An American television host, Sage Steele, is the former host of NBA Countdown on ABC for its four seasons. Also, she has hosted different shows like; The View, Good Morning America; Jimmy Kimmel Live!, ESPYS Backstage, ESPN First Take 2007, and Mike and Mike 2005. Working for the NBA, she covered the details for SportsCenter during the NBA Finals in 2012, 2013, and 2012-2020. She is also working with the SportsCenter on the Road host of various sporting events such as the Super Bowl and The Masters. Steele previously hosted NBA Countdown on ESPN and ABC for four seasons, ending in 2017. For five years prior to NBA assignment, Steele was a full-time host of SportsCenter and ESPN’s flagship show.
Let’s take a look at some personal facts about her life as well with this complete biography about Sage Steele’s life.
Sage Steele: Biography, Networth, Childhood, Divorce, Controversy, and More!
1. Who is Sage Steele?
Sage Marie Steele was born on November 28, 1972, in the Panama Canal Zone, United States; to her parents Gary Steele and Mona Steele.
Sage Steele is currently a television co-host for Sports Center On The Road (for Super Bowl and The Masters) and SportsCenter that airs on ESPN. She also gained fame as the previous talk show host of NBA Countdown.
In 2013, for her outstanding career on the Black Knights football and track teams, Sage Steele was inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame
2. Sage Steele’s net worth:
Sage Steele is an American broadcaster that has gained a massive following, and due to its knee-deep nature; she has been successful in raising a considerable net worth.
Sage Steele has allegedly raised a net worth of $3 million as of 2024. In addition, according to reliable experts, she has worked for various channels such as Fox Sports and ABC that have also helped her accumulate enormous wealth.
As of 2020, Steele has an alleged annual salary of $400,000.
3. Sage Steele’s family:
On October 30, 1999 Sage Steele was married to her ex-husband, Jonathan Bailey, who is a former personal trainer. The duo who divorced 10 years later in 2019 are blessed with three children together – two daughters named Quinn Bailey and Evan Bailey, and a son named Nicholas Bailey. Additionally, Sage Steele, along with her children, live happily at Avon.
4. She reported for NASCAR once:
Additionally, she is a huge NASCAR fan and had the opportunity to drive a Brickyard 400 in 2013 for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
On July 28, 2013, she drove the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Brickyard 400 safety car. During the fast laps at the start of the race, six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson jokingly hit her.
5. Childhood and education all over the world:
Steele is the daughter of Gary and Mona (O’Neil) Steele. Mona is of Irish and Italian descent, Gary is African American, and was the first to play college football at West Point in the mid-1960s. Her father later served in the US Army.
Along with her parents, the future sports reporter grew up in a house with two brothers Courtney Steele and Chad Steele who is the senior vice president of media relations for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
Due to her father’s work, the family moved to different states and countries, including Greece and Belgium. In 1984, they returned to the United States and settled in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Thomas B. Doherty High School for two years. Steele then shifted to Carmel, Indiana, and graduated Carmel High School for her high school education and graduated in 1990. As for her further studies, she enrolled at Indiana University in Bloomington.
6. How old is Sage Steele?
The famous TV presenter is 48 years old as of October 2021 as she was born on November 28, 1972 , under the sign of the Sagittarius.
7. Sage Steele body measurements:
Steele stands at a staggering 5 feet 10 inches (1.80 m) and weighs around 54 kgs. Sage has radiant skin and a perfect slim body measuring size 32 breasts, 24 waist, and 34 hips (81-61-87 cm). Also, her shoe size is 11 (US). In addition, Sage maintains regular exercise and eats healthy and balanced food.
8. Hair products:
Steele is known for her short dark brown curly hair that looks beautiful with her wide smile. She talks about hair products from a brand called Mixed Chicks that have changed the life of her hair routine. In fact, she had endorsed the brand. She was using the brand long before she was approached for promoting it.
9. In school, Sage Steele face racial discrimination:
As an African American (bi-racial) girl, Sage faced a lot of discrimination and hateful comments throughout her career. In high school, she was the only black girl among 1,800 students who used to make fun of her black complexion.
This continued beyond school. After her marriage to Jonathan Bailey, a Caucasian, she was criticized many times for being a black woman and marrying a white man. People even called her a babysitter when they took their newborn daughter for a walk for the first time. Sage said: I don’t know how many times I have been called sold for marrying a white man and having children who appear white.
But the reporter didn’t let those negative comments and discrimination affect her promising career and life. She kept chasing her dreams, facing all challenges and accepting herself. She said: “ I’ll stick to it! And I preach that [lesson] to all women: be yourself and be true to who you are”.
10. Sage Steele’s early career:
Right after graduation from college, Sage joined the CBS affiliate WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana. There she worked as a sports reporter and news producer until 1997. After that, Steele joined CBS, another DESEO-TV affiliate channel in Indianapolis, Indiana, and worked as a weekend morning sports host and Monday-Friday reporter from 1997 to 1998.
During that time, her reporting duties included the Indiana Colts, Indiana Pacers, the 1997 NCAA Men’s Final Four, NASCAR, IndyCar Series, Brickyard 400 auto racing, Indianapolis500, local college and high school sports.
In August 1998, she moved to Tampa and worked for WFTS-TV as a reporter, host, and presenter. Additionally, she had the opportunity to work with former WFTS athletic director and former host Jay Crawford at SportsCenter.
Steele became the 2001 host of Comcast SportsNet’s debut in the Washington DC/Baltimore region in April of that year. In addition, she anchored the flagship show. SportsNite for six years and was appointed a reporter for the Baltimore Ravens hosting a magazine show for the five seasons through 2007.
Additionally, Sage joined ESPN and debuted on March 16, 2007, in the Sports Center edition at 6:00 pm Y.
11. She gained more fame later:
In addition to Sports Center, she also served on First Take and Mike and Mike and has been a guest co-host on ESPN2 SportsNation.
Not to mention, she also hosted ABC and ESPN Rockin ‘New Year’s Eve in the first college football playoff. Additionally, she hosted the Scripps National Spelling Bee from 2010-2013.
At the beginning of the NBA 2013 season, Steele served as the Host of NBA Countdown, covering ESPN and ABC throughout 2017. She has also been a co-host of the beauty pageant called Lose America 2017 & 2018 on ABC with Chris Harrison.
ESPN made changes to Steele’s job by giving him the SportsCenter ET noon issue as co-host with Matt Barrie after the college football tie. The show also has the daily OTL on ESPN’s Outside the Lines SC segment.
Steele had been consistently co-hosting at 6 pm ET SportsCenter in association with Kevin Neghandi since mid-2018. She and Kevin had taken the spot after Jemele Hill and Michael Smith. However, ESPN passed the spot to Ella Duncan who had been on maternity leave before.
12. Controversy:
ESPN Executive Vice President, Studios and Events Production and Executive Editor Norby Williamson said the company took the initiative to bring new opportunities to its diverse range of presenters.
Additionally, there has been a controversy that ESPN downgraded Steele to a less-watched show after she badmouthed Duncan and Michael Eaves in the Wall Street Journal. The so-called demotion received many responses, among which there are people who rated it as a well-deserved demotion, as she was enraged at her co-workers by searching for other posts.
What happened is that Steele told the Wall Street Journal about her fellow black colleagues such as, Duncan and Michael Eaves, preventing her from participating in a show called It’s Time for Change: We Won’t Be Defeated held in June.
Elle Duncan and Michael Eaves hosted the show alongside Jay Harris and Maria Taylor. They talked about race discussing how black athletes experience injustice.
Steele was of the opinion that Eaves and Duncan told ESPN that the black community in their head will not accept her.
