Stephen A. Smith reportedly in talks to host SiriusXM show

While ESPN signed Stephen A. Smith to a new five-year, $100-million deal Friday, there may be other outside media deals ahead for him as well. Puck’s John Ourand spoke on that in the lead-in to his latest The Varsity podcast, saying Smith’s deal with ESPN leaves opportunities for more non-sports work elsewhere (beyond his current YouTube show/podcast), and mentioning specific discussions with satellite radio company SiriusXM.

This podcast episode from Ourand, released early Sunday morning, largely focuses on an interview with NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman, which has plenty of interesting moments in its own right. But Ourand’s opening discussion of the Smith contract is also notable, especially for the SiriusXM detail.

There, after talking about how the new deal has Smith continuing to host First Take but moving off NBA Countdown in favor of less-regularly-scheduled other ESPN appearances (and perhaps more on the NFL side), Ourand discusses how it leaves Smith freedom for outside work, especially beyond the sports realm. And he specifically says “I’ve been told that he’s been talking with SiriusXM about hosting a show on that satellite radio platform. There are still a lot of possibilities, and a lot more money out there, for Stephen A. Smith.”

Ourand doesn’t offer details beyond that, but the existence of those talks is significant by itself. There’s been plenty of speculation on what else Smith might do (including around his upcoming “Three Americans” political tour with Chris Cuomo and Bill O’Reilly, to say nothing of all the discussions of him running for president), and on other companies that might be interested in working with him. The progression of that to actual discussions with SiriusXM is more solid, though. Even if that doesn’t result in a deal, it’s evidence of one particular company making some level of run at Smith.

The other notable part of Ourand’s discussion here is what he relays on how and why ESPN can afford to pay Smith this much. Ourand says “I’ve been told that ESPN Bet is on the hook for several million dollars of that salary, and Disney is going to chip in as well.” That could be interesting around the uncertainty surrounding ESPN Bet, which is struggling, and which Penn CEO Jay Snowden recently suggested they could opt out of in 2026.

Ourand also ties this in to ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro’s comments to him last August about the company being much more than their linear television network, important around their plans for a full direct-to-consumer offering launch with Flagship this fall. There, Pitaro said “We are interested in partnering with Stephen on other platforms. I think he represents us very well. I think he’s great across sports, and he’s incredibly curious.”

It’s not clear right now what, if anything, else ESPN and Disney will partner with Smith on. But it’s significant that they’ve talked about that, and that there’s still room for Smith to talk to these other companies as well. Smith has always kept himself very busy, and it looks like that will continue under this new ESPN deal. But that could also include work with other big companies, perhaps including SiriusXM.