Pat McAfee Draws 251K Viewers For First CFB Alt-Cast On ESPN2

Former teammates Pat McAfee and Peyton Manning are business partners in the burgeoning area of alternative sports telecasts.

The debut of “CFB Primetime with The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN2 registered 251,000 viewers. 

McAfee and co. gave viewers an alternate, more free-wheeling version of the primary game telecast of NC State vs. Clemson on ABC. 

The 251,000 viewers equaled 5% of the overall viewership of 5 million for the game on ABC and ESPN2. 

That’s roughly the same percentage-wise as the first edition of Peyton and Eli Manning’s “Monday Night Football” ManningCast last year. 

That first ManningCast of the Baltimore Ravens vs. Las Vegas Raiders on Sep. 13, 2021 attracted 800,000 viewers — accounting for around 5% of the overall game viewership of 15.3 million across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes. 

McAfee’s 251,000 also tops the 200,000 average over eight games for ESPN’s “KayRod Cast” with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez.

The former Indianapolis Colts teammates are two of the hottest names in sports media. They’re supporting each other in their post-playing media careers.

Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions is producing McAfee’s CFB alt-cast. The Pro Football Hall of Famer appeared on McAfee’s first CFB alt-cast. During his appearance, Manning explained the origin of his famous “Omaha” pre-snap call.

“All I can say is I’m a big deal in Omaha, Nebraska now,” joked Manning. “I went there a couple of years ago. I got the key to the city. I got some steaks out of the deal.”

McAfee, meanwhile, has already appeared twice on ESPN2’s ManningCast. The former Colts punter was on the show recently when co-star Eli Manning joked the Denver Broncos should have paid the team’s punter $235 million instead of struggling quarterback Russell Wilson. 

Omaha will produce six CFB “McAfee-Casts” this season. McAfee has also joined the cast of ESPN “College GameDay” — and will make select appearances on Mike Greenberg’s “Get Up” morning show as well as select NFL coverage.

ESPN’s lead college football TV team of Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Holly Rowe called the primary telecast of Clemson’s 30-20 victory over NC State on sister Disney network ABC.

The Manning brothers averaged 1.6 million viewers for their “ManningCast” of the San Francisco 49ers win over the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night.