Salary: $1.5 million per year
From a professional award-winning basketball player to a highly acclaimed NBA analyst, Charles Barkley’s career is a series of amazing accomplishments and a true testament to his work ethic both inside the court and outside. Initially, a relatively small kid, at just 5 ft 10 in. and 220 pounds, the high school junior from Alabama failed to impress anyone. But eventually, Barkley enjoyed a huge growth spurt and got the chance to improve his abilities. Later he was discovered by Sonny Smith, who quickly saw his potential and drafted Barkley due to his impressive physical size and highly trained skills.
Barkley went on to become a highly successful NBA player and was ranked #11 in the best all-around player score (PER) in the NBA. Once the NBA superstar retired in 2,000 as the fourth player in history to achieve 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists, he went on to become a highly decorated NBA analyst with three Sports Emmy Awards. He was also written several books and almost ran for Governor of Alabama in 2014 before changing his mind.
Bob Costas - MLB Network
Salary: $7 million per year
As one of the best-known sportscasters of all time, Bob Costas has seen everything and was both highly decorated, as-well-as involved in various scandals. The Emmy-winning sportscaster from Queens is mostly known for his almost 4 decades of working with NBC Sports from 1980 to 2018. Costas covered everything from boxing to golf, MLB, NASCAR, hockey and more. Throughout the years the sportscaster commentated in various Olympic broadcasts for NBC. He also hosted the radio program "Costas Coast to Coast" for three years and later hosted a 12-week long series called On the Record with Bob Costas.
Some of the biggest controversies that involved Costas include him publicizing his views on gun control in the US, as-well-as several political issues where he chose to express his opinion on live television. His most egregious chapter occurred in 2017 when he said in a roundtable sports discussion that football was in a decline and hurts peoples' brains. Following the comments, he was removed from the commentator's list in NBC's coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics, and departed from the network after almost 40 years of working with them.
Bill Macatee - CBS Sports
Salary: $3.5 million per year
Bill Macatee isn't your average sports broadcaster, the talented announcer began working for network television in his mid-twenties and continues his work today. The CBS Sports and Tennis Channel sportscaster was born in Rome, New York and from there moved to El Paso, Texas.
He began his broadcasting career with NBC as the youngest sportscaster in the industry. Since then, Macatee did NFL play-by-play commentary for CBS; he also called various basketball games and championship tournaments. His play-by-play work extends to figure skating, skiing, track-and-field, gymnastics, boxing, and even sumo wrestling. Last year Macatee received the Lifetime Achievement Award when he was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame.
Dick Stockton - Fox
Salary: $250,000 per year
Dick Stockton is a true veteran of the NFL. As TV and radio sportscaster for the last 5 decades, he has seen his fair share of ups and downs throughout his career. Though mostly known for his broadcasting and analyzing, Dick Stockton is also a keynote speaker. He is considered a masterful storyteller and is often invited to speak on various topics. The popular sportscaster worked with almost all major sports networks, from CBS Sports, Turner Sports, NBC Sports, and as the NFL play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports.
Stockton has covered a variety of important events and sports, from the Olympics and the World Figure Skating Championship. He received the Curt Gowdy Electronic Media Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001. The successful veteran announcer was married to fellow sportscaster and first female NFL analyst on TV, Lesley Visser. The couple was married from 1983 to 2010. Stockton has since remarried and is currently married to Jamie Drinkwater. The couple supports various charities, including the Empty Bowls Project for Alexandria Central School in Alexandria Bay, N.Y. which helps make sure that youth are provided with education and food.
Tom Hammond - NBC
Salary: $2.9 million per year
You may not recognize Tom Hammond unless you enjoy watching horse racing, track, and field or speed skating on NBC Sports. Hammond was born in 1944 in Lexington Kentucky and earned his B.S. in animal science in 1967. He served as play-by-play announcer for a variety of sports networks before being hired by NBC in 1984 to co-host the inaugural Breeder's Cup with fellow announcer, Dick Enberg. Apparently, the executives were so pleased with Hammond's performance that he ended up getting a long-term contract that resulted in over 30 years of work with the network.
Hammond and his wife have three children, with one of them following his legacy and becoming a play-by-play radio commentator on the AFL on NBC. Hammond's career is full of awards and honors, from 2 Eclipse Award (the highest honor for horse racing broadcasting), to 4 different Emmy Awards. He was eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame in the University of Ken