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Editor’s note: Front Office Sports learned following the publication of this story that Donald Trump is not expected to appear on College GameDay on Saturday.
For a company that says it wants to avoid the third rail of politics, ESPN keeps finding itself caught in the Culture Wars.
The biggest question of the sports weekend is whether President Donald Trump will appear on ESPN’s College GameDay before personally attending the matchup between No. 1 Texas and No. 14 Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday.
It would make sense. Trump is friends with GameDay stars Pat McAfee and Nick Saban. Trump just welcomed McAfee to his inaugural Patriot Games—with McAfee sitting next to the President at the national youth sports competition. Trump, McAfee, and Saban all support the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA), with McAfee and Saban stumping for Congress to act on air. Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) just told reporters he’d like to see Trump sign the bill live on GameDay.
“We’ve gotta get there first, but it would be an amazing victory for student athletes if we can get that done,” said Cruz, who appeared on GameDay ahead of the Texas–Ohio State game in Austin two weeks ago.
Clay Travis of Sport & State broke the news that Trump planned to attend the Volunteers vs. Longhorns matchup. Travis told Front Office Sports he doesn’t know if Trump is adding GameDay to his schedule. But if Trump’s open to doing it, ESPN should jump at the chance, he says.
“I think every sports show should have the President of the United States if they get the opportunity to do so,” said Travis, who will appear remotely from Knoxville for Fox Sports’s Big Noon Kickoff ahead of Ohio State–Illinois in Columbus, Ohio.
ESPN declined comment on Trump and GameDay. The White House confirmed the President was attending the game, but declined comment on GameDay. But one thing’s as certain as death and taxes: if Trump does show up on the set with McAfee, Saban, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, and Rece Davis, there will be plenty of fury.
ESPN’s already under fire in some quarters for giving Cruz time to stump for PCSA on its air on Sept. 12. NFL analyst Chris Simms said it was “stupid” for Cruz to nakedly campaign for legislation he co-authored on a college football pregame show. And equally “embarrassing” for ESPN—which pays $710 million a year for the SEC’s media rights—to give him a platform.
“Let’s call this what this is: This is ‘Save the ESPN and the SEC Contract Act.’ That’s what this is. That’s all it is,” said Simms during an appearance with Mike Florio on PFT Live. “ESPN paid a lot of money for the SEC, and it’s, ‘Oh, no! The SEC might not be king anymore! The Big Ten won the last three national championships! The SEC wasn’t even in one of the three. Oh, no, we’ve lost our grip. We want to go back to the old rules, somewhat, to where everybody else follows rules, and we’re the SEC; we’ll cheat and pay people under the table. And we liked it that way better. That’s the way we want it.’”
Many fans also didn’t buy Kirk Herbstreit’s claim that he was surprised when Cruz was booed vociferously during his appearance, since he doesn’t know anything about the senator’s politics. He also said he was “impressed” at Cruz’s ability to “power through” the cascade of boos and negative chants.
“I don’t really pick sides, and I was surprised. I didn’t know what his deal was, so him being booed, I had to ask people like, ‘What’s going on here?’” said Herbstreit.
On the other hand, if Trump wants to go on GameDay, and ESPN turns him down, then the four letters will be roasted by the President’s MAGA political base. After all, ESPN happily welcomed former President Barack Obama on its air multiple times, with former reporter Andy Katz making an annual pilgrimage to the Oval Office to capture Obama filling out his March Madness brackets. Both ESPN and parent company Disney have done yeoman’s work repairing their formerly broken relationship with the President. Do they want to provoke Trump over a GameDay snub? Plus, ESPN is in the entertainment business. Trump on GameDay could generate boffo TV ratings. How do you turn that down?
My guess is the brass in Bristol is hoping it won’t have to make the decision. Having a sitting U.S. President wading into a crowd of thousands of screaming football fans would be a logistical nightmare for the Secret Service. Trump could very likely attend the game while skipping GameDay. On Thursday, ESPN announced Johnny Knoxville as GameDay’s celebrity game picker this Saturday.
Still, Trump loves sports—and he doesn’t mind being the center of attention at the industry’s biggest events. Just ask the NFL, NBA, MLB, UFC, FIFA World Cup, and every other sports property that’s had the President make a surprise appearance. In addition to being at Tennessee-Texas on Saturday, he’s slated to attend the final round of the Presidents Cup just outside of Chicago on Sunday.
The showman in Trump loves spectacle. Given his flair for the dramatic, he might save his GameDay appearance until the PCSA passes before metaphorically dunking the football by signing it into law on national TV.
