The sport of college football has never been bigger. A game built on tradition and rivalry continues to find new avenues of expansion and engagement, as traditional and digital platforms create conduits that connect fans to the sport. If you haven’t heard of Josh Pate yet, it won’t be long until you do.
Over the past decade, Pate has grown his passion for the sport into a digital hub for all things college football. The journey has taken him from working in a fabric warehouse to being regarded as one of the sport’s most influential voices in connecting fans to the game. That effort was recognized earlier this year, as Pate’s program, Josh Pate’s College Football Show, ranked as the ninth-best program out of 580 potential shows in the latest Barrett Media Rankings for digital shows.
“It makes me feel immense pride, and a little bit of validation,” says Pate. “I grew up on traditional media and immersed myself in it. That’s the kind of media I consumed growing up, and the ecosystem I was raised in. It’s still means a lot to me that people who have been in the industry for so long look at what is a new way of doing things and say, ‘I like that.’”
Throughout his journey building the program, Pate believed the wheel didn’t need reinventing. As a consumer of traditional media, he felt that even with new platforms, the same formula for success applied. Instead, he leans into the mindset of what a college football fan desires from their favorite programs.
“It’s a new medium. There are new production lanes you may exist in. But a lot of what works was figured out a long time ago. You may have to spread a new layer of butter over the toast to account for changes in attention spans, but what made Dan Patrick interesting when I was growing up still applies today,” explains Pate.
Thinking Differently
It may be an old rule, but Pate considers consistency essential to success. That means delivering content on a reliable schedule that meets audience expectations, while also making decisions that align with what the audience wants. For Pate, everything revolves around the customer who continues to make his product their destination for college football.
As the sport continues to expand, so does Pate’s audience. After a successful run with CBS Sports and 24/7 Sports, Pate negotiated ownership of his podcast in his most recent CBS agreement, allowing him to collaborate and partner with other networks. That freedom and independence, Pate says, helped him shape his ideal vision for the future of his product.
“For a long time, anybody in our business had to accept the way the world was. Then a decade ago when you had the rapid emergence of digital media, it was a trigger mechanism for me to stop thinking about how things have been forever. It may be time for me to think more idealistically,” explained Pate. “The perfect scenario is building something successful that you own.”
In his first college football season after leaving CBS, Pate found a new path through a series of collaborations that elevated his brand. He reached an agreement with On3, bringing his podcast to its college football platform and audience. Through that relationship, his brand also aligned with Yahoo Sports and its growing digital presence.
Pate also announced a collaboration with the highly successful Bussin’ With The Boys podcast. He made weekly appearances on Bussin’s The Locker Room, serving as the featured guest for college football insight and analysis.
Even while arranging agreements with On3 and Bussin’ With The Boys, Pate remained selective, declining opportunities that didn’t align with his brand.
“The thing that’s been tough is saying no to brands that maybe don’t align with what we do, and the values of the show. That leaves a lot of money on the table,” said Pate. “But it’s a promise that you make to your audience. I’m not going to bring anyone here that doesn’t make sense, or bring anything on the show that doesn’t make sense either. That’s where rubber meets the road.”
ESPN Opens The Door
Perhaps the biggest partnership Pate secured last year was his agreement to appear on ESPN’s Get Up and other network programming. His inclusion, along with Bussin’ With The Boys, marked another step in ESPN’s growing collaboration with digital content creators.
While Pate initially had an agreement for a set number of appearances, a conversation with Get Up host Mike Greenberg gave both sides more flexibility. Rather than sticking to a fixed number, they chose to evaluate the process throughout the season. That approach led to a successful run and exceeded the original agreement.
“I went into the ESPN experience last year with an open mind. I didn’t want to have stars in my eyes even though I grew up on ESPN. Every experience I had with ESPN probably exceeded expectations,” said Pate. “You really don’t appreciate it until you’re around it. The production and professionalism done at that level.”
Because of his efforts, reports have surfaced about expanding Pate’s role within ESPN programming next season.
“Everyone sat down around the camp fire and realized we all love this. We all want more of it. Let’s work it out, and we’re in the process of doing that right now,” explained Pate about his role at ESPN. “Those are the people that I want to be in business with for a long time. You cross your fingers that they feel the same about you. But we talked about a lot of exciting concepts and ideas that are still up in the air right now. I strongly believe we’ll get something worked out for the upcoming season.”
Expansion With Netflix?
With his continued growth, it would be easy to assume platforms like Netflix might take interest in Pate’s product. The streaming giant has recently explored exclusive deals with high-profile sports podcasts.
Pate, a self-admitted wrestling fan, embraces a “never say never” mindset when it comes to future opportunities.
“The concept is going to broaden a little bit. What you’re really doing in the long run is investing in the idea of creators and personalities being able to bring audience. That doesn’t always mean that you bring an existing show or product to your shelf,” explained Pate.
For now, he prefers to observe how Netflix’s involvement impacts podcast growth and consumption.
“As of this moment, I’m not actively seeking to take my show anywhere from where it has grown up. Because it wouldn’t serve the audience. It would serve me, and put more money in my pocket,” said Pate. “The conversations have been there, don’t get me wrong. But to this point, it’s been a non-starter because it’s not what’s best for the audience. However, I always circle back to never say never.”
Fallout From President Trump Interview
Although Pate has largely avoided political content, he wasn’t surprised by the reaction to his recent sit-down with President Donald Trump. After the White House reached out, the time allotted for the interview was significantly reduced.
Reflecting on the final product, Pate said the conversation never had the chance to fully explore college football topics.
“There’s just no way to dive into anything long form when the time is cut. So, there wasn’t a lot of meat on the bone with the conversation,” explained Pate.
As for the reaction, Pate focused on feedback from his core audience rather than outside criticism.
“A ton of people criticize you who never otherwise consume your content. Frankly, I don’t care what the opinion is from someone who is not part of my audience. I’m respectful about that, but respectfully I don’t care,” said Pate. “There were members of our audience that have been with us for a long time. Not even for political reasons, but for more primary reasons. They did not like that we did it, and their reasoning was very simple. They saw me breaking a promise of bringing something besides college football to the channel.”
Pate has always prioritized serving his audience above all else. He acknowledged that criticism, even if it came from a small portion of his base. Still, he never considered withholding the interview.
“We did it, and we’re going to air it. Period,” said Pate. “Because we had what we had, I let people know it was going to happen. We aired it and then discussed the behind-the-scenes aspect after it aired. Then we moved on. I was always going to release it. The substance or lack there of affected how we promoted it.”
In the end, Pate said he has no regrets about the interview. While he learned from the experience, he acknowledged the execution could have been better.
In an era where the lines between traditional and digital media continue to blur, Josh Pate isn’t choosing sides—he’s building a bridge. One grounded in the fundamentals that made sports media resonate, yet flexible enough to evolve with a new generation of fans.
What separates Pate isn’t just his reach, partnerships, or rapid rise—it’s his discipline. The discipline to stay consistent. The discipline to say no. And most importantly, the discipline to keep the audience at the center of every decision.
Because in a landscape driven by clicks, algorithms, and constant change, Pate’s approach serves as a reminder: the most powerful growth strategy isn’t chasing every opportunity—it’s earning trust and protecting it.
And as college football continues to expand its footprint across platforms, personalities, and audiences, don’t be surprised if Josh Pate’s model becomes less of an outlier—and more of the blueprint.
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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.
