Stephen A. Smith’s new deal at ESPN will earn him $100 million. But it isn’t just about the paycheck — it’s about Smith expanding his empire across the network’s NBA and NFL properties.
While First Take will remain his anchor, his ambitions go far beyond that. Smith has made it clear he wants a prominent role in ESPN’s NFL coverage, and he’s eyeing a spot on Monday Night Football, a nod to his childhood idol, Howard Cosell.
According to Front Office Sports, Smith will continue to be deeply involved with NBA programming but will also take on an expanded role in the network’s NFL coverage. Michael McCarthy and Ryan Glasspiegel reported that Smith will likely appear on the Monday Night Countdown pregame show starting in 2025.
But make no mistake — he’s already made his pitch.
FOS’s reporting aligns with statements made by Smith’s agent, Endeavor President and COO Mark Shapiro, at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference on Friday. Shapiro confirmed that Smith will be a year-round presence across ESPN’s platforms (no surprise there) with a focus on the NBA and, as Smith hopes, a larger role in NFL coverage.
It also aligns with what Smith has hinted at, fully aware that a contract extension was just around the corner.
“I don’t want to insult the legacy of the great Howard Cosell, who’s somebody that I idolized. But that’s exactly what I want to do,” Smith told FOS at ESPN’s media day in September. “When I think about the NFL, I’m not talking about being in the booth with Troy Aikman and Joe Buck. You don’t mess with that chemistry; you leave that alone.”
“But I’m unapologetic about what I want. I would love to be a part of Monday Night Football. I would love to work with [Monday Night Countdown’s new cast, including] Jason Kelce, Scott Van Pelt, Ryan Clark, and my man Marcus Spears. I mean, two of those guys are on First Take every week.”
And so will Smith, but he’s not just sitting in the background and perhaps won’t let himself be a secondary character, like Clark and Spears are on First Take. He’s seemingly on track to play a key role in ESPN’s NFL coverage and — for all intents and purposes — plans to bring his larger-than-life presence to the network’s football scene in a way he never has before.
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.