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Stephen A. Backs Up the Brink’s Truck

The true value of Stephen A. Smith’s soon-to-be historic ESPN deal isn’t the $20 million annual salary or the half-decade term. Rather, it’s what’s not included.

stephen a. smith
In many ways, it’s a perfect Goldilocks arrangement: Stephen A. will be the brand’s highest-paid star, but ESPN is not on the hook for the entire salary. Photo: Tim Heitman/Getty Images
John Ourand
December 6, 2024

As ESPN prepares for its long and complex journey into the streaming multiverse—protecting the cable asset, launching the Flagship lifeboat, buttressing the broader Disney family of O.T.T. products—chairman Jimmy Pitaro seems to have at least settled on a highly nuanced talent strategy. Pitaro and his top lieutenant, Burke Magnus, have eliminated a tier of pricey and not totally necessary stars (Steve Young, Jeff Van Gundy, Max Kellerman, Tony Reali, etcetera); signed and protected a category of more versatile talent (Dan Orlovsky, Mina Kimes, Malika Andrews, plus newbies like Jason Kelce, Nick Saban, and Bill Belichick); and placed some big bets on—and this is such a Bristol term—the needle-movers.