Pat McAfee is expanding his ESPN footprint even more. According to a new report by The Athletic, McAfee will be joining Monday Night Countdown this fall.
What We Know: McAfee will join Scott Van Pelt, Jason Kelce, Marcus Spears and Jason McCourty on Countdown. McCourty replaces Ryan Clark, whom ESPN fired earlier this year. Meanwhile, McAfee is reportedly negotiating a contract extension worth $60-65 million annually. Consequently, he’ll juggle his daily show, College GameDay and now Countdown all season.
What’s At Stake: Oversaturation of Pat McAfee this football season. With McAfee on six days a week in multiple dayparts and shows, there could be a sense that McAfee’s star power could take a hit with so much of him all the time. ESPN likely is making this decision to justify his reported new extension amount, but time will tell.
What Remains Unclear: ESPN nor McAfee has not commented on the reporting.
What It Means: McAfee’s expanded role underscores ESPN’s reliance on his popularity heading into Super Bowl season. It also tightens the link between Countdown and the network’s biggest NFL night. Meanwhile, NFL Network is reshuffling too, with Jason Kelce debuting as a game analyst alongside Dave Pasch and Kurt Warner. Together, these moves show two networks betting big on star power.
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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.