As he prepares to earn a large contract after retiring, Jason Kelce’s move from the NFL to ESPN is creating ripples. After a stellar 13-year career, the former center for the Philadelphia Eagles will return to “Monday Night Countdown” in the 2018 campaign.
ESPN has signed Kelce to a three-year contract paying $1.8 million annually for his appearances on their Monday night football coverage, according to Steve Brenner of the Sun. Not to add, the deal comes with a hefty $1 million sign-on incentive.
Prior to ESPN winning him over, media behemoths like Amazon, CBS, and NBC were said to be after Kelce’s signature. According to the U.S. Sun, Fox Sports was also considering a three-year, $6 million deal. But after being persuaded by ESPN’s offer to give him “full freedom” to continue co-producing the “New Heights” podcast with his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Kelce concluded that the network was his best option.
As per the stated agreement, ESPN will have the opportunity to purchase the well-known podcast of the Kelce brothers in the event that they decide to sell before 2025.
The “New Heights” sports podcast debuted in September 2022 and has since skyrocketed in popularity, gaining an incredible 4.2 million TikTok followers and snagging sponsorships purportedly worth $90 million.
In his last podcast, Kelce discussed the circulating rumors that he was connected to ESPN. “Nothing has been officially inked yet or announced yet but, obviously, there’s been a lot of reports out there about me going to ESPN and I think time will kind of take care of that but it’s a tremendous honor to even be considered to potentially work there,” he said.
Reminiscing about his Cleveland Heights upbringing, Kelce said that ESPN was his and Travis’s world. “We were glued to the TV each and every day, so the fact that I may potentially, probably will be working there is pretty darn cool,” he said.
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