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.
Jon Gruden - ESPN
Salary: $6.5 million a year
NFL's popular head coach began his football coaching career while still in the University of Tennessee. He was quickly hired by Mike Holmgren at just 28 years old to become the assistant coach for the Green Bay Packers. By age 35, Gruden was already coaching the Oakland Raiders and then moved on to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leading them to a successful Super Bowl win in 20002. At age 39, he was the youngest head coach to ever win a Super Bowl.
Gruden was hired in 2009 as an ESPN color analyst for their Monday Night Football show and signed a five-year contract expansion from 2012 until 2017 with the network. After almost a decade of broadcasting outside of the NFL, he returned as head coach of the Oakland Raiders by signing a 10-year, $100 million contract - one of the biggest contracts in the NFL.
Chris Fowler - ESPN, ABC
Salary: $7 million per year
Chris Fowler is one of the most recognizable faces for anyone who watches ESPN as he has worked with the network since 1986 as the host of Scholastic Sports America. Born in Denver, Colorado, the young Fowler spent almost 2 years as a production assistant and minor producer for KCNC-TV. Since joining ESPN, Fowler has hosted NFL, FIFA, tennis, and X-Games.
He is currently married to Jennifer Dempster, a former fitness model and an instructor whom he first met through her ESPN show BodyShaping during an ESPN Christmas party. The couple were married in Oheka Castle in New York and have been together ever since, often traveling to Paris where they got engaged and around the world in general. Last year, Fowler signed a contract extension with ESPN that keeps him with them until 2023.
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.
Charles Barkley - Turner Sports
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.