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Here's How Much Your Favorite Sideline Reporters Make

We all know that professional sports athletes get paid big bucks to perform. But what about the sideline reporters interviewing them? It seems like such a glam job—the women are gorgeous, hair and makeup perfected, interviewing the top athletes in the nation. They also travel often, following the team for the network they work for. 

The position of a sideline reporter has become increasingly competitive. Networks need their reporters to be popular with viewers in order to bring in more views and therefore more money. Females make up the vast majority of sideline reporters, catering to the largely male viewer demographic. But these reporters can't get by on good looks alone.

Most of these reporters have a history of being active in sports themselves. Either that or they have a passion for sports, becoming experts in asking the perfect questions. From pre-game warmups to post-game interviews, these reporters are following your favorite players and teams and are dedicated to bringing you all the information you are wanting to know.  So what do their salaries look like? Some of these numbers might surprise you! Here's a list of a few of your favorite sideline reporters and how much money they make. 

Jenny Dell

Jenny Dell

Jenny Dell is a sideline reporter for CBS Sports. She was previously an NFL sideline reporter. As lead reporter, the 36-year-old makes a comfortable $150,000 yearly salary. She’s worked for NESN covering the Red Sox and has been the co-host of Campus Eats on the Big Ten Network.

 

Dell went to college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  Her love for sports led her to pursue and win a job working for ESPN behind the scenes. After making a few on-screen appearances, NESN hired her. She worked there until a scandal forced her to move to CBS, where she covers football and basketball, and can also be seen as a host.

 

(Image via Instagram; Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images)

Kelsey Wingert

Kelsey Wingert

Kelsey Wingert is known for being the sideline reporter for AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, usually covering the Colorado Rockies during baseball season. The 30-year-old is reported to make a nice salary of about $125,000 a year.

 

Before she worked for the Rockies, she reported for the Atlanta Braves and made appearances for NBA and NHL games. She was also sideline reporting for the Atlantic Coast Conference football games during the baseball offseason. She’s an LSU graduate with a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism.

 

(Image via Instagram; Dustin Bradford/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images)

Olivia Harlan

Olivia Harlan

Olivia Harlan is a sideline reporter for ESPN College Football, the NFL on Westwood One Sports, and Big Ten Network basketball. With this busy schedule, it’s estimated that the 29-year-old has a yearly salary of about $100,000.

 

Harlan graduated from the University of Georgia. She’s covered SEC and ACC football. She’s been a sideline reporter for the Packers and Atlanta Hawks. With her father, Kevin Harlan, as an announcer, the Harlans became the first father-daughter duo calling an NFL game. She Joined ESPN in 2015, covered football for the Big Ten Network in 2020, and joined BetMGM as host.

 

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Laura Rutledge

Laura Rutledge

Laura Rutledge is a sideline reporter and host for ESPN and the SEC Network. As of July, it was announced she will help broadcast multiple NFL games during the 2022 NFL season. The 33-year-old squeezes a lot into her schedule and makes an estimated $75,000-$90,000 a year.

 

Rutledge won Miss Florida in 2012. She’s a University of Florida graduate, majoring in broadcast Journalism. She worked for Fox Sports as a sideline reporter, joining ESPN and the SEC Network in 2014. She’s hosted multiple shows throughout her career and was named host of “SEC Nation” in 2017. She became the host of “NFL Live” in 2020.

 

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Jen Hale

Jen Hale

Jen Hale is an NFL sideline reporter and American journalist working for Fox Sports. She covers NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans and College Football for Fox Sports. She has also been a substitute host on Fox Sports 1. The 44-year-old is reported to make about $87,000 a year.

 

Hale graduated from LSU with honors. She was the cheer captain, homecoming queen, and Miss LSU. She started her career covering politics. She later became a weekend anchor and reporter. Eventually, she was asked to interview former athletes at LSU football games for a website, which led her to be recommended to Fox Sports. She worked as a sideline reporter for TNT’s coverage of the 2017 NBA Playoffs.

