Star offensive tackle Jason Kelce retired from the NFL on Monday after 13 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, but he will continue his thriving career as a podcaster.
Jason and his brother Travis Kelce's “New Heights” podcast, which launched in September 2022, has routinely appeared at No. 1 on various podcast charts on Apple AAPL.
And Spotify Spot,
It is reportedly being marketed to media brands, according to a report last week from Bloomberg News.
A new deal for “New Heights” could be a huge deal, as the market for top podcasters has been strong in recent years. Last month, Spotify's Joe Rogan renewed his deal with the streamer for roughly $250 million, and the “SmartLess” podcast moved from Amazon to SiriusXM LSXMK.
In a deal worth $100 million.
“Businesses want Jason and Travis Kelce’s podcast because of the deep connection they have with their audience,” Eric Silver, head of development at Multitude, a podcast studio and ad sales provider, told MarketWatch. “That's the most important thing about podcasting.”
But with top podcasters getting multi-million dollar deals, what kind of compensation can the “New Heights” crew expect?
“I wouldn't be surprised if it was something like 'SmartLess.' I wouldn't be surprised if it was $100 million,” Silver said, while comparing the current market for podcasters to the free agency period in sports.
The podcast industry has moved away from exclusivity in recent years. For example, popular shows like “The Joe Rogan Experience” and “Call Her Daddy” were previously available exclusively to Spotify subscribers, but are now available on all platforms.
Although deals vary across the industry, the company that would pay Kelces for the movie “New Heights” would be more interested in the ad money, Silver explained. Basically a company like Amazon AMZN,
or Spotify or iHeartMedia IHRT,
He would pay the owners of “New Heights” a certain amount of money, say $100 million, and in return he would keep all or most of the money the show makes from its advertising or future branding deals.
The podcast, which was already a huge hit among football fans, saw a big boost when Travis Kelce started dating Taylor Swift last year, which led to more interest and listeners for their show.
Jason Kelce, 36, earned a salary of $81.7 million during his 13-year NFL career, and Travis Kelce, 34, earned a salary of $76.9 million during his 10-year career with the Kansas City Chiefs. These numbers do not include sponsorship and podcast money.
Kelces representatives did not respond to MarketWatch's request for comment.
See also: Caitlin Clark turned pro. Why could she make more money staying in college for another year?
The former Eagles quarterback announced his retirement Monday in a 45-minute news conference where he thanked the city of Philadelphia, his wife Kylie and former coach Andy Reid — who now coaches his brother for the Chiefs. Jason Kelce finished his career with 193 regular season games, seven Pro Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl championship.
“It's always been a goal of mine to play my entire career in one city,” Jason Kelce said. “I couldn't have had a better dream if I had tried.”
