Stephen A. Smith Reportedly Agrees to $100M ESPN Deal… With Less Sports Hot Takes

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Stephen A. Smith has a major bag coming his way.

The longtime ESPN frontman has revolutionized how viewers think about sports pundits, commentators, and hot takes, and now he’s getting paid handsomely for it.

According to the New York Times’ The Athletic, Smith will now be making more than some of the athletes he reports on, $20 million a year, as part of his new five-year contract.

Like most raises or promotions, you’d think he’d get more responsibilities and pump out more sports content, but Smith’s r. Still, Smith’s finessed a different kind of deal that has adhered him to the standards of being the face of First Take but taking a step back from other shows he appears on, like the NBA pregame show and other considerable coverage moments.

Instead, he’ll now be able to talk about other topics, including politics. Outside of First Take, he’s been using his The Stephen A. Smith Show platform to talk more about pop culture moments, blasting Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, calling the democratic party “pathetic,” his thoughts behind voting for Kamala Harris, and interviewing NYC Mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo.

His love for politics even earned him two percent in a poll on 2028 Democratic presidential hopefuls. Though he’s expressed no desire to run for office over the years and instead focuses on debating civic topics, his opinion may be swaying.

“Although I have absolutely positively no desire to be a politician… I do have an insatiable desire one day…to be on a stage debating presidential candidates for the United States of America,” Smith said last month. “And in order to do that, I would have to be a candidate. I must confess to you, that if my money is right, my pockets are tight, my quality of life is sustained, and you came to me, and you said to me, as the American people, that you wanted me to be your nominee for the presidency of the United States of America, I have to confess to you, it is something I would consider.”

See how social media is reacting to Smith becoming a $100 million man below.