I initially planned to write about sports radio ratings given that we’ve just released a ton of markets and have a bunch more still to roll out. Then Pat McAfee poured gasoline on a tenured ESPN executive, lit a match, and set him on fire for all to witness. The flames have since spread across ESPN, Disney, Bristol, CT, the South Street Seaport, and all of social media. Once that occurred, I knew I had to change direction.
Last week should have been PR nirvana for ESPN. The network announced growth for GetUp!, First Take, SportsCenter, the NBA Today and its first day of programming in 2024. They also revealed a massive eight-year media rights deal with the NCAA and MegaCast plans for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Most weeks that would have everyone up top and down low walking with an extra pep in their step.
But not this week.
During a conversation with Aaron Rodgers, the Jets Quarterback made a remark that Jimmy Kimmel had every right to be pissed at. Rodgers insinuated that Kimmel would be named as one of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates resulting in the late night host threatening legal action. To connect a popular late night host working under the Disney umbrella to Jeffrey Epstein is irresponsible especially if you don’t have it confirmed. As a result, McAfee had to clean up the mess since it occurred on his show. Then, to make matters worse, Andrew Marchand dropped a column, which raised questions of whether or not McAfee was producing enough impact to warrant the unwanted PR. That set the stage for the next inferno.
On Friday, McAfee didn’t mince words. He called out ESPN Executive Norby Williamson publicly, stating that the tenured boss had been trying to sabotage his show. He suggested that Williamson had been leaking information to make him look bad. That was followed by labeling the ESPN boss an enemy within his own camp. McAfee then explained how Norby blew him off in 2018, leaving him in his office for 45 minutes, making it clear that neither has much respect for the other. He then finished up by mentioning the show’s desire to get it right, and dropped a MF when explaining how others don’t.
When I saw the video, I was both entertained and stunned. Pat’s unafraid approach plays well with talent and fans but suits don’t usually appreciate when they’re publicly embarrassed. McAfee had to know the second he made those comments that he was daring Bob Iger and Jimmy Pitaro to get involved. He labeled Andrew Marchand a rat for the second time in recent months and accused Williamson of doing something without proof. That was the exact same thing that Rodgers did a few days earlier talking about Kimmel.
No matter how much I enjoy McAfee, this part was a mistake. Pat may be right about Norby but if you are going to accuse an executive of sabotage, you better have evidence. In some ways this is a page out of the Howard Stern playbook except this is happening at Disney on ESPN, not on WNBC in the 1980’s. I think most of us expected some type of turbulence between the two but this wasn’t on my bingo card for the first week of 2024.
Let me be clear, I love McAfee’s show. Pat has been a breath of fresh air for sports media for the past seven years and this business needs more talent like him, not less. He oozes passion, energy, insight, he’s committed to his staff, and I applaud him for investing in contributors who help move the needle. I also value his authenticity as a host, and the chemistry and fun that’s shared by the cast on the air. A lot of media people dislike Aaron Rodgers, which I believe is more about their own political views not aligning with the way the Jets QB sees the world yet they watch and react each time he’s on. If you don’t like what Rodgers says, don’t watch or listen. It’s not that hard. The need to try to silence others simply because you disagree is ridiculous.
Having said that, Pat has to be smarter than this. You can’t get personal with a top boss at ESPN and publicly disgrace them when you’re being treated like one of the main faces of a network. You’re being paid handsomely and given free reign to operate how you want on the largest sports network in the world. That same network is owned by Disney and you have to know there are certain lines you just can’t cross.
There’s a certain responsibility that comes with being ‘the man‘. If you want the respect, attention, and financial status that ESPN has made possible, then you have to act like the face of the network. Pat is no longer the underdog, doing it for the brand, and trying to prove he belongs. His plan worked. People dig it. To steal a line from Anchorman 2, he’s a big, fat, giant success. But it’s sort of like a band going from playing clubs to arenas to stadiums. You may want to stay true to your roots and what got you there, but when all the eyes in the world are watching, you’ve got to adjust and become a business not just a performer.
What I’ve been surprised by since Pat joined ESPN has been his increased sensitivity towards media news. He used to be the type of talent who paid little attention to it. Now, he can’t look away. Part of that leads to on-air gold like his reaction on Friday’s show but I can’t help but wonder why a guy who has it all is so concerned by outside noise that he has no control over. He got annoyed when The Athletic ran a poll questioning his fit on College Gameday (for the record, I like him on the show). He took a personal shot at Marchand for reporting how much Aaron Rodgers gets paid to appear, and now he’s put Norby Williamson on blast over a media story.
I haven’t shared this publicly before but it connects to my point about sensitivity. Pat’s twitter account blocked BSM about a year ago. Why? I have no idea. I tried to reach out multiple times and ask but never got a reply. I figured it was someone on his team who didn’t like seeing our posts but considering how much we have promoted him, his show, and even honored him at our 2020 BSM Summit, it was odd. I wondered ‘is there something we wrote that he took exception to?’. Only he or his team knows, and though disappointing, it matters little in the grand scheme of things. But when you allow little things to get to you, they can become big things, and that’s what happened Friday.