 

(Image via Instagram; Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images)

Molly McGrath

Molly McGrath

Molly McGrath is not only a sideline reporter for ESPN’s college football and basketball telecasts, she is also a sportscaster and studio host. The 33-year-old is estimated to earn an annual $85,000.

 

McGrath attended Boston College, where she interviewed athletes and coaches for the college’s website. This helped her earn her first on-air job. After graduating, she worked at ESPN as a production assistant. She was later hired as an in-arena host for the Boston Celtics. She worked with Fox Sports from 2013-2016 before moving to ESPN where she currently works.

 

(Image via Instagram)

Kaylee Hartung

Kaylee Hartung

Kaylee Hartung recently became Amazon’s first-ever Thursday Night Football sideline reporter. Hartung left her position at ABC News as a correspondent to join Amazon’s new endeavor. It’s estimated the 36-year-old earns an average salary of $74,629.

 

Hartung joined ABC News in 2019 after working at CNN for a couple of years. Before that, she was an ESPN sideline reporter, mainly covering SEC football and college basketball. Hartung graduated from Washington and Lee University, earning a bachelor’s in journalism and politics

 

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Alex Curry

Alex Curry

Alex Curry is currently a FOX Sports host and sideline reporter. She also serves as a fill-in host on FS1 studio programming. The 35-year-old additionally covers the Los Angeles Angels and Kings on FOX Sports West. She's estimated to make about $65,000 a year. 

 

Curry graduated from San Diego State University, receiving a bachelor’s in journalism media studies with a minor in marketing. She joined FOX Sports West in 2012 as the host of “Angels Weekly” and “Kings Weekly”. She has served as co-host of “American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja”.

 

Rich Polk/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images; Matt Brown/Angels Baseball LP/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images

Amanda Pflugrad

Amanda Pflugrad

Amanda Pflugrad is a sideline reporter for the Boston Celtics. She is also a journalist and broadcaster. She’s also worked as a sideline reporter for the PAC-12 Network, covering college football, gymnastics, and track and field. The 34-year-old earns approximately $60,000 a year.

 

She attended the University of Oregon, earning a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism and communication studies. Pflugrad joined Fox Sports Arizona for a year until she became the host of “Best of the Road”. She later joined CBS Sports, acting as an AVP Beach Volleyball Tour reporter. In 2015, she worked for ESPN covering women’s gymnastics.

 

(Image via Instagram; Mpu Dinani/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images)

Rebecca Haarlow

Rebecca Haarlow

Rebecca Haarlow is a sideline reporter for multiple networks including MSG Network, NBA TV, the NBA on TNT, and the Big Ten Network. Previously, she served as a sideline reporter for Fox Sports Net, and as an anchor and reporter for the NFL Network. The 43-year-old has an estimated salary of $50,000.

 

Haarlow graduated from Princeton University. She was the Public Relations Coordinator for Silicon Valley Sports and Entertainment in 2003. She later became the sideline reporter for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2007. She joined NFL Network in 2011, leaving in 2013 to join NBC 5. In 2015, she joined MSG Network as a reporter for the New York Knicks. 

 

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Melissa Stark

Melissa Stark

Melissa Stark is one of the most well-known sideline reporters in the business. She currently works as the sideline reporter for NBC Sunday Night Football but before then, she was the sideline reporter for Monday Night Football. She’s also a reporter for the NFL Network for the show NFL 360. She makes around $75K per year.

Melissa Stark is not just a pretty face. Her body of work truly speaks for itself and she has often been regarded as trailblazer in the industry. And in addition to all her hard work on television, she’s also a mom with four children who she shares with her husband Mike Lilley.

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Bonnie Bernstein

Bonnie Bernstein

Bonnie Bernstein is another accomplished sideline reporter who has worked as a freelance reporter and a guest commentator for several networks. She has been seen on such networks as ESPN, MSNBC and Fox News. She makes around $1 million annually. Her career as a sideline reporter started back in 1998 for NCAA Men's Basketball Championships on CBS Sports.

