The history of UFC would not be complete without mentioning its commentators, one of which is Joe Rogan. The renowned comedian and podcast host is one of the most popular UFC commentators.
As per reports, UFC pays Joe Rogan an average of $50,000 per event. That’s roughly $550,000 annually.
But UFC isn’t Rogan’s sole mode of income! Today we shall look at how much Joe Rogan makes with UFC, how much he is making with podcasts and his total net worth. Have you ever wondered what early life was like for the famous podcaster? Read on to find out all you need to know about Joe Rogan’s earnings and personal life!
Who is Joe Rogan?
It’s no secret that Joe Rogan is a well-known figure who doesn’t need a lot of introduction, but if you’ve always been interested in learning more about the famous podcaster and comedian, we have you covered.
Joseph James Rogan is a UFC color commentator, actor, comedian, and podcaster. He was born on 11 August 1967 in Newark, NJ. Joe’s parents divorced when he was five. Rogan moved to stay with his mom, from where he lost contact with his father at an early age of 7.
He had his early education in Newton South High, where he graduated in 1985. Since his early teenage years, Joe has been a big fan of mixed martial arts. One of his popular sayings about martial arts is, “Mixed Martial Arts gave me not just confidence, but also a different perspective of myself and what I was capable of. I knew that I could do something I was terrified of, which was difficult and that I could excel at it.”
He started Taekwondo at the age of 15. At 19, he participated as a lightweight in the US open championship and won the match. While attending the University of Massachusetts, Boston, he won the championship four consecutive times. He later dropped out of University.
During his stay in Boston, Joe’s friends noticed his comedy talent and persuaded him to try stand-up circuit comedy. At 21, he got the chance to perform a stand-up comedy show at Stitches Comedy Club, Boston.
Rogan’s routine at a comedy club impressed Jeff Sussman, who accepted the opportunity to manage him. His move to New York City in 1990 led him to become a full-time comedian.
In 1997, he began working for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as a Post-fight and backstage interviewer. He quit the position in 1999 due to the meager wages he earned at the time that could not cover his travel expenses. In 2002, Rogan returned to UFC, but this time as a color commentator, the new president Dana White is his close friend. At first, Joe offered UFC commentating in exchange for free UFC tickets, but he later started accepting money after commentating in 15 events.
Since then, he has been commentating on UFC events until February 2022, when he missed the UFC 271 event due to a ‘scheduling conflict,’ which was said to do with some controversy related to COVID-19 misinformation and racial insults in his popular podcast.
Joe Rogan’s Family Life
Rogan is married to Jessica Ditzel, daughter of the musician Jeff Conrad Ditzel.
Born in 1975, Jessica is 8 years younger than Joe Rogan. She attended California State University and started working as a model after that.
She dated and got engaged to Kevin Conner, an R&B singer, and had a child with him before he died. Later, she met Rogan in 2001 when she was working as a cocktail waitress. The two fell in love with each other and got married in 2009. Not much is known about their dating life.
They had two daughters, Rosy, born in 2008, and Lola, born in 2010.
The family of 5 earlier lived in Colorado before relocating to California in 2018 when Rogan bought a house worth $5 million.
The family moved to Texas in 2020. Rogan said he relocated to the central region of the US so that other states of the country will be easily accessible to him. He also claims Texas gives more freedom than California.
Today, Ditzel Rogan isn’t only known as the UFC commentator’s wife; she also works as a TV producer and does modeling for many agencies.
What made Joe Rogan Popular?
Besides UFC, Joe Rogan has other things to his credit that have made him a renowned personality. Formerly, he hosted the television program “Fear Factor,” which was watched by millions of people. His popularity outside of the UFC can be attributed to the following factors:
On this date in 2002, @joerogan made his commentary debut at UFC 37.5.
Still on the mic after nearly two decades 🎙 pic.twitter.com/hItDM6dzh2
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 22, 2021
His Podcast: The Joe Rogan Experience
One thing that made Joe Rogan popular is his podcast, launched on 24 December 2009 on Ustream. The Joe Rogan experience was first hosted by popular comedian Ari Shaffir In January 2010.
Four months after starting the podcast, a popular sex toy company, Flashlight, started sponsoring it. The sponsorship however ended in 2012.
In 2013, The Joe Rogan Experience was moved to Youtube and later signed a licensing deal worth $100 million with Spotify in 2020.
The podcast discussed many topics, from comedy, whiskey, and cage fighting to politics and quantum mechanics. There have been a number of public figures who have been hosted there, including Elon Musk, Sam Harris, Mike Tyson, Graham Hancock, Jay Leno, Rhonda Patrick, and Bryan Callen, among others.
Recently, the Joe Rogan Experience podcast was involved in controversies for spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine and also some racial insults.
Today, Joe Rogan is the most popular podcaster in America, with his podcast having an estimated download of 200 million monthly.
Onnit
Apart from his podcast, Joe Rogan also gained popularity for co-founding a fitness brand, Onnit, which is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and manufactures over 250 products, including peak performance supplements, wellness products, fitness equipment, and foods. Not only that, Joe Rogan,, is also the brand’s Chief Spokesperson.
Social Media Fitness
Joe Rogan has been nurturing his interest in MMA since a young age, and even now that he’s over 50, he still workouts and takes good care of his health. He’s popular on Instagram and Twitter as well, with millions of followers who follow him and get workout tips and advice from him.
How Much Money Does Joe Rogan Make?
