Every now and then a story makes the rounds that leaves me scratching my head. The latest one involves the NY Post’s report of Pat McAfee paying big money to Aaron Rodgers and Nick Saban to appear on his program.
This is nothing new. Paying people to appear on media outlets on a set day and time has been happening for decades. Maybe the amount being paid is more but looking at it through the lens of the Pat McAfee Show, this is a no-brainer. I applaud him for defending it. He has every right to do it. If you’ve paid attention to the rise of his show the past few years, he’s clearly invested in the right type of difference makers. If what Pat said is true, and the value of his company has grown from 2-5 million to over 500 million, heck, even if it’s half of that, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t be doing the same exact thing. It’s business 101.
What bothered me when this story dropped is that it felt tied to a different issue than whether or not Aaron Rodgers and Nick Saban should be paid for their time. I’ll get to that in a minute. Given how many people watch Rodgers on Pat’s show, listen to him via the podcast, and how much media attention each appearance generates, Aaron’s more than demonstrated his value.
Saban may not be as popular as Rodgers but he is the greatest college football coach of my lifetime, speaks his mind, and he’s in charge of one of the nation’s top college football programs. We’re not going to seriously suggest these aren’t valuable assets, right? Both men are filthy rich and don’t need to do these appearances. If you want them to make time for it, which likely leads to extra discussions with local and national media about the comments they make on the air, they’ve got to see the benefit in doing it. Providing a ‘platform’ isn’t enough of a reason for them to make time each week to doing it.
The bigger issue I have involves this fascination by some in media circles to look for a way to make it political. Let me be clear, that is not what I believe was behind the New York Post’s story. I’ll get to that later in this piece.
As is the case often, when a story like this drops, it’s followed by aggregation and reactionary columns. You’re reading one right now. If you’ve read up on Rodgers, you’re aware that some don’t like his staunch defense of not being vaccinated or how he views the world. He’s a complex personality who some would prefer to silence because his beliefs don’t jive with their own. Quite frankly, I could care less if anyone is vaccinated or unvaccinated. Those are personal choices and they have no effect on my life or what we focus on covering on BSM or BNM. If there’s a media issue to explore, we examine it. If not, we move on.
As it relates to Rodgers, he’s a future first ballot hall of famer who speaks his mind and gets people to watch or listen. That’s usually what media folks want from the athletes they cover. The second I heard him call Travis Kelce ‘Mr. Pfizer’ I knew there’d be media outlets chomping at the bit to write about it. Some see it as an opening to question ESPN for allowing him on the air to share his views, just as they may question why Mad Dog can admit taking a gummy on a Disney owned network.
Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t but we didn’t touch Aaron’s remarks about Kelce. Nor did we write about Kelce’s response. Why? Because we cover the sports broadcasting business, not the world of sports. Unless you’re on a mission to chase clicks, which we’re not, this was a sports story involving two athletes. I’m sure in the coming days some athletes will speak about the issues between Hamas and Israel and some will write about that too. We will not. That doesn’t mean I won’t read those stories and find them interesting, they’re just not sports media business stories.
If ESPN pulled the plug on Rodgers appearing, dropped Mad Dog for his hilarious admission or if a discussion on Israel-Hamas led to an issue between broadcasters, then we’d dive in. That makes it a media matter. Otherwise it’s an interview on a show with an athlete who has an opinion and there are hundreds of those happening daily. We’ll leave that for reporters and hosts covering the world of sports.
Having managed brands in multiple cities and consulted outlets for the past 8 years, I’m very familiar with the paid contributor game. I know stations spend a lot of money on weekly contributors. When I ran 95.7 The Game in SF for Entercom (now Audacy) we spent 100-200K per year on baseball, football and basketball players appearing for weekly hits. Guess what, it worked. There was more attention placed on the station’s programming, we increased revenue through weekly segments and appearances, and the perception of the station was elevated. Those are called smart business investments.
