Stephen A. Smith says he’s always been ambitious, but nothing fueled a burning drive to succeed like being fired from ESPN. His exit from the sports network in 2009 radically changed how he felt about himself, Smith says-and how he wanted to make a living.
After ESPN and Smith parted ways, he began the long road back, starting on radio and leveraging his experience as a print journalist to develop sharp points of view. He eventually built a following whose size effectively made his return to TV inevitable.
After resuming his position in front of the camera, Smith quickly helped remake the modern sports media landscape. Now 56, he’s widely credited (or derided) for the “hot take” version of sportscasting that now dominates ESPN, Fox Sports and social media. It’s literally in the name of his flagship ESPN morning show, “First Take,” which he initially popularized with Skip Bayless. It now features Smith with a rotating cast of sparring partners, as well as moderator Molly Qerim.
Yet Smith has constantly stretched himself beyond ESPN-and sports-most notably through his podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show, which he created and runs through his own production company. With more than 600,000 subscribers to its KZfaq feed alone, Smith says he’s more convinced of his ability to flex that popularity for another record contract with ESPN (his current deal is up next year).
Listen to The Deal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, Bloomberg Carplay, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch The Deal on Bloomberg Originals and Bloomberg TV.
00:00 - 02:20 Intro
02:20 - 04:35 How Alex & Stephen A. know each other
04:35 - 07:50 Getting fired by ESPN
07:50 - 11:48 Learning from mistakes
11:48 - 15:30 David Roberts & Returning to ESPN
15:30 - 18:34 First Take & creating value
18:34 - 21:00 Skip Bayless
21:00 - 22:42 The ratings wars
22:42 - 25:54 How sports media is evolving
25:54 - 27:45 Mark Shapiro
27:45 - 30:53 Mentors
30:53 - 32:00 Bob Iger
32:00 - 37:12 Michael Jordan & Kobe Bryant
37:12 - 42:37 Reflecting on success & upcoming contract
42:38 - 45:21 Stephen A. the writer
45:21 - 48:02 Stephen A’s advice
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