The traditional networks like ESPN that ruled the sports broadcast field over the last 50 years have new challenges. It’s the changing landscape in the sports viewing experience from the comfort of one’s home. It’s because of the arrival of big players like Netflix and Amazon Prime in the sports live streaming space. Especially, following the success of the TysonVsPaul boxing exhibition and Christmas Day NFL, things don’t really seem nice for ESPN. On top of it, they have a big Stephen A. Smith decision pending.

While some may disagree, veteran analyst A. Smith is the face of ESPN’s basketball broadcast. There has always been noise surrounding how he earns more than an average NBA team’s coach. Only Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, Ty Lue, and Eric Spoelstra earn more than Smith. And now with the upcoming contract extension, he might top all of them. With his current contract which is set to expire this season, Smith earned $12 million per year.

And, while the negotiations are still going on, the NY Times reported that the star analyst was negotiating an annual salary of $20 million for six years. While the deal isn’t finalized yet, Stephen A. Smith revealed whether he would stick with the firm or not. Featuring in the latest episode of The Howard Stern Show, Smith was asked if he would continue with ESPN, and he simply said, “I believe so“. Following that, he went on to praise ESPN’s president Jimmy Pataro on how he allowed Smith to explore his ways in the position.

Above all, Smith went on to reveal his long-pending dream, saying, “I do a shameless plug one of the things on my bucket list I want to host Saturday Night Live.” Anyway, while he has the popularity to bag the $20 million deal, will the Anti-ESPN strategy allow it?

What is the Anti-ESPN strategy?

“We’re not focusing on acquiring rights to large regular season sports packages. Rather, our live strategy is all about delivering can’t-miss, special event programming,” said Netflix in a letter to its shareholders. This is coming after the majestic success of the recent live sporting events at the end of 2024. Reportedly, in the last quarter of 2024, Netflix secured around 6,50,000 new sign-up subscribers.

Moreover, the Christmas Day NFL along with the Beyonce performance, became the most streamed NFL game on a streaming platform. So, there is definitely a shift in the sports viewing experience. Above all, The Athletic referred to it as an Anti-ESPN strategy in its latest article. Netflix, in the statement, clearly mentioned that it focused only on “can’t-miss, special event programming” and not the whole regular season package is in itself threatening to the traditional broadcasting network.

Since big events like the playoffs and Finals grab a lot of eyeballs than the regular season games, there are chances for ESPN to lose its control over the bargaining rights. At the same time, Netflix has spent a lot in acquiring famous personalities to run the show over the last few months. Will this affect Stephen A. Smith’s upcoming contract extension? Let us know in the comments below.