After Pat McAfee called ESPN out for taking their ball and going home, the Worldwide Leader now says they’re willing to share.
Last week, McAfee stated ESPN talent was prohibited from appearing on his SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio show. It’s a policy the Disney owned company has implemented before, but it was a little surprising for McAfee who works as an ESPN contributor despite hosting a radio show on another platform.
McAfee makes regular appearances on both Get Up! and College Gameday. But after he said maybe he won’t go on ESPN shows anymore, the company responded.
“We didn’t intend to ban ESPN guests from the show & there is certainly no ban going forward,” the company told Richard Deitsch of The Athletic. “We are in the midst of figuring out the best process for future guests to appear on outside platforms & Pat will continue to make regular appearances on ESPN shows.”
Colin Cowherd responded to McAfee’s original claim with a “welcome to the two man club” tweet. Cowherd left ESPN for FOX in 2015. His FOX Sports Radio show The Herd has continued its immense success despite apparently being ESPN guest-free.
But even if ESPN decides to allow their talent to rejoin McAfee’s show, Cowherd still won’t be alone in getting shut out of their talent. Although an official statement was never made by Disney, it’s an unspoken rule that ESPN will not allow their employees to join radio stations outside the family that is true in markets large and small.
ESPN has always shown loyalty to their New York radio affiliate and does not allow its talent to join shows on WFAN. Jeff Van Gundy, Mike Breen, Adam Schefter, Jeff Passan were all regular guests on WFAN at one time or another, but as soon as they joined ESPN, those segments were stopped.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