In addition to television, she’s also done radio work. In fact, the first years of her career were spent on local radio. She worked for WXJN-FM radio in Lewes, Delaware and worked up the ladder to become sports director, and from there transitioned to television. She returned to radio hosting in 2009 for the The Michael Kay Show on 1050 ESPN Radio.

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Kathryn Tappen

Kathryn Tappen

Kathryn Tappen currently works for NBC Sports, covering such events as Notre Dame Football, Golf, and Football Night in America. Most notably, however, she has covered both the Summer and Winter Olympics. After starting out on College Sports Television, she moved to the NHL Network, and then NBC in 2014.

The Rutgers University alumni had grown up playing a variety of sports, making it a huge part of her life, especially through college as she earned her degree in Journalism. In 2014, Tappen earned the “Woman of Inspiration" award from the Boston Chapter of Women in Sports and Events. She is said to make around $200K per year.

(Image via Instagram; Noah Graham/NHLI/Getty Images)

Kristen Ledlow

Kristen Ledlow

Kristen Ledlow works for NBA TV and is the host of NBA Inside Stuff. On top of that, she’s the courtside reporter for NBA on TNT. After starting out as an achor on WTXL-TV and ESPN Tallahassee, she became the sideline reporter for the Florida State Seminoles football games. After leaving radio, she got her first television gig on NBA TV.

In 2015, she became a co-host on NBA Inside Stuff. The former Miss Capital City USA married Will Ramanakiwai and has been married to him since 2018. No doubt they are rolling in dough as she alone makes a steady $100K per year according to sources.

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Heidi Watney

Heidi Watney

Heidi Watney works as the sideline reporter for Apple TV+, earning around $250K per year. The stunningly gorgeous sportscaster has also worked for the MLB Network, Time Warner Cable SportsNet and the New England Sports Network headquartered in Boston.

The National Merit Scholar graduated with honors at the University of San Diego in 2003. Before that, she competed as Miss California in 2002 and had become the first runner-up. Golf fans may know her as the cousin of professional golfer Nick Watney. She is currently married to Mike Wickham and has two children.

Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images

Sage Steele

Sage Steele

Earning an annual salary of around $400K, Sage Steele is now the co-host on SportsCenter on ESPN. Covering major events like the Super Bowl, as well as smaller ones, she’s been reporting from just about everywhere, including the sidelines. Before joining SportsCenter, she was the host of NBA Countdown.

Sage Steele grew up with sports, making her well-qualified for her position. She is the daughter of Gary Steele who was the first black varsity football player at West Point in the mid-1960s. In 2013, he became inducted in the Army Sports Hall of Fame. Married to Jonathan Bailey she has three children and enjoy a million-dollar home with her family.

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Jenn Brown

Jenn Brown

Jenn Brown’s salary is estimated to be around $98,000 annually. The American sideline reporter was a Division I Collegiate Athlete at the University of Florida and she has spent several years as a reporter and host for ESPN and American Ninja Warrior.

Additionally, she has worked as an NFL Network reporter and studio host. Other reporting duties have included various college games and the X Games. The beautiful and smart Jenn Brown lives in Los Angeles and is married to actor Wes Chatham. They have two children together.

(Gerry Melendez/The State/Tribune News Service/Getty Images; Instagram)

Jamie Erdahl

Jamie Erdahl

Jamie Erdhal is rolling in about $95K per year. As a reporter for the NFL Network and CBS Sports, she has no problem getting work. She serves as host for Good Morning Football on the NFL Network but before that, she was the sideline reporter for college football on CBS Sports.

In addition to football, she has also covered basketball games including the NCAA basketball regular season. Furthermore, she has filled in on the sidelines for Jenny Dell during the Boston Red Sox season games. As an athlete in both basketball and softball, the American University alumni has long been dedicated to sports.

