Salary: $6 million per year
With over 5 decades of sportscasting experience, it’s a bit ironic that 74-year-old NFL play-by-play broadcaster, Al Michaels, is known best for just 2 famous matches which he broadcasted. One was the 1980 Winter Olympics ice-hockey game between the United States and the Soviet Union, which was not just a game of sports but also a very political game. The United States ended up winning 4 to 3, which promptly awarded the game the nickname of “The Miracle on Ice”.
Michaels’ next famous matched occurred in 1989 during the World Series, when a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Bay Area, causing the game to be postponed due to serious concerns for public safety. Michaels has won numerous awards throughout his successful sportscasting career, including 5 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Personality, 3 NSSA Awards and even “Sportscaster of the Year”. He also dabbled in acting, appearing in the 1970 episode of Hawaii Five-O episode called “Run, Johny, Run” which also featured a young Christopher Walken.
Rebecca Lobo - ESPN
Salary: $60,000 per year
At 6'4", Rebecca Lobo is one incredibly tall woman! Lobo is one of the original players from the WNBA and debuted with the New York Liberty. She continued playing with the team before moving to the Houston Comets and retiring the following year. Her career was cut short by an anterior ligament tear that forced her career to its premature end. She has since become a reporter and color analyst for ESPN, mostly focusing on WNBA and women's college basketball games.
The popular NBA player was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 as well as the basketball hall of fame. In 2003, Lobo married sportswriter Steve Rushin and has since given birth to 4 children. Lobo helped her mother write a book called "The Home Team" that details the struggles that her mom had endured in battling breast cancer. The mom and daughter duo have since founded the RuthAnn and Rebecca Lobo Scholarship which offer Hispanic students financial aid. In 2017, she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Lobo dominated the courts as a college player before turning pro, with one of her crowning achievements being her team's 35-0 win in the 1995 national championship.
Dick Enberg - NBC, CBS, ESPN
Salary: $6 million per year
The Hall of Fame broadcaster, famous for his "Oh my!" calls has been one of America's most loved and admired sports broadcasters. His career spanned out through about 60 years in which he worked with numerous networks such as NBC, CBS, and ESPN. Enberg's incredible track record included 10 Super Bowls and 28 Wimbledons. He was highly celebrated and racked up a very impressive list of honors including 3 Hall of Fame awards, 13 Sports Emmy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Emmy and even his own star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
Outside of sports, Enberg has appeared in a handful of films as an announcer or himself, mostly throughout the '70s. He is the father of 6 kids who also went on to accomplish great things in their personal lives. The legendary sportscaster retired from broadcasting in 2016 and sadly passed away in 2017 at age 82 in his La Jolla, California residence.
Sam Rosen - Fox Sports
Salary: $300,000 per year
Sam Rosen, the famous play-by-play announcer for the New York Rangers has been working with MSG Network since 1984 and is known for his trademark catchphrase "It's a power-play goal!". His career in sportscasting began in 1970 as a statistician for Knicks Radio Network and really kicked off in 1982 when he was hired full-time as studio host for the Rangers by MSG. During his career, Rosen has hosted several shows including “The Mike Keenan Show,” “The Herb Brooks Show,” “Giants Journal” and Knicks basketball.
The veteran play-by-play announcer was awarded the “Excellence in Boxing Broadcast Journalism” award in 1989 and was nominated three times for the New York Emmy Award for On-Camera Achievement in Sports. Rosen also worked for NHL Radio for 12 years and broadcasted 12 Stanley Cup Finals. His latest honors were being inducted to the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and receiving the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 2016.
Dan Fouts - CBS
Salary: $750,000 per year
Another famous quarterback turned broadcaster on our list is the San Diego Chargers', Dan Fouts. With over 43,000 yards and 254 touchdowns throughout his 14-year NFL career, the successful quarterback built up a serious name for himself. His achievements include being the first player in history to throw 4,000 yards for 3 seasons consecutively. He's also a 6 times Pro Bowl champion and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Just one year after retiring, Fouts began his broadcasting career as an NFL analyst on CBS. Since then he has done color commentary for ABC Sports and even made an acting debut in Adam Sandler's comedy, The Waterboy, along with many other NFL players. The 68-year-old retired NFL player was originally born in San Francisco and began his career with a scholarship offer from the University of Oregon to play for the Oregon Ducks team as quarterback. He was inducted into the University of Oregon Hall of Fame in 1992.