Salary: $30 million per year
As one of the most influential and listened-to talk radio show hosts in the United States, Jim Rome has built a substantial following and currently hosts The Jim Rome Show, where he interviews sports guests and expresses his various predictions and opinions. Before going out on his own, the radio host started his career in a college radio station as a sports director and went on to work for ESPN2, FX, and Fox Sports Net.
Rome was involved in various controversies due to his outspoken and very expressive nature. A few years ago he sent out an offensive tweet calling marching bands “dorks running around with their instruments”, which inspired a hashtag “#MarchOnRome”. His joking demeanor also put him in trouble when he made fun of retired hockey legend Gordie Howe for wishing to play a shift with the Detroit Vipers at age 69.
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.
Ian Eagle - CBS, TNT, YES
Salary: $1 million per year
Known by many as "Bird" or "Birdman", Ian Eagle is an award-winning broadcaster from Essex Fells, New Jersey with over 2.5 decades of sportscasting. He has called NFL, NBA and various other games in almost all major networks from CBS, to TNT, YES, YES Network, and even the Tennis Channel.
Eagle was the play-by-play voice of the Orangemen for football, basketball, and lacrosse, and was awarded the Bob Costas Award for Outstanding Sportscasting. He lives in Essex Fells, N.J., with his wife, Alisa, and two children.
Harold Lederman - HBO
Salary: $14.9 million per year
Although boxing did not begin with the same lucrative attraction as other nation-wide favorite sports such as football, basketball, and baseball, Harold Lederman was there right from the '60s. Starting off as a boxing judge and eventually settling as a boxing analyst, Lederman was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016 for his long list of contributions and dedication to the sport. He passed away just 3 years later.
As a boxing judge, Lederman presided over 100 fights from 1967 until 1999 and continued as a commentator with HBO until the network eventually dropped boxing in 2018. It may be just a coincidence that he sadly passed away merely 6 months after finishing his role as boxing commentator, but it’s clear that his passion for the sport was beyond anyone else at the time. Lederman was loved and commemorated by many of his colleagues and boxers following his passing from a battle with cancer.