Pat McAfee’s latest remarks about ESPN were met with gritted teeth by some coworkers who are fed up with what they describe as “diva-like” behavior, sources tell Front Office Sports.
But there is also a sense that nothing’s going to change, since the talented and influential McAfee has the backing of three top executives: ESPN’s president of content Burke Magnus; ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro; and Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger.
That’s what sources tell FOS following McAfee’s dismissive comments earlier this week about the “old ESPN people” producing College GameDay on Tuesday.
“If you think about old white people and old ESPN people, those are really the people that hate me the most at this stage of life,” McAfee said in a video on his own Instagram, via Awful Announcing. “Now, granted, there’s some other groups that certainly have threatened my life on a pretty regular basis, I’d say they hate me too. But throughout the entirety, old whites and the old ESPN people over the last like three years have really hated me. That’s who all the producers are of GameDay too. So now—it’s been a fun run. College football is great. OK, cheers, have a great day.”
Some ESPNers are growing tired of McAfee’s public whining, sources say, which they view as juvenile, unprofessional and bad for business. If McAfee has an issue with his GameDay producers, they believe he should hammer it out with them in person; not publicly rip people who can’t go on TV to defend themselves.
“Totally unnecessary. Grow up and talk to these people to make it better. You are not a victim,” one source told FOS. “Everyone is bending over backwards to put you in a good position—and these same people are incentivized for you to succeed.” Another was more blunt, complaining McAfee sometimes acts like an “entitled diva.”
In a statement to FOS, Magnus hailed McAfee as a “creative force.” But he admitted his disruptive style can sometimes cause “friction.”
“Pat is a creative force. He’s pushed hard to advance College GameDay and his impact has been enormous,” Magnus says. “Since he joined ESPN, GameDay—as well as his own daily show—have experienced unprecedented success. Pat is also an innovator, and when you have someone who disrupts the status quo, it’s not surprising when there’s friction and disagreement as a result. We will continue to encourage and support Pat and the entire GameDay cast and crew as together they break new ground on one of ESPN’s most important franchises.”
McAfee could not be reached for comment.
The dust-up is the latest example of ESPN trying to figure out the entertaining, electric, exasperating enigma that is Pat McAfee.
The former NFL punter has exploded into one of the biggest stars in sports media. Over the past three seasons, McAfee’s swagger has revitalized the iconic, 38-year old GameDay, enabling ESPN to fight off a challenge from Fox Sports’ rival Big Noon Kickoff and cement its position as the No. 1 college football pregame show on TV.
McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard, and Rece Davis led GameDay to its most-watched season ever in 2024, averaging 2.2 million viewers. That’s up 6% from the season before.
With McAfee’s popular field goal kicking contest becoming must-see TV, GameDay is on pace for another record season in 2025. Through Week 8, GameDay viewership was up 28% from the same point last season. This season has seen the show post its Top 7 most-watched episodes of all time.
ESPN’s internal research shows the 38-year-old McAfee connects strongly with younger viewers. On X/Twitter, Magnus recently touted the success of The Pat McAfee Show, which surpassed 1 billion social media views for the first time in September. Last month, the show averaged 447,000 live concurrent viewers on ESPN and YouTube, up 18% year over year. It was the show’s most-watched September ever across ESPN and YouTube.
“Congrats to the entire cast and crew of the @PatMcAfeeShow for the incredible results,” Magnus wrote. “The cream always rises to the top. And they said it wouldn’t last!!”
McAfee is fiercely loyal to his castmates and crew on The Pat McAfee Show. Ditto for ESPN brass he believes have his back such as Magnus and senior vice president Mike Foss, sources say.
McAfee has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, out of his own pocket, to winners of his popular field goal-kicking contest. That’s above and beyond what any other on-air talent does. When a cost-cutting ESPN announced on a Zoom call that it was eliminating catered food (one of the biggest perks for the behind-the-scenes crew on GameDay), McAfee declared he’d pay for it himself, according to his co-star Kirk Herbstreit. Management backed off.
“Everyone was like, ‘Wow,” recalled Herbstreit.
But this isn’t the first time McAfee has bitten the hand that feeds him at ESPN, which signed him for GameDay in 2022, then licensed his eponymous weekday show via a blockbuster 5-year, $85 million deal in 2023.
