Stephen A. Smith recruited Shannon Sharpe to ESPN First Take after Sharpe’s rift with Skip Bayless grew for all to see. That turned out to be a great decision.
Sharpe — who left his co-host seat on FS1’s “Undisputed” last summer and joined ESPN’s “First Take” in September 2023 — will now be around for a little bit longer.
ESPN revealed on Friday that the network has signed Sharpe to a new contract extension.
News: @ShannonSharpe to continue as a regular @FirstTake guest joining @stephenasmith & @MollyQerim thru the remainder of the NBA reg. season with a new contract extension
Friday, Stephen A. & Shannon go head-to-head as coaches in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game (7p ET, ESPN) pic.twitter.com/mrPtPdyfXk
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) February 16, 2024
His new deal will see him remain on First Take with Stephen A. Smith and Molly Qerim through the rest of the NBA season as a regular.
“Being a part of this family has been a blessing and everything about this relationship with ESPN, Stephen A. and First Take has been tremendous,” Sharpe said.
“I look forward to bringing my best as we continue to go head-to-head across different sports.”
2023 was First Take’s most successful year to date. Anchored by Smith and Molly Qerim along with their rotating cast of guests, the show averaged almost 500,000 viewers per episode.
Things only seemed to get better later in the year, with Sharpe debuting in early September. Over 700,000 people were tuning in to Sharpe’s first week on the show.
December 2023 was the show’s second most-watched month on record. Men lie, women lie, numbers do not lie. ESPN and First Take ultimately came out a winner and FS1 is likely kicking themselves for losing a talent like Sharpe.
