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Former New York Mets great Keith Hernandez ranks third among America’s highest-earning sports stars on Cameo, according to an analysis released today.
The Sag Harbor resident who famously commutes on the Long Island Expressway to and from his job as a Mets announcer at Citi Field in Queens has raked in almost $100,000 from the more than 550 personalized videos he has produced for fans, reports Sports Betting NY.
At $175 a clip, Hernandez’ endearing videos are a steal compared to some other pros on the list.
Former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis — America’s highest-earning sports star on Cameo with earnings of at least $231,660 — charges $330 per video. The Yankees’ retired Hall of Fame reliever Marion Rivera gets $750 for each of his Cameo videos; he ranks second in earnings with $101,250.
Typically recorded in the comfort of his Long Island home, Hernandez’s videos last a minute-and-a-half on average. His messages are frank, friendly, sometimes funny and extremely casual.
In the Cameo message below, Hernandez wishes a fan named Karen a “Happy Valentine’s Day,” while apologizing to her for refusing to sign a baseball she presented to him during spring training in Florida back in 1988.
“I must have been in a bad mood that day — or in a hurry,” said the former Gold Glove first baseman and two-time World Series champion. “I apologize. I hope you’ll forgive me. Anyway, you can’t sign everybody.
“Maybe, sometime this season, you can get to the ballpark and we can get the ball signed for you,” Hernandez continued. “In the meantime, I am here to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day from your husband Pete, who loves you very much. He needs a big hug and kiss, and he didn’t have to do this.”
Across his 563 Cameo videos, Hernandez has achieved an impressive average rating of 4.95 out of 5.
“Keith hit it out of the park with the video for my husband!” one reviewer wrote last week in regards to a Father’s Day message crafted by Hernandez. “The video was perfectly personalized and exactly what I was looking for. It is going to be very hard to top this gift in the future! Thank you so much, Keith, for making my husband’s Father’s Day even more special.”
In this next video, Hernandez congratulates an engaged-to-be-married couple on their imminent marriage and tells them that he’s “just tickled to be a part” of their big day.
“I am here to wish you all the happiness in the world, and also a wonderful honeymoon together,” he said. “I know that you are huge Met fans — a family of Mets fans. How do I know that? And how do I know that you’re getting married? Well, this is from your brother Aiden … and he’s thinking of the both of you, and how much he loves you.
“And I’m glad to be a part of this,” added Hernandez, who also meandered during his message that he was sitting at home that day due to a Mets rainout.
Hernandez played seven seasons with the Mets, capturing a World Series title in 1986 as the team’s captain. He is a member of the organization’s Hall of Fame and his No. 17 was ceremoniously retired in 2022. A colorful TV commentator on SNY, Hernandez has served as an analyst on Mets broadcasts since 1998.
In its analysis, Sports Betting NY looked at how much sports stars from the NFL, MLB, NBA and WNBA could have earned from personalised video website Cameo, by multiplying the number of reviews by how much they charge for each video. Cameo takes a 25 percent cut from each video sale.
Top images: Cameo
