Would Pat McAfee really leave eight figures on the table? Andrew Marchand of The New York Post reports that the former NFL punter is seriously considering terminating his deal with FanDuel, which currently pays him more than $30 million per year.
Marchand cites both sources and evidence that a breakup is in play. Earlier this week, McAfee declared that it was “up to something season” on his show. It is a term he uses when teasing a new opportunity. He did not give any details other than saying what he has been discussing would be a major step.
This comes on the heels of a social media post in which Pat McAfee openly pondered his future with a number of his media partners. In that post, he wrote that he and the new executives at FanDuel “don’t necessarily have the same philosophical views on stuff.”
He clarified that there are no hard feelings, but the company has “a different way of operating these days.” The New York Post points out that the FanDuel logo has disappeared from videos of The Pat McAfee Show in recent weeks.
According to Marchand’s sources, McAfee would not leave FanDuel with his crew unless he knew where they would land. He has had discussions in the past with Amazon. Marchand speculates that with the recent addition of Sunday Ticket, Google and YouTube may be interested in ramping up its own NFL content. That would put that tech giant in play as well.
Pat McAfee is a star many networks want to work with, but it is hard not to think some may be getting wary. Leaving FanDuel early would be part of a pattern. McAfee has also terminated deals with Barstool, DAZN, and Westwood One in the past.
But the potential likely outweighs the concerns. McAfee has a loyal audience and he knows how to make headlines. Case in point, on Wednesday, football fans that have never consumed an episode of McAfee’s show before will be rushing to find it to hear what Aaron Rodgers has to say about his future.
FanDuel signed a four year deal with McAfee at the end of 2021. In total, the deal is worth more than $120 million.
