Stephen A. Smith wants to be the highest paid talent at ESPN: ‘I’m a business.’

Stephen A. Smith wants to continue his career ESPN, but it will have to come at the cost of making him their highest paid talent.

Smith joined OutKick’s Clay Travis for a wide-ranging interview and during the appearance, ESPN’s foremost daytime personality was asked whether being their highest paid talent is important to him.

“Yes. I’m not stuttering. Hell, yes, that’s absolutely true,” Smith said. “I’ve mastered my own business in the world of sports television. Clay Travis, I’ve been number one for 12 years. April 1st will mark 12 consecutive years I’ve been number one. Not only have I been number one every year, I’ve been number one every week and every month of every year for the last 12 years.

“You don’t get to say that about too many people. I look at whether it’s Pat McAfee, it’s Mike Greenberg, it’s Scott Van Pelt, it’s Troy Aikman, it’s Joe Buck, it’s Kirk Herbstreit. The list goes on and on. I’m so honored to have the colleagues that I have that I work with at ESPN every day. And at the end of the day, it would be nice, one day, for this man to stand before everyone and be like, ‘I’m number one and this says I’m number one.’”

The current five-year deal that Smith signed in 2019 is reportedly worth $12 million annually, $8 million in regular salary and $4 million in a production contract. Those numbers have been usurped by the more lucrative contracts that ESPN signed Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Pat McAfee to in recent years.

Earlier this year, Smith said, “I don’t give a damn” about McAfee getting paid more than him. Surely, Smith understands the importance of seeing his colleagues raise the ceiling on industry salaries as he waits for his next negotiation. Maybe Smith doesn’t give a damn that McAfee is getting paid more than him right now, but he’s certainly going to give a damn about it when his contract expires next year.

“I’m not just a talent. I’m a business,” Smith told Travis. “I’ve got my own production company. I’ve got my own YouTube channel. I’ve got my own show. It’s not even just a podcast. It’s a show with a fully loaded television studio. That’s what I built for myself, that could go linear or digital. The list goes on and on. I’m doing all of these things. I’m not doing all of that to be in second place. I’m not doing all of that to look up at somebody else and see that they’re making more than me when I’m producing superior ratings and revenue. No, I’m not doing that. And I’m not apologizing to anybody for it.”

Smith has not been shy about the fact that he believes he is underpaid. When you factor his celebrity and all the content he provides for ESPN, he’s probably right.

“I’ve been treated incredibly well by ESPN,” Smith admitted during his OutKick appearance. “I expect to continue to be treated well by ESPN. Again, I’ve got great relationships and what have you, but this is a business and Disney has a right to run its business the way it sees fit. ESPN does as well. But if they do, so do I. I hope that we’re able to work it out. I’m confident that we will, because I’m incredibly happy there. But we’ll see.”

While Smith hopes to sign a new contract with ESPN, he now has the ability to point to his podcast as proof that if the offer isn’t right, he can afford to walk away from the Worldwide Leader. Considering the way his independent podcast and YouTube account have grown since they launched 15 months ago, Smith already proved there is a massive audience of people who are interested in what he has to say without the backing of ESPN.

[OutKick]