When we rolled out a weekly feature titled ‘GIANT Tuesday’ and made Buster Posey and Matt Cain the focus of it during the height of the San Francisco Giants championship run, it instantly lifted the brand. First, it prevented two key stars from appearing on the competition, gave us exclusive access each week which grew tune ins and local buzz, the players took part in on the field meet and greets with the audience, and we were able to connect advertising partners to their segments and run adjacent spots. The same structure existed with Jerry Rice, Klay Thompson, Billy Beane, the San Francisco 49ers, and other key players from the three main leagues.
Before managing in SF, I experienced the same thing in St. Louis at 101 ESPN. We paid a rights fee to air St. Louis Rams football, and we received perks in the deal such as a weekly coaches show, suites, tickets, seats on the team plane, etc. but players cost extra. I was lucky enough to work for Bonneville who believed in investing in its programming, and they allowed us to strike deals with Steven Jackson, Rick Venturi, Tony Softli, Andy Van Slyke, Chris Duncan, and more. Those deals weren’t cheap but they helped grow ratings and revenue.
This doesn’t mean that every contributor is compensated for appearing on a podcast or radio or TV station but those providing value that can produce profit are going to be given different consideration. We can debate whether or not anyone is worth paying seven figures to appear on a show but if you ran that person’s business and saw it grow by 200-300% are you really going to suggest you wouldn’t make the same investment to retain what you built? You’re full of it if you’re saying otherwise.
What the general public sees or hears is the individual’s weekly appearance but what they don’t are the additional items that come with these paid relationships. Sometimes a paid guest signs a bunch of merchandise for sales people to use to try and attract clients. Sometimes they include a 1-2 hour private or public appearance for the media group to use to recoup some of its investment. Other times they may voice spots, take part in social media chats, meet fans or clients on the field/court or take part in a phone call with a key advertiser to try and close business. I’ve even seen some donate part of their uniform to help brands raise money for important causes.
These are the bonus items beyond calls that make deals even more valuable. It’s why I checked in regularly with agents and key players during the course of an agreement to make sure they were happy. At times, I’d even go down to the locker room and bring additional restaurant gift certificates, a bottle of wine or a copy of a new video game for a player to bring home to his kids. That’s what you do when you’re involved in a successful business relationship.
Do you know for sure that Aaron Rodgers hasn’t done things beyond the appearance to help Pat close bigger deals? Do you think ESPN and FanDuel before them didn’t see the value of working with McAfee knowing he had exclusive access to people like Rodgers and Saban? How much marketing money would’ve been needed to gain the attention that the McAfee show has received the past few years due to having Aaron on regularly? It’s enormous. To think that Aaron shouldn’t command a high fee when he’s providing that type of value is silly.
When McAfee addressed this story on his program Thursday, I thought his response was spot on. You take care of the people who help you grow your business. He’s made investments in people who move the needle. If the audience rises, the advertising increases, and your own brand gains significant value, which leads to a major deal with the industry’s largest sports media company, why would you even think a key contributor wouldn’t be paid let alone not expect a fortune to come on? Do you think WEEI in Boston paid peanuts to the Patriots for weekly calls with Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, additional players, and to frame two days of their weekly content around the Patriots name?
Big dollars have been attached to star players and personalities since the beginning of time and it’ll continue long after we’re all gone. The reason is simple, they grow audience, revenue, and brand/company value. To think this wouldn’t be the case indicates a lack of understanding of the way the media business works.
The only issue I took with Pat’s on-air commentary was his personal dig at Andrew Marchand. I understand Pat being frustrated with the story being out, and feeling there was an attempt to make him look like he was doing something unethical by paying valuable people to appear, but Andrew’s job is to report media news. He does a damn good job of it. Maybe the headline could have been different, and from McAfee’s chair he can question why it’s even a story, but Rodgers is a popular figure, those Tuesday visits produce a lot of interest, and people are going to be interested in those details. The attention only increases when you operate under the ESPN lights, and that’s something Pat has to get used to because it’s not going to change.
The bottom line, nobody got hurt, the world will go on, and the media business will continue investing in people capable of producing interest and business. Pat McAfee is taking care of the right people, and it has paid dividends for his brand and those part of his journey. That’s something we should be applauding not criticizing. Why? Because it works.
Demetri Ravanos will be taking a look at this issue from a different angle on Monday. Be sure to check back then to see how he views the situation.
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
