Top 40 Sports Media Talents Under 40

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24. Shams Charania; Yahoo Sports

The former Woj protege at The Vertical had a very prolific period in NBA free agency, including breaking the news that Blake Griffin would remain with the Los Angeles Clippers and that Paul Millsap was headed to Denver. In terms of breaking news, he is a major star on the rise. He just graduated college last month.

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12. Jesse Palmer; ESPN/ABC

Palmer is moving from college football games to the studio this season; he reportedly had talks with Fox to be an NFL broadcaster before opting to remain with ESPN. Palmer still has a high Q rating from when he was The Bachelor, and he appears on ABC’s Good Morning America. Don’t be surprised if there is a further announcement in the coming weeks about an additional project he will be embarking on outside of sports.

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11. Katie Nolan; Fox (for now)

The next year will be fascinating to observe for Katie Nolan. She has been on the FS1 bench essentially since the Super Bowl, and is widely believed to be heading to ESPN either when her deal expires at the end of the year, or sooner if Fox were to let her out early. If that winds up happening, you can bet that both she and the network will seek to prove Fox made a big mistake in how they utilized her (she had her own weekly show for awhile; it had big social engagement but did not, in absence of a live sports lead-in, draw a noteworthy television audience). After what would surely be an initial blitz where she is on all sorts of shows, will she sustain momentum?

10. Ramona Shelburne; ESPN

Shelburne told me recently that in her late twenties, unsure if there was a path forward, she strongly considered leaving sports journalism. Shortly thereafter she became a columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News, and has since had a meteoric rise at ESPN. She appears up and down their studio programming, breaks big news (including the Paul George trade to OKC), and has written some deeply reported features on Ronda Rousey, Jeanie Buss, and the Ball family.

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8. Clay Travis; Fox Sports Radio and Outkick the Coverage

Not too many people have a lukewarm opinion about Clay. He has a fervent following, and people who abhor him. Owning his own web platform in Outkick — and derivative Facebook/Periscope shows — enabled him to have the power to reportedly tell former FS1 boss Jamie Horowitz “thanks but no thanks” to an offer for his own daily television show under the condition he would refrain from discussing politics.

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2. Bomani Jones & Pablo Torre; ESPN

This duo’s show is going to launch early in 2018, and will be produced by Erik Rydholm. On Tony Kornheiser’s podcast recently, Pablo said that the show will be less serious than some may expect, with a major goal being to make the viewers laugh. Pablo has spent the last several years at ESPN writing for the magazine, appearing on Around the Horn, and filling in on various shows, including PTI. Bomani has been co-host of Highly Questionable, and hosts a daily ESPN Radio show. He reportedly turned down a big offer from Fox to remain with ESPN.

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