At the end of one of his ESPN afternoon shows this month, Pat McAfee, the perpetually tank-topped former punter turned pro wrestler turned media star, delivered a personal warning ... to his own bosses.
“All the suits at ESPN that told [the New York Post] to write this article to make us look bad,” McAfee said, “your time is coming.”
Then he gestured toward his genitals, a move familiar to any wrestling fan as a two-word directive: “Suck it.”
McAfee’s apparent disgust stemmed from a New York Post story, written by Andrew Marchand, that reported McAfee has paid star quarterback Aaron Rodgers more than $1 million over the years to appear on his show. McAfee seemed to view the story as someone hoping to embarrass him. So here he was, one of the faces of the most popular sports network in America, yelling at Disney executives and pointing to his crotch.
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Welcome to the new ESPN.
ESPN hired McAfee, a longtime radio host whose biggest previous platform was YouTube, this year and reportedly is paying him north of $15 million per year in a quest to gain more currency with a younger generation of sports fans. Older fans once connected to sports through Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick on “SportsCenter,” and the network has spent recent years looking to regain some of that currency.
But that is no easy task in a fractured media landscape where personalities can create more direct relationships with fans on social media instead of TV. Enter McAfee, whose show debuted on ESPN this fall and runs for two hours each weekday on ESPN’s TV network and another hour on its digital platforms. He is also a co-host of the popular “College GameDay” pregame show.
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McAfee’s rise through sports media has been swift. A former punter for the Indianapolis Colts, he retired from the NFL in 2017 and worked for Barstool, Westwood One, DAZN and SiriusXM before landing a deal at FanDuel that reportedly paid him $120 million over four years. (He cut that short to jump to ESPN.) The 36-year-old is charismatic and energetic and has a real connection with his fans. According to people familiar with his FanDuel deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal business, McAfee was the top talent for converting viewers into gamblers.
McAfee’s show, shot on a set in Indianapolis that looks more like a living room, has a more intimate feel than the typical ESPN program. In recent weeks, he has interviewed a viral Los Angeles Chargers fan and paired Ohio State Coach Ryan Day with a Lou Holtz impersonator.
Nothing, though, has catapulted McAfee to fame more than his Rodgers segments, before and after he joined ESPN, in which Rodgers announced his career plans and fixated on his antipathy toward Anthony S. Fauci.
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Most news shows and outlets do not pay for guests and interviews. Still, in McAfee’s case, there was less pearl-clutching in the industry because it’s difficult to argue McAfee is presenting himself as a journalist. And McAfee explained, reasonably, that plenty of coaches and players have been paid for regular appearances on local radio shows.
“If the reports are true on [McAfee’s] contract, it’s hard to argue it wasn’t worth the money,” said Jemele Hill, a former ESPN personality. Asked about the Rodgers payments, Bob Ley, who retired from ESPN after hosting the network’s hard-news show, “Outside the Lines,” for years, texted a clip from “Casablanca” in which Captain Renault declares he is shocked to learn there is gambling in the casino.
“He’s a singular football talent and he’s been an incredible contributor to the show, and that’s what he is,” Mike Foss, senior vice president of production at ESPN, said of Rodgers. McAfee declined to comment.
Still, the report of the payments was gossiped about by ESPN colleagues because of the gaudy amount and what it might mean should another ESPN show want Rodgers to appear. There could be an element of professional jealousy involved but, more broadly, the question that came up most among ESPN staffers is what, exactly, are the rules for McAfee?
There was the “suck it” clip, but there also has been internal chafing at his seeming dismissal of Washington State football fans and a decades-long “GameDay” tradition. Another clip that circulated among staffers was McAfee’s spiraling speculation on the exit of Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams and an FBI raid that may or may not have happened. (One former ESPN reporter said there used to be a designated person to discuss with talent how they might handle sensitive off-the-field issues before any TV or radio show.)
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McAfee has earned a reputation as a talent who knows what his audience wants and how to grow it, as well as an intense loyalty to his close-knit cast. According to people who have worked with him, he has little regard for those who might suggest they know better, including media executives who don’t know him. And he can be sensitive to criticism, which is baked into any high-profile ESPN job. After the Athletic ran a poll that found just 30 percent of “GameDay” viewers enjoyed McAfee while nearly 50 percent didn’t, he tweeted that he hasn’t committed to returning to the show next season.
This outlook has served him well, and he has thrived on finding villains. (And certainly some of his more controversial segments signal to his fans that ESPN hasn’t changed him.) But it also helps explain — coupled with his growing popularity — why McAfee’s stays at previous stops have been short. At FanDuel, McAfee was upset when the company used Rob Gronkowski to kick a field goal in its Super Bowl ad last year instead of him, according to people familiar with the relationship.
ESPN executives note that McAfee’s show is licensed and that his co-hosts and guests are not employed by ESPN, which means there is less oversight of the show and, according to ESPN, less responsibility for what appears on it. Executives say they are pleased with the digital numbers the show has registered. Foss recalled that at the Texas-Oklahoma football game in Dallas, a 12-person police escort was needed to get McAfee through the crowd because he was mobbed by fans.
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“It’s been nine weeks, and those nine weeks have been exceptional by every metric that matters,” Foss said. “You look at his success on linear and younger audiences, specifically the 18-to-34 demo, and you can’t help but think something special is happening here.”
McAfee also qualifies for the new star rules at the company. Ten years ago, Stephen A. Smith would not have been allowed to have a podcast outside of ESPN’s umbrella where he could endorse Chris Christie for president or opine on a recent episode of “The Golden Bachelor.” (“He’s 72 years old from Indiana! And look at these women!”)
But these are different times. Top talent can go independent and take their fans with them easier than ever, and ESPN is navigating the collapse of the cable bundle that has been the bedrock of its business for decades.
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“The only metric that matters, brutally and cruelly, is success,” Ley said. “That’s measured by eyeballs and clicks.”
He added: “This all goes under the rubric that this could get blown up at any moment when the future of ESPN and Disney is hanging in the balance. So the fact Pat McAfee is paying Aaron Rodgers is kind of a mosquito in the grand scheme of things.”
Tramel Raggs contributed to this report.
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