Chris “Mad Dog” Russo is willing to be transparent about how much he makes.
ESPN wishes he wasn’t.
The longtime WFAN host has become something of a fixture on “First Take,” the Worldwide Leader’s daily morning debate show. His arrival has at times been mired in controversy, most notably with former players, who are his coworkers, tearing into him for some of his takes.
That probably isn’t a huge issue for ESPN. It is a debate show after all, and if they are getting eyes on the program – even if it is because JJ Redick is ripping Russo – it’s engagement.
What might’ve been a bigger issue for ESPN was Russo going on Howard Stern over the summer and divulging that he makes $10,000 every time he appears on the show.
“I sold myself way short because I had no idea that this show would be that much fun, that (Stephen A. Smith) would be so good, and everybody would get a kick out of it. ... I sold myself, I did not do a good job with that negotiation," Russo said, via Awful Announcing. They first said ‘Well, how about $7,500 and Chris can do it half from home and half in New York.’ And I said ‘If I’m gonna do this right, I gotta be here every week ... so I’ll come in every week, no problem, if you raise it to 10 grand.’ They said yes in 10 seconds.”
That was in June, but appearing on an episode of the “Sports Illustrated Media Podcast” released Thursday, Russo said ESPN was none-too-pleased about that anecdote getting out.
“I’ll probably get my wrist slapped again,” Russo said when asked about the fallout of that remark by host Jimmy Traina. “Somebody from ESPN sent a text to my agent with two words: ‘Not helpful.’ ...
"That will get me in trouble, too, but what the hell? It’s your show, nobody listens, right?”
A current employee going on the record and point blank saying what they make is relatively unheard of. That sort of info does occasionally get out, but it ultimately isn’t surprising ESPN didn’t love that Russo volunteered such information.
At the end of the day though, it’s Russo’s prerogative whether he wants to share his salary (unless, of course, there was wording in his contract saying otherwise). ESPN doesn’t have to like it, but it does give present and future talent something to point to in negotiations.
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