What is John Sterling's Net Worth and Salary?
John Sterling is an American sportscaster who has a net worth of $2 million.
John Sterling is best known for being the former radio play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. From 1989 until a brief break in the summer of 2019, he called 5,060 consecutive Yankees games. He announced his retirement on April 15, 2024. Beyond baseball, Sterling announced the Kitten Bowl on the Hallmark Channel from 2013 to 2017. He is well known for his catchphrase "Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeeee Yankees win!".
Salary
John Sterling's Yankees salary was $500 thousand.
Early Life and Education
John Sterling was born as John Sloss on the Fourth of July, 1938 in New York City. He was raised on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. For his higher education, Sterling briefly attended Moravian College in Pennsylvania, Boston University in Massachusetts, and Columbia University in New York. He ultimately decided to leave school to pursue his career in radio at a local station in Wellsville, New York.
Career Beginnings
Sterling had his first major sportscasting job in Baltimore, serving as the play-by-play announcer for the NBA's Baltimore Bullets during the 1970-71 season. After that, he became a talk show host on the New York station WMCA, and also called Morgan State University football games. In New York, Sterling served as the radio voice for a variety of teams, including the WHA's Raiders, the NHL's Islanders, the WFL's Stars, and the ABA/NBA's Jets. Additionally, he did a stint with the Yankees as a pregame host on the stations WMCA and WINS. In the early 1980s, Sterling moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he hosted a sports call-in program on WSB and covered Braves and Hawks games for Turner Sports.
New York Yankees
Sterling returned to New York in 1989 to broadcast games for the Yankees on the radio station WABC. He went on to become the iconic voice of the team, calling 5,060 consecutive Yankees games until taking four days off in the summer of 2019 during his birthday. Sterling's various sportscasting partners over the years have included Suzyn Waldman, Jay Johnstone, Michael Kay, Charley Steiner, and Joe Angel. In 2013, he moved to the station WFAN to cover the team.
On top of announcing live Yankees games, Sterling also hosts the Emmy Award-winning YES Network series "Yankeeography," which chronicles the lives and careers of Yankees players, coaches, and personnel. Additionally, he has a nightly commentary feature on WCBS called "Sterling on Sports." In other Yankees-related activities, Sterling has emceed several of the team's pregame ceremonies, and has partnered with his fellow sportscaster Michael Kay to emcee major off-field Yankees events, including the 2000 ticker-tape parade celebrating the team's World Series win.
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Announcing Style
Sterling possesses an unorthodox announcing style that has often been divisive with listeners. In addition to his distinctive, colorful personality, he often characterizes plays differently than they appear on the field, earning him frequent criticism in the media. Sterling is also notorious for his various catchphrases, including his home run call of "It is high, it is far, it is gone!" For consecutive homers, he is known to reference the Harry Belafonte song "Zombie Jamboree" by proclaiming "It's a back to back… and a belly to belly!" After the final out of a Yankees victory, Sterling announces "Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeee Yankees win!," drawing out the word "the" with a schwa, as in "thuh." Among other vocal quirks, he is noted for emphasizing the "mmm" sound before certain words.
Other Activities
Beyond baseball, Sterling announced the Kitten Bowl on the Hallmark Channel from 2013 to 2017. In late 2018, he returned to NBA announcing to call a game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Atlanta Hawks on the YES Network.
Personal Life
Sterling was married to his wife Jennifer from 1996 until their divorce in 2008. Together, they had four children, including triplets.
A resident of Edgewater, New Jersey, Sterling was among the hundreds of people displaced in early 2015 when a fire destroyed the Avalon at Edgewater complex. Later, in 2021, he was stranded in his car a mile from his home by flooding from Hurricane Ida. Sterling was rescued by fellow Edgewater resident and Yankees broadcaster Rickie Ricardo.
