There might not be another name more synonymous with the sport of college football right now than Kirk Herbstreit. The five-time Sports Emmy Award winner as Best Analyst, Herbstreit has served as the lead analyst for ESPN’s “College GameDay” since 1996 and has been ABC/ESPN’s lead color commentator for college football games since 2006.
Entering his 29th year as a mainstay for ESPN’s college football coverage, Herbstreit has seen the network become the home of each College Football Playoff Semifinal and National Championship since its inception in 2014 alongside longtime booth partner, Chris Fowler.
While we know ESPN and the College Football Playoff agreed to a six-year, $7.8 billion contract in March for the network to remain as the sole media rights holder of the event through the 2031-32 season, do we know how much that impacts the net worth of Kirk Herbstreit?
What Is Kirk Herbstreit’s Net Worth?
While Herbstreit’s previous role as the starting quarterback and team captain for the 1992 Ohio State Buckeyes would have likely earned him compensation via name, image, and likeness (NIL) in today’s landscape, what does he earn in his current role as lead college football analyst for ESPN?
Herbstreit’s net worth is estimated to be $12 million with an annual salary of $4 million according to Celebrity Net Worth. That is a figure that is expected to expand substantially with Herbstreit adding a color commentator role for “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon alongside legendary play-by-play broadcaster Al Michaels last season.
In 2023, combining both his college and NFL assignments, Herbstreit called 33 games along with 16 “College GameDay” shows in 36 cities across four months.
His contract extension at ESPN in 2022 ties him to the network and his role on “College GameDay” for at least the next three years.
Herbstreit’s CFB and Broadcast Career
Herbstreit is a native of Centerville, Ohio — about an hour away from the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus and three hours away from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
He was a quarterback and four-year letterman with the Buckeyes (1989-92), following in the exact same footsteps of his father, Jim, who was a player and captain at Ohio State (1958-60) before serving as an assistant coach at the school under head coach Woody Hayes.
He joined ESPN in Sept. 1995 as a college football sideline analyst. A year later, he joined “College GameDay” as an analyst where he became a broadcasting legend for a program that has earned nine Sports Emmy Awards.
In all, Herbstreit has earned three individual Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Studio Analyst (2010, 2011, 2019) and another two for Outstanding Event Analyst. The five wins make him the most decorated on-air commentator in ESPN history.
Widely respected for the level of research, detail, and thoughtfulness he brings to his analysis, Herbstreit is also a frequent contributor to “SportsCenter,” ESPN’s weekly CFP rankings show, and the annual presentation of the NFL Draft on both ESPN and ABC.
In 2021, Herbstreit added author to his many titles when he published his memoir, “Out of the Pocket: Football, Fatherhood and ‘College GameDay’ Saturdays,” with a friend and former colleague on the show, Gene Wojciechowski.