Kevin Harlan is one of the most recognizable sports broadcasters in the country. From the NFL to the NBA to college hoops and Campbell’s soup commercials, Harlan is omnipresent in the lives of sports fans.
And having all of those assignments requires Harlan to remain on the payroll at three different broadcasters. Currently, the booming play-by-play voice counts CBS, Prime Video, and Westwood One among his employers. It’s not exactly easy to manage. As Sports Business Journal’s Richard Deitsch revealed in a recent profile of Harlan, the veteran broadcaster manages and keeps detailed records of his own travel, which has racked him up 9 million miles of flights throughout his career.
Harlan’s setup isn’t exactly abnormal. Plenty of broadcasters work for multiple companies. But for a high-profile and in-demand broadcaster like Harlan, there needs to be some contractual guardrails in place to determine who gets priority. And while Harlan treats each assignment for each employer equally, it’s CBS who gets the priority.
“When it comes to Harlan contractually, CBS is in ‘first position,’ which means that Harlan sets his assignments first with CBS before moving on to his other employers,” Deitsch reports.
Harlan, of course, calls NFL games for CBS and is also a key voice for the network’s March Madness coverage.
One contractual quirk that might be unique to Harlan, however, is how he staggers his deals. Per Deitsch, Harlan negotiates his contracts so that each has a different terminus “so that he’s always working for at least one employer (if not more) when another contract is up.”
Harlan’s contract to call NBA games for Prime Video, which began this season, runs for three years, while his CBS contract runs “past that.”
That’s good news for fans of Harlan’s work. Even after decades in the business, he’s not slowing down. At least not much. As Harlan told Sports Media Watch in September, he’s reducing his NBA workload early in the season to catch a little bit of a breather and spend more time with family.
But Harlan will still be around plenty when it matters for years to come.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.