Jackass star Steve-O was paid $100,000 for appearing in the Sega-published American football game NFL 2K5.
Speaking to GameSpot, Steve-O said he was paid “exactly $100,000” for appearing as a celebrity coach alongside Carmen Electra, David Arquette, Funkmaster Flex, and Jamie Kennedy. Only a picture and the voice of these celebrities was used as players chose to compete against them.
NFL 2K5, which starred wide receiver Terrell Owens on its cover, was the last of Sega’s football franchise which rivalled EA’s Madden NFL in the early 2000s. It was well-received though, earning a 9/10 in IGN’s review from 2004, and launched for only $20 compared to the standard (and Madden) price of $50 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox games.
“For sure they reached out to me,” Steve-O said. “It’s so funny that I went to promote this video game on the Howard Stern show. They paid me very well to do that. In 2004, I think it was exactly $100,000 they paid me to do that.”
Steve-O’s starring wasn’t his only video game appearance but it was seemingly his most lucrative. He also revealed his more involved cameo as a skater in Tony Hawk’s Underground 2, where he rode a mechanical bull instead of a skateboard, earned him $5,000.
“I think this one was wildly more popular, but who’s gonna not do that, you know?” Steve-O added.
Jackass, a show and film series about Steve-O and friends performing comedic but dangerous stunts, also had a video game, aptly called Jackass: The Game, but this seemingly didn’t earn its stars much money either. “Jackass was really good at not paying us that much,” he said.
Video games and sports games in particular have a long relationship with celebrity appearances, though they’re perhaps less common now. The cover star reveals for each annualised sports series are always highly anticipated, however, with recent examples including the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum starring on NBA 2K25’s cover and England star Jude Bellingham appearing on EA Sports’ FC 25.
Image Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images for UTOPIA
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.