Lee Corso net worth: How much money ESPN College GameDay icon has made in career earnings, investments & more
originally appeared on The Sporting News
Lee Corso spent more than a decade as a college football head coach, but it was on air that he became one of the faces of the sport.
An original member of ESPN’s “College GameDay” panel in 1987, Corso stuck with the show for nearly four decades before announcing his retirement plans in 2025. His weekly headgear pick, which either made him the most beloved or most hated person on site wherever the show was being hosted, endeared him to fans each Saturday in the fall.
Corso is a college football lifer, dating back to his playing career that seamlessly transitioned into a coaching career.
Here’s what you need to know about Corso’s net worth and how he made his money.
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Lee Corso net worth
Corso has an estimated net worth of $12 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Thanks to his humor and eccentric personality on the “College GameDay” desk, Corso became one of the most recognizable on-air faces at ESPN during his time with the network. That resulted in numerous contract extensions, including a long-term deal finalized in 2017, and there is little doubt ESPN paid him handsomely over the years to keep him on board.
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How Lee Corso made his money
Coaching career
Corso jumped right into coaching as a graduate assistant at Florida State after spending his college years as a quarterback for the Seminoles, and he earned his first head coaching opportunity at Louisville in 1969. Corso went 28-11-3 before joining Indiana ahead of the 1973 season.
His stint with the Hoosiers was less successful, as Indiana won a total of five games over his first three seasons and didn’t post a winning record until year seven, but Corso won a Holiday Bowl at the school and lasted a full decade in Bloomington. After his exit from Indiana, Corso spent one season coaching at Northern Illinois and another at the helm of the USFL’s Orlando Renegades.
Corso’s coaching salaries were likely not very high by today’s standards, so they don’t heavily contribute to his net worth, but they did set the stage for his hiring at ESPN in 1987.
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Broadcasting career
Broadcasting has been where the money is for Corso. While the details of his ESPN contracts have never been disclosed, Corso’s last reported contract extension came in 2017 and it can be assumed that the network has paid him well as one of the front faces of its college football coverage.
At the time of his retirement announcement, Corso was the only remaining member from the original “College GameDay” crew in 1987. As the show gained popularity, one would have to imagine the salaries increased for panel members such as Corso.
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Lee Corso business ventures & philanthropy
Corso lives and breathes football, but he has stayed active in other ventures as well.
Corso once served as the director of business development for Dixon Ticonderoga, an office supply company best known for its pencils, and he has also supported efforts to help stroke survivors recover, including an appearance at the Houston Aphasia Recovery Center. Corso himself survived a stroke in 2009.
Corso served as honorary chairman and national spokesperson of Coaches Curing Kids’ Cancer, and he became a member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America Hall of Fame in 2013.
Before the game’s hiatus, Corso was featured in EA Sports’ annual NCAA Football video game.
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Where does Lee Corso live?
Corso was born in Illinois but moved to Miami with his family when he was young and currently lives with his wife in Lake Mary, Fla., north of Orlando. He has also lived in Heathrow, Fla., which sits just northwest of Lake Mary.
Corso attended Florida State in the 1950s, so he has stayed connected to Florida throughout his life despite coaching at Louisville and Indiana.
Travel from Florida to the “College GameDay” set became more difficult for Corso in his later years at ESPN, but he still regularly made the trip to in the years before he announced his retirement.