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Erin Andrews

Erin Andrews

Erin Andrews is estimated to earn a whopping $2 million per year, making her one of the highest-paid sideliner reporters on this list. On top of that, she is said to have a net worth of around $30 million! The NFL sideline reporter is usually seen covering the season.

The prominent sportscaster has been seen on ESPN and FOX Sports, where she was the lead sideline reporter. She is easily one of the most famous reporters on this list, especially having been a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, where she placed third in the tenth season of the show.

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Molly Qerim

Molly Qerim

Molly Qerim is an American TV personality and host of ESPN’s First Take. On top of that, she was also the host of the NFL’s morning show called NFL AM. Not only beautiful, the highly qualified Molly Qerim also has a master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from Quinnipiac University.

Qerim has also served as a reporter on the CBS Sports Network and host of College Football Live on ESPN. In 2018, Qerim married another ESPN host, Jalen Rose but they separated in 2021. Her annual salary for First Take is estimated to be around $500K.

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Charissa Thompson

Charissa Thompson

Charissa Thomspon is a sportscaster for Fox Sports who makes around $700K annually. Before that, she was on ESPN, Versus and GSN. Her biggest break would have to be SportsNation which she worked on before her departure to Fox Sports.

However, before rejoining Fox News in 2013, she spent several years as a sideline reporter for NHL on Versus, Extra, Fox NFL Kickoff and Fox Sports 1. Currently, she is sitting on a ton of wealth, enjoying her home in Malibu. She’s married to sports agent Kyle Thousand but they are currently in the process of a divorce.

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Kristine Leahy

Kristine Leahy

Kristine Leahy is a former sideline reporter known for her stint on American Ninja Warrior. She was also the host of Fair Game with Kristine Leahy. Having covered numerous sports events, including the Super Bowl, the World Series and the Stanley Cup, she was a veteran sports reporter.

However, her career was also bathed in controversy as she is known to be quite outspoken, a trait that has seemed to cost her career. Most recently she was seen in the Netflix film Hustle starring Adam Sandler. While her sportscasting career seems to be on hold right now, she has an estimated net worth of $3 million.  

(Tyler Golden/NBC/NBCUniversal/Getty Images; Instagram)

Allie LaForce

Allie LaForce

Allie LaForce is both a model and journalist. She is a reporter for Turner Sports and NBA on TNT, earning around $200K per year. She previously led reporting for college football and also served as a courtside reporter for basketball games. On the CBS Sports Network, she was the host of We Need to Talk.

Most notably, however, she anchored for FOX 8's Friday Night Touchdown, a high school football show, for which she won an Emmy award. And in addition to reporting, she’s also won awards for looking just so darn gorgeous, having been crowned Miss Teen USA in 2005.

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Niki Noto

Niki Noto

Niki Noto Palmer, married to Michael Palmer, was practically born to be a sports reporter. Having a natural talent for oratory, and a passion for sports, she undoubtedly found a way to combine her skills and interests. After earning a degree in telecommunications, Niki used her experience in the sports information department at the University of Alabama to further her career.

Upon graduating, she worked in media relations for the Tennessee Titans football team and then moved on to work with the Atlanta Falcons. In 2011, she joined the ESPN network which launched her into stardom. Since then she has served as a reporter for numerous shows, including "Tailgate Turnover" for the CBS Sports Network. She is said to earn around $100K per year.

(Patrick Green/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images; Instagram)

Samantha Ponder

Samantha Ponder

There’s not much to ponder, really – Samantha Ponder has talent – and enough so that she’s about to earn $3 million over the course of three years with ESPN. And that’s only some of her income, her total earnings are said to amount to around $5 million.

Samantha Ponder is currently the host of Sunday NFL Countdown on ESPN, but before that, she was a sideline reporter for ESPN college football games as well as a basketball sideline reporter. She is married to Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder with whom she shares three children.

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