Sports Journalists’ Salaries, Take II
Media Gossip/Musings June 19th. 2008, 4:15pm
Received many emails about our take yesterday on sports journalists’ salaries. Most of them involved disagreements with our guesstimates. Gawker had an interesting take: “...a handful of lucky guys sit around spouting completely unverifiable opinions on ballgames and burning $100 bills to fuel their tailgating barbecues.” One editor wrote that it was “ballsy,” which we found funny, because most of the guys on that list are more recognizable than a third of the athletes they cover, and they’re making more money. A few additions and subtractions after the jump.
- Ray Ratto is not making $300k in the weak San Francisco market.
- Where are ESPN’s Mort and Clayton? Depending on the way ESPN structures their deals – magazine, .com and TV – they both could be on there.
- How could you leave Paul Finebaum from Birmingham off the list? His radio show is huge in the south – he gets at least $300k from that – plus another $100 from his paper.
- Selena Roberts is not quite getting $600k from SI. Gary Smith, even though he rarely writes, makes nearly as much as she does.
- Peter Vecsey of the NY Post has been around long enough that he’s got to be making close to $500k, including TV dough.
- There’s no way Feinstein is getting 100k from the Washington Post … but you’re also way, way too low on his book numbers. They’re all huge sellers, for which he commands mid-six figure money.
- Bill Plaschke of the LA Times needs to be included, perhaps you have forgotten how often he appears on Around the Horn.
22 Responses to “Sports Journalists’ Salaries, Take II”
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June 19th, 2008 at 4:20 PM
Mike Lupica sprinkles gold flakes onto his dinosaur egg omelettes every morning, bitches.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:21 PM
Gawker is just so cool.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:22 PM
That shit ain’t ballin’
June 19th, 2008 at 4:23 PM
Tell Gawker to take their 35K salary and shove it up there ass..unless they want to give it to me…
June 19th, 2008 at 4:24 PM
Mort is making some very nice cheese. He lives about 20 minutes north of where I do and lives in the former CEO of Wal-Mart’s old house. Its a seven figure pad.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Mitch Album is NOT a sports journalist/columnist/writer anymore. He is a former sportswriter, who occassionally still dabbles. He used to be good. Not anymore.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:31 PM
John Clayton has got to be making some sweet dough. You know with all that Tales from the Crypt Royalties.
/Sean Salisbury
June 19th, 2008 at 4:34 PM
$35,000!?!??!?! What are you a Rockefeller? You can bath in that sort of loot. Maybe you have great-nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie who share in your joy.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:36 PM
i dont even know what this means, but anytime you can mix in a rockefeller reference with one about duck tales, im going to laugh my ass off
June 19th, 2008 at 4:37 PM
Ballin!
June 19th, 2008 at 4:39 PM
i.e. finebaum:
i think he’s only “big” in alabama and the neighboring metropolises across state borders that pick up the bleeding signal (pensacola, columbus, ga., meridian, miss. … maybe the far western reaches of the atlanta burbs. maybe.)
June 19th, 2008 at 4:40 PM
I kind of figured book money would be huge. I always figured writing a book was a sportswriter’s ultimate goal. That’s where the big-time money is.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:46 PM
Jackie Mac is writing a book with Bird and Magic. That should be good
June 19th, 2008 at 4:53 PM
How could it not. I still wist LeBatard would finish the one on Ricky Williams. I’ve heard some crazy college stories from friends who covered him, but I can’t imagine his life in the NFL.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:53 PM
Our long national nightmare is over: Jamie Lynn Spears popped out her baby girl today.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:56 PM
so what’s the over/under on Jamie Lynn going to rehab?
June 19th, 2008 at 4:57 PM
In Soviet Russia, sports write you!
June 19th, 2008 at 5:13 PM
Our long national nightmare has begun: Jamie Lynn Spears popped out her baby girl today.
/uugghhhed
June 19th, 2008 at 5:24 PM
By the way, my salary is $0.00
Yay me…
June 19th, 2008 at 6:29 PM
Including tv money and my book deal, I cleared 37,500 last year
/made $0 off tv and book
June 19th, 2008 at 10:35 PM
Tomorrow we speculate on the incomes of porn stars, because there’s no end to the star-fucking here.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:40 PM
I would love to know what porn stars make. Considering I watch their material for free in the interwebs.