Up To Something Season has officially concluded, Pat McAfee said on Monday’s edition of The Pat McAfee Show. He promised a major announcement sometime in the next 10 days.
This revelation comes just days after McAfee and his wife welcomed their first child into the world and shortly after McAfee was seen taking various meetings around Los Angeles. Akin to Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, McAfee has represented himself and his own entity throughout the negotiating process – and now, he has found a deal. He previously called the move “industry changing.”
“This is big,” McAfee said. “It is very large. I think some would call it historic…Just know that we are thankful for everybody and yeah, it’s probably going to be in books someday. I’m very, very fortunate, happy, lucky, thankful [and] grateful.”
McAfee had posted a photo of himself with Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, but he has kept a preponderance of his business proceedings concealed. He reportedly took six meetings in Los Angeles, and has seemingly conversed with a variety of other decision makers in sports media. McAfee’s goal going into this “Up To Something Season” was to find a network that would give him a better work-life balance while continuing to keep the show free to view on YouTube, with Amazon and Google being rumored as potential landing spots.
“There’s a lot of big time humans I was having conversations with that I could have never expected to be having conversations with, and everybody was so kind [and] so nice,” McAfee said. “[I am] thankful for everybody at all [the] places that I [talked] to. We found the right direction for us, and it’s going to be pretty large, I think.”
The former NFL punter has fostered a successful media career, hosting his own digital program and appearing as an analyst on various ESPN football programming. In fact, McAfee and members of his show participated in several alternate broadcasts, including on the College Football National Championship titled Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show. NFL national insider Ian Rapoport is a frequent guest of the program, and he appeared in the show’s Indianapolis studio, yet was oblivious to just what the announcement was.
“The reason why all this is happening is because how good the boys are,” McAfee said to Rapoport. “If they would have told you, that would go against everything that they are and we are, and it would be a reason why we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re about to announce that we’re doing.”
McAfee was previously a member of Barstool Sports, joining the company upon his retirement from professional football in 2016. He left the entity two years later to create his own production business and eventually began broadcasting his show on the radio syndicated by DAZN and Westwood One. The show transitioned to satellite radio on Sirius XM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio and remained on its airwaves until August 2022, during which McAfee inked a four-year endorsement deal with FanDuel.
He promised that his show will always remain free and never be behind a paywall when speaking about the potential of exiting his FanDuel deal early. NBCUniversal, FOX Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, YouTube and Warner Bros. Discovery are all holding their upfront events next week in New York City where new programs and acquisitions are frequently divulged to the public.
