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Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee are ESPN’s two biggest personalities. But Smith says McAfee has significantly more freedom than the rest of the network’s on-air talent.
“Pat McAfee has a level of independence I’ve never had,” Smith told Matt Iseman of Front Office Sports Tonight. “He owns his own platforms. He leases that to ESPN. I’m employed by ESPN because ESPN owns First Take. I don’t own First Take, they do.”
In 2023, ESPN agreed to a licensing deal with McAfee for The Pat McAfee Show, a show the former NFL punter launched in 2017. The deal includes McAfee, his co-hosts, producers, and Indianapolis studio.
McAfee also has a separate talent deal to be a part of College GameDay. FOS reported in June that he’s already having extension talks with ESPN despite his current contract running until 2028.
Smith said McAfee deserves “a lot of respect and a lot of credit” for building his own brand that’s given him his independence.
“He just leases his show to ESPN; We work for ESPN. And so that’s not to imply that Pat is not a part of the team because he’s on ESPN’s airwaves. But there’s a different set of rules that we’re obligated and culpable and attached to that he’s not,” Smith said.
“When people talk about that, they’re just missing the boat. They don’t get the fact that he doesn’t work for us. You see, he works for himself. And that’s a testament to him.”
Smith said he wishes he could pull off what McAfee has been able to build, though he said he’s “somewhat” done that through his media company, Straight Shooter Media.
He agreed to a five-year deal with ESPN last year worth more than $100 million that gave him the flexibility to work on non-sports projects, which he told FOS last year was an important part of the deal he wanted to secure before signing.
“I do have freedoms that the average person doesn’t have in this business, and I get that part,” Smith said. “And there’s a lot of things that I can do because I negotiated the contractual right to do them, the reality is that’s an entirely different world than Pat McAfee.”
“Pat McAfee, when he says he’s his own boss, he truly is his own boss.”
Smith’s comments come despite years of speculation that there was conflict between the two media stars.
In 2024, the New York Post reported that Smith and McAfee had an “explosive argument” that resulted in Smith banning McAfee from guesting on First Take. The pair have—publicly at least—appeared to be cordial since.
“I have nothing but love for Stephen A.,” McAfee told The Post.
Smith Says No To Political Career
Smith’s growing independence has allowed him to talk more about politics in mainstream media, where he has spent much of the last year toying with a presidential run.
He told FOS that he “strongly entertained” the idea of running for president: “I firmly believe I could win at least the Democratic nomination.” But he said will not be running for office for multiple reasons.
One, he says, is the money. The president earns $400,000, while Smith is making about $20 million a year with ESPN.
Second is that he doesn’t want to give up sports.
“No matter what I do on the political side, no matter what I do with social commentary, I love what I do in the world of sports and I never want to leave,” Smith said.
He admitted that he wished he could debate some politicians, saying that “in a perfect world” he would balance political debates with his First Take obligations: “You would see me on the debate stage on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, I’d be on First Take.”
But while he won’t be running for office, Smith is hoping to have candidates from both parties speak to him in the buildup to the 2028 elections.
“I’ve been begging them to,” Smith said.
