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Stephen A. Smith is getting paid big money to stay at ESPN and it appears that he will have the freedom to dive into the political world while at the network. For the past year, Smith has been in the middle of very public negotiations for his next contract with ESPN.
On Thursday, The Athletic reported that Smith had signed a 5-year $100 million deal to stay at the network. Smith’s deal will allow him the flexibility to talk more politics.
Via The Athletic
Stephen A. Smith has agreed to a new contract with ESPN worth at least $100 million for five years, an agreement that will result in Smith continuing to star on “First Take” on ESPN while scaling back some of his other required appearances on the network, which would free him up to talk even more about politics, sources briefed on the agreement told The Athletic.
The freedom figures to allow Smith to make even more appearances on other platforms to talk politics, and it also gives him the chance to earn more money outside of ESPN.
Smith has recently become very interested in politics and has begun flirting with the idea of running for office.
“I doubt I’ll ever run. It’s not me. I live a pretty good life—and I don’t want to ruin it by getting involved in politics,” Smith said on his Youtube show. “But I’ve got to tell y’all something: the Democratic Party looks so pathetic after this election, I might entertain running. I just might change my mind one day. I doubt it. But I might. Because how much would it take to beat ya’ll? And Trump can’t run again. He’s done.”
Smith told The View earlier this year that he would be interested in running for President if he thought he had a chance to win an election.
“I have no desire to be a congressional figure or a senator,” he said. “But if you came to me and you told me I had a legitimate shot to win the presidency of the United States of America, I would definitely consider it.”