Top 5 highest-paid sports broadcasters ft. Tom Brady, Jim Rome, and more (2022)

Sports broadcasters have recently received a surge in financial value. Over the last couple of years, the major networks have been in bidding wars for the top talents in the industry, driving the price tag up to land big-name broadcasters.

We are now in a world where the top broadcasters in the sports industry make as much, if not more, than the large majority of players that they are talking about. Here are the top five highest-paid sports broadcasters, ranked by their average yearly reported salary.

Highest-paid sports broadcasters by yearly salary

#4 - Michael Strahan - $17 million

While Michael Strahan made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his dominant NFL career as a pass rusher for the New York Giants, he has been just as successful in his post-football career. He has been dominating the media world as much as he did the gridiron.

Strahan makes an estimated $17 million per year and has a net worth of approximately $65 million. He currently works as a studio analyst for the NFL on FOX Sports and is a daily television host on Good Morning America. He has also featured in several commercials and TV shows.

#3 (tied) - Troy Aikman - $18 million

Troy Aikman has been paired with Joe Buck in the booth as the top broadcast team for NFL games on FOX network. He became a free agent following the 2021 season and was at the center of a bidding war between FOX, ESPN, and Amazon.

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After the networks placed their bids, ESPN came out on top, offering Aikman a massive contract worth $18 million annually to call their weekly edition of Monday Night Football. Shortly after Aikman signed, Joe Buck joined him there.

Highest-earning sports broadcasters by yearly salary

#3 (tied) - Tony Romo - $18 million

The recent surge in the value of sports broadcaster contracts, especially in the NFL, can be credited to Tony Romo. He officially reset the market value for top talent in the industry during the 2020 NFL season when he signed a massive contract extension with CBS sports network.

The game-changing deal is worth an incredible $180 million spread out across ten seasons worth of coverage. His AAV of $18 million is the exact number that ESPN matched when landing Troy Aikman during the 2022 NFL offseason. Romo has set a new standard moving forward for the NFL broadcasting booth.

#2 - Jim Rome - $30 million

Jim Rome, Image Credit: Sportscasting.com

Jim Rome has been at the top of the sports reporting world from a financial perspective for a long time. He is the highest-paid personality currently working in the industry and the first ever to exceed a net worth of more than $100 million.

Jim Rome has made a living providing controversial takes on radio, television, and print. He has paved the way for many of the current contrarian-type analysts today. He has worked for many major networks and publications at different points in his legendary career. He is currently employed by CBS Sports, where he has a national radio show and simulcast.

#1 - Tom Brady - $37.5 million

Tom Brady has broken almost every record he possibly could as a quarterback in the NFL. His legendary career will also extend off the field as he continues to set records elsewhere. He became the highest-paid sports analyst of all time when he signed an insane 375 million dollar contract with FOX for the next ten years, following whenever he decides to retire from the NFL.

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The deal is even more incredible because Tom Brady was never employed as a broadcaster for any major networks before the massive contract. FOX finds that irrelevant, giving him a game-changing deal that doesn't have an official starting year yet.