Love him or hate him, Pat McAfee has built himself an empire. The former NFL punter took a chance on his post-career by entering the world of sports media, leaving the game with two years remaining on his NFL contract to work for Barstool Sports out of his home in Indianapolis. He created more opportunities by leveraging his growing popularity from each destination he called home—from Barstool Sports to SiriusXM, DAZN, Westwood One, FanDuel, FOX Sports, and now ESPN.
McAfee is sports media’s ultimate rags-to-riches story—proof that talent wins, always.
It has been less than a decade since McAfee entered the industry, yet his star continues to rise. Could he already be thinking bigger, better, and planning his next move? If history tells a tale, and zebras never change their stripes, we might one day see McAfee tell ESPN “buh-bye,” as he has done with other networks.
The spark for this discussion comes from comments by ESPN president of content Burke Magnus. Magnus was asked by The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch about his perspective on McAfee’s 2023 agreement with the network.
A Game Changing Deal
To recap, ESPN signed McAfee to a reported five-year agreement worth $85 million. The agreement was a reported pay cut for McAfee, who previously had a deal with FanDuel worth a reported $120 million.
As part of the arrangement, McAfee’s show would air on ESPN while remaining free on YouTube—a move that, at the time, seemed confusing as to why a network would allow it.
Additionally, under the partnership, ESPN would not have creative control over the content of his program. This means McAfee could have guests from other “competitor” networks if he chose to.
ESPN would receive roughly 230 episodes every year and the ability to sell advertising against them.
The wins were clear. McAfee gains more eyeballs on ESPN than he did on FanDuel, despite earning less money. He keeps his homegrown audience through the YouTube stream. ESPN gets a two-hour block of programming that attracts younger demographics and can sell advertising against it. Plus, content from The Pat McAfee Show can be shared across ESPN’s social platforms, and vice versa.
Two years into the deal, Magnus told The Sports Media Podcast he could not imagine ESPN without McAfee.
“There is validation for athletes and executives to be on his show. Every commissioner wants to be on his show. Every athlete wants to be on the show,” said Magnus. “There’s a cool factor, a relevance factor. It’s fun, funny, and entertaining. As we sit here today, I could not imagine our daytime schedule without his show.”
We could interpret this quote in a few ways. Here’s my take:
Ammo for the Future
What Magnus said is no different from statements coming from ESPN’s upper management regarding support for McAfee. Despite a litany of questionable moments and public commentary about some “suits” at ESPN from McAfee himself, the network has remained consistent in their support of both the program and the partnership.
While the network has not been particularly transparent with viewership figures for The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN, who says they need to be? Magnus noted in May at the BSM Summit in Chicago that some industry leaders are overly focused on linear ratings as the sole metric of success. He emphasized that digital growth is also a key measure of success in a licensing deal.
If you’ve kept up with ESPN digital and social platforms, along with what McAfee’s team produces every weekday, there’s no doubt ESPN is thrilled with the engagement the brand generates.
Now, regarding Magnus’ comments: he provided potential leverage for McAfee.
This is a new era for content—streaming platforms now compete directly with networks for talent, and the ability to self-regulate and grow digitally makes stars like McAfee more powerful than ever.
By saying he cannot imagine ESPN without the show, Magnus signals the network values McAfee’s presence, which could strengthen McAfee’s position in renegotiation talks. Unlike 2023, there are now more players at the bargaining table. If ESPN is smart, they may seek to extend the agreement before it expires in 2028.
Who knows what the media landscape will look like in three years, let alone three months?
The media landscape is unpredictable. Netflix and Amazon have publicly expressed interest in podcasting, and both have massive global audiences. Paramount or other streaming platforms could emerge as suitors. The possibilities are endless if McAfee is willing to look beyond his current platform.
Chances are, he will—he has before.
ESPN Has the Upper Hand, But…
Does being on ESPN allow McAfee the opportunity to become the new face of College GameDay? Of course it does. Lee Corso even said this past weekend that he’s passed the torch to the former Colts punter.
Does being on ESPN allow McAfee to continue his work with WWE? Did you watch Wrestlepalooza this weekend? McAfee kicked off the show and was credited as a major factor in bringing the two parties together.
In conversations with digital content creators over the past months, McAfee serves as a blueprint for creators on how to succeed without compromising. He marches to his own beat and drives his own agenda, demonstrating the entrepreneurial spirit every network covets.
The most dangerous thing any executive could say about Pat McAfee is that he’s irreplaceable. Executives rarely call talent irreplaceable because it gives the talent enormous leverage. That term adds more value than any metric presented on a PowerPoint. No executive ever says that about any talent.
Did Scott Greenstein say Howard Stern was irreplaceable during their latest contract discussions? No. Instead, he noted that the company would love for him to stay, not that he couldn’t be replaced.
If these comments reflect an aggressive strategy by ESPN to extend McAfee’s contract, I applaud the move and its assertiveness. The McAfee model exemplifies the changing media landscape: digital-first, personality-driven, multi-platform content that networks can no longer ignore. Traditional metrics like linear ratings are no longer the sole currency. Engagement, social amplification, and cross-platform growth matter as much—if not more. Why else would ESPN go into the direct-to-consumer model with a massive amount of digital tools to play with.
If not, with every day that passes and the growing competition for top-tier talent, another hop may be in McAfee’s future.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
