Stephen A. Smith's New Proposed ESPN Contract Includes Interesting Twist

ESPN's top personality has been in lengthy contract discussions with the network.

Stephen A. Smith (Stephen Smith) on the ESPN NBA Countdown live set at Intuit Dome. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Stephen A. Smith is nearing a new deal with Disney/ESPN, and a current proposal would give him even more influence within the larger Disney empire according to a report by Variety.

Brian Steinberg reports that the monthslong negotiations could culminate in a new deal over the "next several weeks" and that the deal could include a "first-look" arrangement with Disney.

Smith's interest in a wider entertainment deal comes no surprise given his moves beyond the sports world in recent years. Smith touches a wide array of topics on The Stephen A. Smith Show, his podcast with iHeartMedia, and has appeared on political programming across the ideological spectrum.

Smith currently makes $12 million per year on his ESPN contract that is set to expire in 2025. A June Puck report stated that Disney made an $18 million per year offer to Smith, but that the commentator is seeking a deal worth at least $25 million. A Tuesday evening report by The Athletic put the current proposal in the range of $120 million over six years, though Smith forcefully called the Variety report that the two sides are close "False" in a message to media insider Andrew Marchand.

“Here’s my quote, ‘I was born AT NIGHT, not last night. I don’t talk about my contract negotiations. Never have. Never will," Smith told The Athletic.

James Andrew Miller, the author of 2011 oral history Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN, told Sports Illustrated's Jimmy Traina in June that Smith could realistically leave ESPN for a more wide-ranging deal.

"He’s looking for a big, big number," Miller said. "And I also feel, given the content world, he doesn’t even have to have another offer from one entity for that big number. I think what ESPN is up against is the possibility that [William Morris Endeavor] could go out and create an architecture where Stephen A. has a podcast, a this, a deal with this, a deal with that, whatever, and at the end of the day, it’s $20 million a year.”

With the potential for Smith to spread his wings at Disney, it appears that the two sides are now nearing a deal.

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