Pat McAfee did it all for the Dookie.
McAfee, the indefatigable ESPN talker who was once an All-Pro punter for the Colts, released his debut single, “Dookie,” last Thursday at midnight.
How many people listened? Quite a few, all things considered.
The song had more than 153,000 streams on Spotify in its first week, and there have been 84,000 views so far on YouTube. His post on Twitter/X announcing the new song has had 1.7 million impressions. On Instagram, the view count is not public, but there were more than 25,000 likes. The song is also available on Apple Music.
The song tracks with the persona McAfee has established in his media career, approaching his jobs almost as a professional wrestler—he is also a WWE color commentator outside of football season, and has competed in a couple matches over the years, more than holding his own in the ring—as he fights back against “suits” who try to meddle with his content while fostering a fervently loyal fan base. (The top bosses at ESPN, Jimmy Pitaro and Burke Magnus, have been in McAfee’s corner.)
Earlier this year, ESPN announced that The Pat McAfee Show drew more than 1 billion views across social media platforms just in the month of September. This season, College GameDay, where McAfee stars alongside Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, and Desmond Howard, saw record viewership. It averaged 2.7 million viewers per week, up 22% from last year.
