The Mayor of Flavortown just got paid. Guy Fieri, ubiquitous host of the infinitely bingeable Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, just received a contract extension of three years from his host network, the Food Network, ensuring his status as the face of that channel for the foreseeable future. Extending Fieri’s contract is a no-brainer for the Food Network. Not since Paula Deen dropped numerous food items into a vat of butter has the network had as recognizable of a personality in its broadcasting stable. But it’s the amount of money that Fieri is now making that has social media weighing in with scorching hot takes that would make the Triple D host sweat.
As reported by Forbes, Guy Fieri will collect $80 million over that three-year period, or an estimate of $26.6 million per year of the agreement. Or, as is being pointed out by Twitter user Kev On Stage, Fieri makes as much per season as NBA superstar Kevin Durant.
That’s insane. And hilarious. But mainly insane. As Kev notes, the rest of us need to eat to survive. Guy Fieri eats, and gets paid $26.6 million a year to do it. Not that Guy Fieri doesn’t deserve to get paid. His affable, everyman persona gets people tuning into Food Network on a regular basis. In fact, it’s Fieri’s ability to carry the Food Network roster that had some sports fans comparing his work to that of Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan:
Or, more recently, Miami Heat all-star Jimmy Butler down in the Orlando bubble:
I don’t care who you are, that’s funny right there. And the sports comparisons didn’t end there. In fact, there were so many sports-related factoids tossed out in reaction to Guy Fieri’s $80 million extension that I’m convinced sports fans and journalists pay more attention to the Food Network than they do to ESPN.
For instance, did you know that Guy Fieri’s contract extension exceeds the entire roster salary of the Pittsburgh Pirates?
Or that his current salary extension would place him amongst the elite of paid athletes in the NFL:
This is the textbook example of not being able to hate the player because all of your hate should be directed at the game. All Guy Fieri figured out how to do is to make a ton of money off of something that he loves: Eating. Respect. Forbes also notes that Fieri’s Food Network staple, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, generated $230 million in ad revenue in 2020, so obviously this is a very strong business play on the network’s part.
So remember, kids. It doesn’t matter what you like to do. Work hard to be the best at it, whatever it may be. Flavortown’s going to need a new mayor one of these days, but it won’t be any time soon.
