Background and career
Dan Le Batard is an American newspaper sportswriter, ex-radio host, podcast host and television reporter based in Miami, Florida. He has also worked at ESPN, and for his hometown paper, the Miami Herald, for which he wrote from 1990 to 2016. Le Batard hosted a daily radio show with Jon Weiner that originated on WAXY in Miami and was carried nationally on ESPN Radio until early 2021. At ESPN, he also co-hosted the televised sports commentary show Highly Questionable with his father and revolving co-hosts. Additionally, he was a frequent contributor to several ESPN programs, serving as a regular replacement host for Pardon the Interruption. Following his departure from ESPN, Le Batard founded the podcast network Meadowlark Media with former ESPN president John Skipper.
Le Batard was born to Cuban exile parents, Gonzalo and Lourdes, who moved the family to Central Islip, New York, before settling in Miramar, Florida. Le Batard is also fluent in Spanish, which he learned at home from his parents. During the 2016 exhibition Major League Baseball game in Cuba, Le Batard talked on his radio show about how his family had risked everything to come to the U.S. On September 13, 2018, Miami Herald reporter and Le Batard's longtime friend Greg "Scoops" Cote published an article announcing that Dan had become engaged to his girlfriend of two years, Valerie Scheide. The article was published without the couple's consent, which caused great embarrassment for Le Batard as he was on the air at the time the news broke. Le Batard and Scheide were wed in November 2019 at a ceremony in Miami. Dan's brother was Miami-based artist David Le Batard, professionally known as LEBO. On the August 2, 2023 show, Dan revealed to his audience that David had died after a battle with cancer.
Le Batard began work at the Miami Herald in 1990 and was a columnist for its sports section. His work for The Herald includes investigations of the football team of his alma mater, the University of Miami.
Le Batard was a frequent contributor to many programs on the ESPN television network. Among others, he was a recurring guest on Outside the Lines, The Sports Reporters, and College GameDay. He also was a regular guest host of Pardon the Interruption, where he was christened "The Hateable Dan Le Batard" due to his sometimes controversial (and usually contrarian) opinions, as well as his unorthodox attire. Hosting duties on PTI have allowed Le Batard the implementation of the catchphrase "Bam!", which he exclaims in various ways at the beginning of each show he guest hosts. Le Batard has a joking rivalry with former PTI stat boy Tony Reali. In December 2020, Le Batard announced that he would be leaving ESPN, effective January 4, 2021.
Le Batard hosted a morning radio show weekdays with Jon "Stugotz" Weiner on ESPN Radio. Le Batard is known for his self-deprecating humor, which carries over onto the show through running jokes. Le Batard grants very few interviews about his own life, but in a rare one he did with Aventura Business Monthly in Miami in March 2011, he revealed that Tony Kornheiser, who began a long-running radio career of his own in 1992 on Washington D.C.–based WTEM, strongly encouraged him to embark on a career in the same medium, telling him: "It will link [you] to [your] community in a different way [from that of newspapers]. That it will be more intimate, more fun. It's not as lonely as writing. Writing is just you and a computer, and that it's not communal in any way. Radio is much more intimate." Le Batard prides himself on being the "uncomfortable" sports journalist. He often writes about controversial topics, especially race. Guests on his radio program may be asked questions ranging from the racial undertones of the Michael Vick case to the effect that race has on how players are drafted into the NBA. After writing a column for The Herald on the former topic, Le Batard was featured on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes to discuss the issue and immediately called out the hosts for only inviting non-black people to speak on the subject. On September 3, 2015, it was announced that the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz would move to the 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. time slot left vacant by the departure of Colin Cowherd from ESPN to Fox Sports where it would remain until Le Batard's own departure from ESPN.[1]
In September 2011, ESPN launched Dan Le Batard Is ¿Highly Questionable? (retitled Highly Questionable in 2013) on ESPN as part of the afternoon "Sports Talk Block." The show originally featured Le Batard and his father, Gonzalo, whom he calls "Papi." Bomani Jones later joined the show as a host in February 2013, accompanying Dan and "Papi" in discussing current sports news and event topics, and later leaving the show in June 2017. Le Batard made his final regular appearance on Highly Questionable on January 4, 2021.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