When ESPN announced a deal in August to bring WWE to the four letters in 2026, the occasional wrestler and WWE commentator publicly wondered if the “bum ass suits” and “dinosaurs” in Bristol would screw it up.
“Congrats to the @WWE and @espn on getting a historic PLE deal done. Great to see 2 powerhouses of sports and entertainment come together,” he tweeted. “I assume all the mid level, powerless, bum ass suits at ESPN will attempt to muddy this somehow (out of context leaks/ignorant anonymous opinions/etc.) but, in the end.. this agreement will outlive the dinosaurs currently guarding desks in Bristol and this deal will be great for ESPN. Cheers to the future.”
And who can forget McAfee blasting former ESPN executive Norby Williamson as a “rat” trying to “sabotage” his show–on ESPN’s own airwaves in 2024? (Williamson, the ultimate corporate in-fighter, later left ESPN).
To sum up, McAfee’s two ESPN shows are going great guns–and he’s never had more exposure or influence. So what’s bugging him? Nobody knows except him. But there are several possible explanations.
Like many TV stars, McAfee tends to be thin-skinned and rabbit-eared when it comes to criticism. He divides the world into those who are for him and those who are against him, say sources.
So the big-hearted star who’s so generous with his behind-the-scenes crew can turn on a dime and go after some poor Newhouse School-grad-turned ESPN producer who dares to make a suggestion. Just ask the sports media that got an earful from McAfee at ESPN Media Day in 2024 in Bristol.
On the other hand, McAfee is also a WWE commentator and has entered the ring himself as a wrestler. So his occasional heel turn could be him acting out the sports media version of Cody Rhodes or Stone Cold Steve Austin. Maybe he’s a sports entertainer pulling a “work” on all of us? And laughing all the way to the bank?
Does McAfee believe everything he says? “I truly can never tell,” answered one media executive who knows him. “ESPN lets him do whatever.”
The self-made TV star is right about one thing. There are two ESPNs.
There’s the old ESPN of Williamson’s days, where the four letters were more important than any individual talent. Just ask Bill Simmons, Keith Olbermann or other talents who lost power struggles against the brass in Bristol.
Then there’s today’s star-driven ESPN, where Magnus and Pitaro give plenty of running room to big talents like McAfee and Stephen A. Smith who move the needle. Outside the aegis of ESPN, they’re allowed to own and operate their own production companies, headline their own YouTube and SiriusXM shows, and control their IP. McAfee’s even allowed to curse on his show.
There’s also the question of what exactly ESPN management can do to “control” McAfee. He’s not an ESPN/Disney employee. Other than his smaller GameDay deal, he’s an independent contractor who has full ownership and editorial control of his show–not to mention his social media feeds.
Producers could diminish his role on GameDay, where his contract runs another two seasons. But that would be cutting off their nose to spite their face. In fact, ESPN and GameDay’s worst nightmare might be for McAfee to walk across the street and join his old Barstool Sports colleague, Dave Portnoy, on Big Noon Kickoff. Or, worse, launch his own independent version of GameDay that would compete with ESPN.
Beside the trio of Magnus, Pitaro and Iger, McAfee has other powerful allies. Herbstreit, one of ESPN/ABC’s most popular talents, clearly has his back. Don’t forget, ESPN’s in business with Peyton Manning, McAfee’s old Colts buddy, via Manning’s Omaha Productions. Then there’s WWE president Nick Khan, the former super-agent at CAA, whose promotion just partnered with ESPN.
The mercurial McAfee tends to exit his contracts early in search of greener pastures. Woe to the ESPN executive who challenges him. Magnus and Pitaro would be the umpires in that dispute. It’s not hard to see how their decision would go.
In short, it probably doesn’t matter whether mid-level producers and executives at the worldwide leader like or loathe McAfee. If he leaves, he’ll have suitors lining up to throw tens of millions of dollars at him.
As far as GameDay, all systems are go for McAfee to join his colleagues in Nashville this Saturday before Vanderbilt-Tennessee. He was listed front and center in an ESPN tweet announcing this Saturday’s show at 9 a.m. ET.
“Right now, Pat’s bulletproof because Burke, Jimmy and Iger have his back,” says one source. “Pat holds all the cards.”
