Sports
Jason Whitlock Boosted His Net Worth by Bouncing Between ESPN and Fox Sports
John Moriello started covering sports in 1982, began digital publishing in 1995, and joined Sportscasting in 2020. A graduate of St. John Fisher University, he finds inspiration in the underdogs and the fascinating stories sports can tell (both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat). John expertly covers all aspects of NASCAR. Beginning with his 2014 coverage at Fox Sports of the aftermath of the dirt-race tragedy in which Kevin Ward Jr. died after being struck by a car driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, John has excelled as a journalist who specializes in the motorsports world. He previously spent more than three decades covering high school sports and worked as a beat writer covering Big East football and basketball, but NASCAR is now where the true expertise falls. John is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame (2013), the President of the New York State Sportswriters Association, and a two-time Best of Gannett winner for print and online collaborations whose work has appeared on FoxSports.com and MaxPreps.com.
Get to know John Moriello betterPublished01 Jun 2020
Jason Whitlock never ran out of things to say, even while the pandemic meant that the country was out of sports to play. But the columnist-turned-TV commentator is off the air as of now amid reports that his contract with Fox Sports expired over the weekend.
It likely means he is done bouncing between cable networks for now and will instead try a new venture.
Jason Whitlock leaves ‘Speak for Yourself’
Whitlock, 53, had most recently been co-hosting Speak for Yourself along with retired NFL player Marcellus Wiley on Fox Sports 1. His absence from Monday’s show triggered media inquiries. A network spokesman confirmed that Friday was Whitlock’s last day, adding that the network thanked him for his hard work and dedication.
Whitlock’s most recent tweet on Sunday made no reference to leaving the network.
What might be next for the multi-media commentator?
Jason Whitlock was working for ESPN while writing a column for the Kansas City Star but burned his bridges at ESPN for a time by disparaging fellow The Sports Reporters panelist Mike Lupica in 2006. He began working for AOL Sports later that year and then FoxSports.com the following year. It would be the first of several savvy moves on his part that boosted his salary by playing media behemoths against each other.
Whitlock developed his reputation for taking on issues of race in sports while writing for Fox Sports, where readers poked fun at him over his frequent references to The Wire despite the show’s run on HBO having ended.
He left Fox Sports in 2013 to return to ESPN, where he intended to do some broadcast work but primarily focus on building a new website, TheUndefeated.com, aimed at documenting black culture and sports. That endeavor was plagued by numerous delays, and Whitlock left ESPN again in October 2015.
He landed back at Fox, where he was used on-air by the sports, news, and business divisions. He began Speak for Yourself with Colin Cowherd in 2016.
The New York Post speculated that Whitlock’s next step might be a streaming or podcast format that doesn’t depend on a network. That could potentially mean following Bill Simmons and Joe Rogan to Spotify, which has been investing heavily in sports.
Jason Whitlock’s net worth
RELATED:Are Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless Friends?
Jason Whitlock has made the most of his journalism degree from Ball State, where he played football on a scholarship offensive lineman. As was the case with Skip Bayless, he made a successful conversion from the newspaper industry to broadcasting.
Whitlock began his journalism career as a newspaper sports reporter. He left the print business in 2010 after 15 years at the Kansas City Star, where he became an acclaimed columnist and won multiple national awards.
He began branching out during his time in Kansas City, writing columns for ESPN and appearing as a fill-in host on some of that network’s daytime programming as well as Jim Rome’s radio show. That opened the door to his full-time work at ESPN and Fox.
By bouncing between the two networks, he reportedly upped his salary to more than $2 million a year. PlayersWiki.com estimates Jason Whitlock’s net worth to be $10 million.