Being a popular podcaster and a UFC commentator for many years, It’s obvious Joe Rogan makes a lot of money. Here’s a breakdown of his earnings:
The Fear Factor
In the early 2000s, Joe Rogan started his TV show; however, before the show became popular, NBC offered him a lucrative offer.
They wanted Rogan to host a popular US stunt game show, The Fear Factor. At first, Rogan rejected the offer because he feared what the show’s long-term outcome will be because of its content.
However, he was convinced by his manager Sussman to accept the offer, which he did and hosted 6 seasons from 2001 to 2006.
In 2011, he appeared in the final season of the Fear Factor Game show.
During an interview at Art Bell in 2015, Rogan said he wanted the Fear Factor show to be canceled due to the sensitive contents. He also stated he agreed to host the job mainly because he wanted to make some observations and get anecdotes for his stand-up comedy career.
Though Joe Rogan said he has no idea how much he was paid for hosting the Fear Factor, it was estimated that he made close to 2 million dollars from the game show.
Joe Rogan’s UFC Salary
Joe Rogan has been working with UFC as a commentator for many years. As such, he is highly paid.
Per the reports, UFC pays its commentators and post-match interviews $50,000 for interviews, analysis, and ring announcements. For each UFC event he commentates, Joe Rogan made $50,000 which is about $550,000 yearly.
Joe Rogan’s UFC salary can be broken down as follows:
- Basic item fee: $5000
- PPV bonus: $50,000
- UFC Bonus: Unknown
- Other bonuses: Unknown
There are claims that Rogan earns more from bonuses, but UFC hasn’t revealed any information about that.
Joe Rogan’s Podcast’s Earning
As said earlier, Joe Rogan doesn’t depend on UFC alone for income. He started his podcast business 12 years ago and has been making a load from it, earning him more than most UFC fighters and commentators.
It is estimated that Rogan made roughly $75,000 per podcast episode he posted. In 2019, Forbes reported Joe Rogan’s Podcast income as $30 million. Rogan mentioned in an interview that his podcast was downloaded more than 190 million times monthly that same year.
Joe Rogan has been the highest-paid podcaster since 2019, and this podcast has been making more waves.
The Spotify Contract
Earlier in 2022, it went viral that Spotify had signed a contract to have sole access to Joe’s podcast ‘The Rogan Experience’ for 3 and half years and has even paid $100m.
Later it was reported by Nytimes that individuals familiar with the contract have claimed the deal is two times the initially said amount, at least $200m. Until today, neither Joe Rogan nor Spotify cleared the confusion on the deal’s financial terms.
After the contract with Spotify, iTunes and Youtube lost access to The Rogan’s Experience podcast.
Today, about 11 million people listen to every episode of Rogan’s Experience on Spotify.
Facts about Joe Rogan’s Podcast
The Episode that Featured Elon Musk is the most viewed.
Episode 1169 is one of the best and most popular The Rogan’s Experience podcasts because it was the first time Elon Musk appeared on the podcast, on 8 September 2018.
Though Elon Musk wasn’t the world’s richest individual at that time, with a net worth of about $21.5billion. It was during that conversation that a lot of people got to know more about the mastermind behind Tesla.
Elon Musk appeared on the podcast for the second time in episode 1470, which has whopping views of 25.2 million.
Episode 1169 is the most viewed Rogan’s Experience podcast, with more than 51 million viewers on Youtube alone.
More than 700 Guests Have been Hosted on the Rogan’s Experience
Since its start in 2009, The Joe Rogan’s Experience has hosted more than 700 guests from different walks of life. From comedians, C.E.Os, philosophers, and activists to musicians and athletes. Any career that you can think of, someone in it has been in a conversation with Joe Rogan.
Many Episodes Featured Comedians
This fact shouldn’t surprise anyone looking at Joe Rogan’s stand-up comedy career.
One of the most loved episodes that featured a comedian is episode 990, in which Jamie Foxx was hosted, where he shared some hilarious anecdotes about his past. Some popular comedians that have been featured include Russell Brand and Dave Chapelle.
A Lot of Episodes Talked about Psychedelics
We all know that Rogan’s experience is very diverse but do you know that he also had a lot of conversations about hallucinogens? The 1678 episode of the podcast hosted Michael Pollan, author of the popular book How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. In this episode, they discussed a lot about their personal experiences with psychedelics.
Other episodes that discussed about psychedelics include Episode 1127, 1109 and 1133
Rogan’s Podcast has more than 2000 Episodes.
Launched 12 years ago on 24 December 2009, the Rogan’s Experience Podcast does at least 3 to 4 programs each week. This means there are more than 2000 episodes of the podcast per year. These episodes discuss different issues, from politics to careers, books, and psychedelics.
It will take you Close to a Year to Binge the Whole Podcast.
Featured 3 to 4 times a week, The Rogan’s Experience has more than 2000 episodes. If we take 2 and half hours as the average time for each podcast, we would have more than 5000 hours to watch all the show’s episodes.
Thus it will take you about 211 days to listen to the whole podcast or even a complete year if you’ll do some daily activities in between.
How Much Does Joe Rogan Make Altogether?
Being involved in two businesses, UFC and podcasts, Joe Rogan inarguably makes a lot of money. His podcasts generate more income for him, but how far would the podcast have gone without the popularity UFC gave Joe Rogan?
Sources said Spotify paid him $100,000 per podcast episode he uploaded. It was also reported that he made over $30m from his podcast last year; it isn’t surprising how millions rush to listen to the programs.
In 2019, Rogan’s net worth was around $50,000,000. The UFC commentator and podcaster currently have a net worth of nearly $130 million.
