Salary: $1.2 million per year
You can’t watch an MLB Network game without watching popular studio host Fran Charles. The popular broadcaster made his debut in MLB network as the host of the 2013 World Basketball Classic and was also the host of NFL Network and the HBO sports series Boxing After Dark.
Charles has commentated on almost every sport, from boxing to basketball and football and even got a role as feature host in EA Sports’ Madden NFL 2010. You can often see Charles in pre-game interviews where he gives commentary and predictions regarding upcoming games.
Bill Simmons - HBO
Salary: $24 million per year
Arguably one of the most successful and accomplished American sportswriters and analysts in the world, Bill Simmons is a true favorite of the crowds. Simmons' distinguished career has included founding the sports and pop-culture website The Ringer, working with ESPN for 15 years, hosting his own podcast called "The B.S. Report" and being one of NBA Countdown's top analysts for 2 years. He was named the 12th most influential person in online sports by the Sports Business Journal in 2007, making him the highest-rated person on that list to not hold an executive position.
Simmons released his first New York Times best-selling book in 2007 titled "Now I Can Die in Peace", an anthology book with his best writings on sports throughout the years. He then went on to release another bestseller in 2008 called "The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy" where he pondered various philosophical and historical questions regarding basketball. It's no secret that Bill Simmons is in love with the various Boston teams, not surprising since his educational and work-related journeys both began in Boston.
Clark Kellogg - CBS
Salary: $400,000 per year
The CBS college basketball analyst and our favorite NBA2K video-game announcer, Clark Kellogg, was named Mr. Ohio Basketball in 1979 and had a short but accomplished NBA career as power forward of the Indiana Pacers from 1982 until 1986. Unfortunately, Kellogg was forced to retire from basketball due to a chronic knee problem. He began broadcasting with ESPN in 1990 and joined CBS 3 years later.
Kellogg is undoubtedly one of the more insightful and loved college basketball analysts in the United States, mostly due to his kind and loving nature. He claims to have transformed into a devout Christian in the mid-’80s due to a crisis of purpose and often talks about the overwhelmingly positive impact that religion has had on him. He uses his Twitter account that has over 50,000 followers to provide both comments and opinions on basketball, as-well-as promote his love for Jesus. Kellogg was awarded the Coach Wooden "Keys to Life" award in 2003.
Thom Brennaman - Fox
Salary: $2 million per year
Thom Brennaman is the son of legendary radio sportscaster Franchester Martin Brennaman and currently works with Fox as their MLB & NFL Play-by-Play Announcer. Brennaman is an excellent sportscaster and is widely regarded as one of baseball's best play-by-play broadcasters.
He called MLB games on Fox from 1996 to 2014 for a total of 31 seasons and has also been the voice of the Cincinnati Reds for the past 13 seasons. The acclaimed sportscaster also did plenty of voiceover work for baseball video-games, starring annually as the commentator in Microsoft Baseball 2001 and in All-Star Baseball from 2002 up until All-Star Baseball 2005. Brennaman is currently 56 years old and is married with 2 kids.
Colin Cowherd - Fox
Salary: $6 million per year
As Host of The Herd 9-12, podcaster and NYT bestseller, Colin Cowherd, is one of the rare examples of announcers using their TV fame and exposure to create a massive social media presence that guarantees their long-lasting exposure. As host of "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" with over 780,000 YouTube subscribers, the popular broadcaster definitely knew how to use his family name to great use.
With over 480 million views, his daily show consists of interviews with popular sports figures and Cowherd's opinions on the most pressing topics of the day in sports. Cowherd has been nominated as Sports Illustrated's 2005 Radio Personality of the Year and has also been voted 5 times as Nevada's Sportscaster of the Year. Cowherd often uses the show to express his personal values and uses various sports issues to promote and explain them. His various remarks and opinions have often put him in trouble, from directing his fans to all visit the sports blog "The Big Lead" simultaneously, causing it to crash for 96 hours, to his controversial remarks regarding the death of Sean Taylor.