Stephen A. Smith has become ESPN’s $100 million man, but one of the men who helped to negotiate that deal doesn’t see it as a steppingstone to America’s highest office.
Speaking at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference on Friday, Endeavor president and COO Mark Shapiro was clear: “He’s not going to run for President.”
Smith similarly demurred during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week.
“Even though there’s a lot of qualified Democrats all over the country from a local perspective—governors, mayors, stuff like that—there’s no real national voice,” he said. “They’ve come to me … and so, I mean, I did not ask for this. I don’t want this. I happen to have a very, very, very good life, very good job. I’m good, very good.”
A January poll found Smith had the potential backing of 2% of Democrats. The long-simmering conversation about the 57-year-old’s political potential, which has earned Smith headlines in media outlets ranging from Fox News to The New Yorker, is the latest proof of why he’s so valuable to ESPN right now.
“Stephen A. Smith draws eyeballs,” Shapiro said. “He’s unique in that sense. There isn’t a lot of talent left these days on air that are of the unicorn ilk that he is. People tune in. Viewers tune in just to see him in the way they might tune in to see the NFL.”
In a statement announcing the deal, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro called Smith “a difference maker.”
Smith, who is repped by Endeavor-owned WME, will make as much as $20 million per year in a deal first reported by The Athletic. Smith had previously been making $12 million annually. Smith joined ESPN in 2003. Shapiro was an executive at ESPN in the 2000s as Smith became a national voice.
The five-year contract likely makes Smith ESPN’s highest-paid personality ever, topping the roughly $18 million annual takes that have been tied to Troy Aikman and Pat McAfee.
“This deal [goes] beyond him hosting First Take every single day,” Shapiro said. “He’ll appear across ESPN programming year-round … but this deal will also allow him the opportunity to continue to fan out, if you will, across politics and news.”
So no, Smith doesn’t appear headed for the White House, but don’t expect him to shy away from any other stage.
“He’s polarizing, which has been good for business,” Shapiro said.
