the NFL Draft, and the Kentucky Derby.
Smith has also been TGL’s sideline reporter for the past two seasons and told SBJ he is in favor of ESPN renewing with the league if the appetite is there.
The fact that his plate is already overflowing does not seem to concern him, though, as Smith said he welcomes the challenge of acclimating to new assignments and learning to get to know new personalities well enough to tell their stories. He’ll get the chance to do that at the Worldwide Leader for several more years.
“If you work at our place, you got to be damn good,” Smith told Carpenter. “And I’m just grateful that they believe enough in me to continue on with this.”
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.