Pat McAfee will not be on ESPN Radio. At least, not when his distribution deal with the network begins in the fall according to Andrew Marchand.
In his Monday newsletter for The New York Post, Marchand writes that he has heard from sources that despite ESPN’s desire, McAfee’s multi-platform approach will not include the soon-to-be-overhauled radio network.
“ESPN could revisit the plan a year from now,” Marchand writes.
McAfee chose to leave broadcast radio for satellite in 2020, saying that he found FCC rules constraining considering how his show began. Surely, the same issues would likely arise if McAfee and crew were on ESPN affiliates across the country.
Many of the network’s local radio affiliates expressed optimism when news broke last week that ESPN was hoping to put McAfee’s show on radio. Given all of the recent upheaval at the network, he could have added some serious star power to the middays, when stations are most likely to turn to syndicated programming.
The implications of this revelation are interesting. Does ESPN Radio go with a “temporary fix?” Certainly there will be local stations that want something permanent in place, but the appeal of a future with McAfee on the air is hard to deny.