While the majority of my focus has been on McAfee, it’s also fair to question Williamson’s role in this process. Norby has been with the company for a long time. He’s an accomplished executive who the company has great faith in. For good reason, he’s earned it.
However, if it was proven that he was indeed leaking information to make someone at his own network look bad, how could he ever be trusted again? If he didn’t do it, then he needs to say that to Pat. Either way, this situation should be an eye opener for him. Clearly he hasn’t earned trust, respect or confidence from an important talent. Why is that? How did the relationship deteriorate to this point? What is he going to do to repair it moving forward?
A few high-profile personalities haven’t exactly endorsed Norby over the past few days. There’s been a perception that he has run off a number of star talents. If true, even the sharpest of executives knows eventually the other side wins. Judging from the commitment given to McAfee by Disney, Pat is not the individual I’d play a game of chicken with. If reports are accurate that Pitaro and Burke Magnus wanted McAfee and Norby didn’t, then he has to know you’re not going to win a 3 on 1 handicap match.
Despite the unwanted network attention and a few of the things I mentioned earlier that I think Pat has to learn from, I have been and remain a McAfee fan. I believe ESPN made a smart business decision hiring him and it’d be foolish to allow friction to tear apart a promising long-term partnership. As ESPN ultimately shifts to a model that depends on subscriptions, McAfee is a guy you want to be in business with.
What Mike Foss told the Washington Post is especially important to take into consideration when evaluating the partnership between ESPN and McAfee. Ben Strauss asked Foss about McAfee’s TV numbers being down based on Marchand’s report. The ESPN digital executive said, “I can understand how people looking specifically at a TV number would say Pat has a ways to go, but we’re not interested in only TV. This is a multiplatform acquisition, so you have to look at everything in the aggregate, and also where the industry is headed.”
Foss added, “Look at the relationship between McAfee, [Mike Greenberg] and Stephen A. [Smith]. That’s working together [on each other’s shows], and those three are the key to our future. As you turn to direct-to-consumer, audiences all of a sudden get to choose who they spend their time with. It is a personality-driven industry way more than a brand-driven industry. Who do you want to spend time with more than the three most important voices in sports?”
Marchand did his job reporting the facts on McAfee’s TV ratings but those numbers don’t tell the full story of McAfee’s impact and value. ESPN did not pay a fortune for a host to boost its Noon to 3 ratings. They invested in the entire Pat McAfee ecosystem. Given how splintered audiences are and where ESPN seeks to move its business, it’s foolish to measure success or failure of a key relationship using one part of the package and doing so just a few months into a five year arrangement. Do the hundreds of thousands of people watching his content on YouTube, social and College Gameday and special Megacast broadcasts not count?
Whether you like Pat or not, he’s super talented, reaches a younger audience, is a game changer in social/digital spaces, and is versatile. He’s someone you can build a weekday show around from Noon to 3, utilize in a sports betting partnership with ESPN BET, feature on College Gameday in a prominent role (which is especially important with Lee Corso slowing down), and he’s got the credentials to contribute to any type of football content and the personality to appear on shows like GetUp! and First Take, and create impact. Don’t also discount how much marketing value he adds each time he offers an opinion or welcomes a polarizing guest like Rodgers. That’s going to do much more for ESPN regardless of what the television ratings might suggest. If you needed any reminder of his value, just go look at the wave of reaction to this latest story.
Though I may be a McAfee fan, I am not a MacAfee apologist. He created a PR nightmare for ESPN this week and there’s not enough Advil to reduce the headache. I appreciate his candor and willingness to call someone out if he feels they’ve done him wrong, but if there are issues taking place between a top talent and executive, men have to be men and clear the air in private. To do it publicly leads to the point of no return. If you don’t believe me, look at how things ended between ESPN and Dan Le Batard.
If Pat’s goal is to leave ESPN, then this is one way to speed up that process. Norby and Pat may never be on the same page, and if not, that’s fine, but now this forces Iger and Pitaro to have to step in. You can’t have multiple incidents like this in the span of a week without repercussions. Not addressing it can have a trickle down effect throughout the rest of the company. It can also imply that Iger, Pitaro or Magnus are fair game. Pat has to know that’s not going to fly.
What I hope Pat appreciates and understands is that Bob and Jimmy moved mountains to make this partnership happen. Many have publicly questioned the fit between both parties yet you haven’t heard that from them. So now it’s Pat’s turn to tune out the noise, do what he does best, and hold up his end of the deal. That starts with using better judgement. He’s been given a blank canvas and allowed to paint. All that’s been asked is that he uses a few specific colors.
Some of the greatest talents to ever grace our television screens have worked at ESPN, and if we’ve learned anything from the past it’s that ESPN will cut ties no matter how successful someone is. Pat is one of the best performers in the industry today, and should be a huge part of ESPN’s future. He’s got a huge following, is extremely engaging, and is only 36 years old. No matter how much I sing his praises though, I understand that he’s not bigger than those four letters. A partnership can’t last if two sides aren’t committed to making adjustments to make it work. I’d like to see this work out because there’s tremendous upside for both. The question is will they be smart enough to adapt before it’s too late?
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.
