Stephen A. Smith’s Eye Popping Salary Demand Is Reportedly $7 MILLION More Than What ESPN Is Offering

Evan Agostini/AP

ESPN has reportedly offered Stephen A. Smith a contract extension that will pay him $7 million per year. Smith, however, wants much more.

According to sportswriter John Ourand, Smith is seeking $25 million to stay at ESPN. That number would make him ESPN’s highest-paid talent, surpassing Monday Night Football’s Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

Although ESPN executives told Smith’s WME agents that the $18 million would make him the network’s new top earner, they implied that Smith was looking for something more along the lines of Pat McAfee’s deals. His licensing deal to bring The Pat McAfee Show to ESPN is worth $17 million a year, and his deal to appear on College GameDay every week bumped his overall total closer to $30 million a year.

In December, Smith joined Clay Travis on OutKick the Show and explicitly stated he intends on being ESPN’s highest-paid star when it’s time to negotiate a new deal.

It’s unknown if ESPN is willing to offer Smith $25 million. Although ESPN has noted that McAfee’s deal isn’t a talent contract and those figures take into account McAfee’s cost of production and staff, Smith is undoubtably the face of the network and has been for a number of years now. As Smith himself likes to mention on air, the hit debate show First Take has been the number one sports show on TV for more than a decade.