The NFL has witnessed a five-decade run with “Monday Night Football.” When the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers took the field for MNF’s season opener, it marked the program’s 55th season.
Lisa Salters has been part of the Monday Night Football family for more than a decade, and as such, many viewers have questions about their net worth, salary, and notable accomplishments from her career.
What is Lisa Salters’ Net Worth?
Salters has had a lengthy two-decade career at ESPN. She started as a general assignment reporter in 2000 before eventually working her way to the MNF sidelines.
While contract details aren’t publicly revealed, numerous reports, including those from Networth Mirror and Celebrity Net Worth, have Salters earning approximately $200,000 annually.
During her career in reporting injury updates and capturing the emotions of the sidelines, she has amassed a net worth of approximately $2.5 million.
Salters has also made regular appearances during the NBA season for ESPN, working as a sideline reporter during the regular season, including the NBA on ABC. She’s also a consultant for the in-depth ESPN news show “E:60” while appearing on “Outside the Lines.”
Before working at ESPN, she was a correspondent for ABC News and worked with Peter Jennings on World News Tonight. During that time, she covered stories such as the Oklahoma City bombing trials, the TWA Flight 800 crash, and more.
What Sport Did Salters Play?
While many know Salters for her sideline work, she has her own athletic past. Although Salters is immersed in football during the fall months, she has a collegiate athletic background in basketball.
She was once a 5’2″ point guard who suited up for Penn State University. Salters happens to own one record for the Nittany Lions — the shortest women’s basketball player ever.
Salters, though, made additional history through basketball recently. ESPN created an all-women broadcast lineup for a live basketball game in Feb. 2022 between the Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz. Salters joined fellow colleagues Doris Burke and Beth Mowins to comprise the historic trio. All three are former Nittany Lions.
Salters has covered the NFL and NBA, but before turning to sports journalism, Salters covered some other high-profile news-making events, including one of the most scrutinized murder trials ever.
Notable Stories Salters Reported Include the O.J. Simpson Trial and the Damar Hamlin Incident vs. the Bengals
Salters was one of the first West Coast correspondents for the ABC News-owned NewsOne. Some of her stories allowed her to cover events occurring in the Midwest.
One in particular was the Oklahoma City bombing trial of 1995, which culminated in the death penalty for Timothy McVeigh. But before covering that much-scrutinized trial, Salters reported on another that ultimately helped shape the nation — the O.J. Simpson trial.
As a correspondent for ABC World News with Peter Jennings, Salters was in the Los Angeles region reporting on the happenings of the high-profile murder case involving the NFL legend. She was on-site for Simpson’s not-guilty verdict.
That trial ultimately became one of the last national news stories she delivered for ABC before switching to the sports side. Salters is now entering her 25th season of covering sports, plus her 13th with MNF, where she got her official start in 2012.
She also took the country by storm and was praised for her professionalism and showing her human side after Damar Hamlin sustained a shoulder-to-the-chest hit from Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins during their Jan. 3, 2023, Monday Night Football game.
Though Hamlin got up momentarily, he suddenly collapsed and became motionless.
Hamlin was immediately given CPR on the field, and the contest between the Bills and Bengals was ultimately called off. Hamlin was rushed to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was deemed to be in critical condition.
Lisa Salters proving you can be an incredible journalist while still showing empathy.
— Vanessa Richardson (@SportsVanessa) January 3, 2023
Hamlin eventually regained consciousness and slowly got his oxygen back to normalcy. He was discharged on Jan. 11, more than a week after his collision.
Since that time, Hamlin has been revealed to have sustained commotio cordis — a condition where the heart stops after a powerful impact to the chest by blunt force at a precise point during the heart rhythm that disrupts the heartbeat.
According to the American Heart Association, that condition is most common in baseball, softball, hockey, lacrosse, or physical contact with other athletes.