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Shannon Sharpe is in his bag and securing his bag. Not only does he host a TV show and two podcasts, the 55-year-old is a viral sensation after his scorched earth interview with comedian Katt Williams. The two chopped it up on Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast last month to the tune of a record 61 million views (and still counting). It also led to a big payday.
Sharpe told his Nightcap co-host Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson that the interview with Williams netted him more than he’d ever made in any year he played football. Sharpe was a tight end who played 16 seasons in the NFL, mostly for the Denver Broncos. The three-time Super Bowl champion was enshrined into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2011.
“Everybody was talking about how much money I made doing the Katt Williams interview,” Sharpe said. “I just got the check. So whatever you think I made, 3x it. So if you think I made $500,000, 3x it. If you think I made a million, 3x it. If you think I made $2 million, 3x it.”
Sharpe added, “I made more money on Katt Williams alone than I made in any year that I played the NFL.”
Bleacher Report says that Sharpe made $5 million in his best year in the NFL in 2000. The key to his earnings for the Williams interview are in how YouTube pays content creators, as per this information reported by Dustin Siebert for the Root.
“YouTube calculates payment by RPM, or revenue per thousand views. It takes about 55 percent of the money from advertisers and gives the creator 45 percent. Figure that comes out to about $10 to $12 per thousand views in the creator’s hands.”
As Siebert further explains, the almost three-hour interview was also cut into 37 separate YouTube clips, which are also monetized. So if you do the math, you understand why Sharpe is humble bragging about the bag he earned from the interview.
If you say nothing else about Williams, who was criticized for singling out Black comedians in the interview, he helped another brotha make some money. Williams is also reaping the benefits of his recently upgraded visibility, selling out tickets across the country on the Dark Matter Tour.
See how social media’s reacting to the payday below.
