What is Ian Eagle's Net Worth and Salary?
Ian Eagle is an American sports announcer who has a net worth of $20 million. Ian Eagle calls NBA, NFL, and college basketball games for the networks CBS, TNT, and TBS. He also calls Brooklyn Nets games for the YES Network and French Open tennis matches for the Tennis Channel. Among his other announcing gigs, Eagle has covered boxing and NCAA track and field events.
Contracts & Salary
In late 2020, Ian's fellow CBS broadcasters Tony Romo and Jim Nantz were angling to sign new massive long-term deals to stay with the network. Nantz had been earning a salary of $6.5 million heading into his final year of the contract. Tony Romo subsequently signed a 10-year, $180 million contract that was the largest commentator contract of all time up to that point. Ian Eagle's salary prior to signing an extension in 2021 was believed to be in the $2-3 million range. On February 1, 2021 it was announced that he had re-signed with a long-term contract. The exact details of the contract were not revealed, but based on Jim Nantz's $6.5 million previous salary, it's likely that Ian signed something along the lines of a 10-year $70-80 million deal, giving him an average estimated annual salary of $70-80 million.
Early Life and Education
Ian Eagle was born on February 9, 1969 in Miami, Florida to singer Monica Maris and actor Jack Eagle. His father was well-known for playing Brother Dominic in a popular Super Bowl commercial for Xerox. As a young adult, Eagle went to Syracuse University, graduating from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1990.
Career Beginnings
Eagle got his start in sports announcing while at Syracuse. During his freshman year, he joined the radio station WJPZ and announced women's basketball games at the Carrier Dome. As a sophomore, Eagle called high-profile Syracuse Orange games on the student-run radio station WAER. Meanwhile, he interned at WTVH for three years, where he gained on-camera experience.
After graduating from Syracuse in 1990, Eagle started working as a producer at WFAN in New York City. The station eventually gave him his own show, "Bagels and Baseball." In 1993, Eagle took on pregame and postgame duties for the NFL's New York Jets. The following year, he began doing play-by-play radio announcing for the NBA's Brooklyn Nets. Eagle went on to become an announcer on SportsChannel, which later became Fox Sports Net.
CBS
After leaving WFAN, Eagle joined CBS in 1998 as an announcer for NCAA basketball and NFL games. Later, in 2010, he joined Dan Fouts as part of the network's number-three broadcast team for NFL coverage. The pair became the number-two team on CBS during the 2014 season. In 2020, Eagle was paired with former Fox analyst Charles Davis following the departure of Fouts. Four years later, he became the lead play-by-play announcer for CBS's March Madness coverage. Beyond football and basketball, Eagle has covered boxing, tennis, and NCAA track and field for CBS.
Other Television Networks
In 2002, Eagle joined the YES Network as play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn Nets. After Marv Albert joined the network for the 2005-06 NBA season, games were split between the two men. Eagle became the primary announcer again starting in the 2011-12 NBA season after Albert left the network. During that time, he also began calling NBA playoff games for TNT. Elsewhere, on Westwood One, he does play-by-play for "Thursday Night Football," and on Sirius, he has a daily talk show. Among his myriad other announcing gigs, Eagle has covered the French Open for the Tennis Channel and the Summer Olympics for Westwood One.
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Video Games and Commercials
Eagle has lent his voice to some video games and commercials. For the PSP console, he voiced the announcer in the 2007, 2008, and 2009 "NBA" games. Eagle later lent his voice to Saber Interactive's 2017 game "NBA Playgrounds," on which he was also a playable character. On the radio, he provided the voiceover for Modell's commercials.
Honors and Awards
While still at Syracuse, Eagle won the Bob Costas Award for Outstanding Sportscasting. He later won multiple Sports Emmy Awards for his play-by-play announcing. In 2022, Eagle was named Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.
Personal Life & Real Estate
With his wife Alisa, Eagle has two children named Noah and Erin. A Syracuse alum like his father, Noah serves as a play-by-play announcer for college football and basketball on NBC networks, as well as for Brooklyn Nets games on the YES Network. He has also done announcing for the Tennis Channel, Nickelodeon, CBS, and Fox.
Ian and his wife live in Essex Fells, New Jersey, in a home they bought in 1998 for $677,000. Today their home is worth around $2 million.
