What is Brent Musburger's Net Worth and Salary?
Brent Musburger is an American sportscaster who has a net worth of $14 million and annual salary of $4 million. Brent Musburger has worked for CBS Sports, ABC Sports, and ESPN. On the former network, he was one of the original members of "The NFL Today" and covered such major sporting events as the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, World Series, and the Masters. Musburger has covered numerous other tournaments during his decades-long sportscasting career, including the Indianapolis 500, the FIFA World Cup, and the Belmont Stakes, and for a while served as the play-by-play announcer for the NFL's Oakland / Las Vegas Raiders. He is a member of the Montana Broadcaster's Association Hall of Fame.
Musburger began his career as a sportswriter for the now-defunct Chicago American newspaper. In 1968, he wrote a column regarding Tommie Smith and John Carlos's protest of racial injustice in the United States with a Black Power salute on the medal stand during the 1968 Summer Olympics. In it he stated "Smith and Carlos looked like a couple of black-skinned storm troopers" who were "ignoble," "juvenile," and "unimaginative." In a subsequent article in 1999 in the New York Times, Musburger stated that comparing the two to the Nazis was "harsh", but he stood by his criticism of the pair's actions. In 1968, Musburger began a 22-year association with CBS, first as a sports anchor for WBBM radio and later for WBBM-TV. In the mid-1970s Musburger moved to Los Angeles and anchored news and sports for KNXT (now KCBS-TV); there he worked alongside Connie Chung as a co-anchor on KNXT's evening newscasts from 1978 until 1980, when he joined CBS Sports full-time. In March of 2014, it was announced that Brent Musburger would be pulled off of ABC's college football game of the week (with Kirk Herbstreit) and that Musburger would be shifting to ESPN's upcoming SEC Network to call weekly games. He departed ESPN in 2017. In 2018 he became the play-by-play announced for the Raiders.
Early Life and Education
Brent Musburger was born on May 26, 1939 in Portland, Oregon to Beryl and Cec, and was raised in Billings, Montana. He has a brother named Todd who went on to become a high-profile media attorney and sports agent. As a youth, Musburger occasionally got himself into trouble; at the age of 12, he and his brother stole a car belonging to their mother's cleaning lady. To instill in him some discipline, his parents sent him to Shattuck-St. Mary's boarding school in Faribault, Minnesota. For his higher education, Musburger attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, from which he earned his degree in journalism.
Career Beginnings
Musburger started his professional career as a sportswriter for the Chicago American newspaper, where he worked with renowned sportswriter Warren Brown. He courted substantial controversy in 1968 when he wrote a column calling Olympic athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos "black-skinned stormtroopers," in reference to their protest against racial inequity while receiving their medals at the Olympic Games in Mexico City.
In the late 60s, Musburger began working for CBS, initially as a sports anchor on WBBM radio. He eventually joined WBBM-TV. Moving to Los Angeles in the mid-70s, Musburger became a news and sports anchor on KNXT, working alongside Connie Chung on evening newscasts until 1980.
CBS Sports
In 1973, Musburger started doing play-by-play announcements of NFL games on CBS Sports; he was variously paired with Tommy Mason or Bart Starr, and a year later with Wayne Walker. Eventually, in 1975, Musburger became the host of "The NFL Today," the network's main NFL studio show. It was in this position that he rose to national fame. During his tenure through 1990, the NFL pregame show was consistently rated the number-one pregame program in the country.
Musburger's success on "The NFL Today" resulted in him landing a myriad of other assignments for CBS Sports. Among them, he covered college football and basketball, NBA games, tennis championships, horse races, and golf tournaments. Musburger also covered MLB games on CBS Radio. Notably, he is credited with coining the term "March Madness" to refer to the annual NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Due to major management changes in 1990, Musburger was fired from CBS.
ABC Sports and ESPN
Given several offers after his firing from CBS, Musburger ultimately chose to join ABC Sports. There, he initially focused on covering college football and basketball. Musburger subsequently took on more duties after ABC merged with ESPN, including covering MLB and NBA games, golf tournaments, horse races, and the Indianapolis 500. Additionally, he hosted halftime on "Monday Night Football"; did play-by-play announcements on "Saturday Night Football" and ESPN's SEC Network; hosted coverage of the 1998 and 2006 World Cups; and hosted coverage of the Tour de France.
Musburger was especially well known on ABC and ESPN for his coverage of major college football championships, notably BCS National Championship games, of which he called seven from 2000 to 2014. He also called the Rose Bowl in 2007. Musburger left ABC and ESPN in early 2017 having spent 27 years with the networks.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Vegas Stats & Information Network
A month after his departure from ABC and ESPN, Musburger became the lead on-air personality on the Vegas Stats & Information Network, which was launched by his brother Todd, nephew Brian, and documentary film producer Dave Berg. VSiN is a sports betting radio network and streaming television channel that broadcasts from Las Vegas, Nevada. Musburger hosted its weekday program "My Guys in the Desert." In 2021, he and the family sold the network to DraftKings while remaining in their positions as executives and on-air personalities.
Oakland / Las Vegas Raiders
Musburger made his return to sportscasting in 2018 when he became the new play-by-play radio announcer for the NFL's Oakland Raiders. He continued in this position through the 2021 season after the team moved to Las Vegas.
Other Media Appearances
Elsewhere in the media, Musburger played a reporter in the boxing film "Rocky II" and had cameos in the sports comedies "The Main Event" and "The Waterboy." He also voiced the character Brent Mustangburger, a fictionalized version of himself, in the animated films "Cars 2" and "Planes."
Personal Life
Musburger has been married to Arlene Sander since 1963. Together, they have two sons named Blake and Scott.
Real Estate
In 1994 Brent and Arlene paid $1.245 million for a lakefront mansion in Jupiter, Florida. They listed their home for sale in March 2017 for $2.45 million and sold it in May 2017 for $2 million.
