"I want to step into something that is already established that I’m used to doing in sports radio. I think my wife would kill me if I went independent."
"The network holds eight additional games outside Monday Night Football. Seven on the newly acquired NFL Network, including five international contests this fall."
"The story is that ESPN has completely changed its philosophy. For decades, ESPN sold the network. It sold SportsCenter. It sold highlights. Now it sells personalities."
"For years, ESPN has been criticized for what it wasn't doing. Not enough promotion. Not enough storytelling. Not enough attention paid to certain properties. Fair or unfair, those critiques have followed the network through multiple eras. But right now, those conversations feel very distant."
"Game 3 averaged 23.8 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, a 159% jump from last year's Game 3. The audience peaked at 26.3 million viewers at 11:15 p.m. ET."
"That is not an indictment of Pat [McAfee]. It's not an indictment of Disney. It's the reality of the relationship that exists between the people who pay and the people who get paid."
"His existing arrangement includes a licensing agreement for The Pat McAfee Show that pays over $17 million per year — plus separate contracts for College GameDay and other ESPN contributions."
"The program, titled State of Sports, aired May 27 and featured McAfee conducting commissioner-level interviews. On ESPN alone, the two-hour special drew just 278,000 viewers."
"I want to step into something that is already established that I’m used to doing in sports radio. I think my wife would kill me if I went independent."