As the importance of celebrity and ultra-wealthy benefactors grows in college sports, West Virginia is trying to make its mark nationally with the backing of one of the most famous faces in sports media.
Pat McAfee, who kicked and punted for the Mountaineers from 2005 to 2008, has made supporting his alma mater a top priority as his star power has grown since retiring from the NFL a decade ago.
“It’s been huge,” West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker told Front Office Sports. “No one has developed a market share in terms of sports media that’s any greater than Pat’s. He’s an unapologetic champion for WVU.”
McAfee donated $1 million to WVU’s NIL collective, Country Roads Trust, in 2024. Last year, he said on ESPN’s College GameDay that he covered for a donor who was backing out of their monetary commitments.
“He certainly has been generous with his finances, but probably the more impactful thing is just the way that he loves his alma mater, and is the First Cheerleader,” Baker said. “Whether it’s going to school here, playing here, being immersed in the culture here, he genuinely loves it, and is excited about it.”
The Pat McAfee Show has been broadcast from Morgantown on multiple occasions, including when football coach Rich Rodriguez returned to WVU after being re-hired in December 2024.
Earlier this month, McAfee took his show to Omaha as the Mountaineers made a run to the College World Series. Before that, he attended a super regional game on campus.
“He said he just wanted to be immersed in it,” Baker said. “He didn’t want to sit in a suite. He wanted to sit in the crowd. He wanted to be part of the fan base. That’s huge for us, and I tell Pat all the time how grateful and thankful we are that he’s one of us and that he’s proud of being one of us, and that pays huge benefits for us.”
What if McAfee ever sent his alma mater an invoice for everything he’s done?
“We couldn’t pay for it,” Baker said. “It would be way up in the seven figures, maybe eight figures.”
Exactly how much money McAfee has given to WVU athletics specifically is not public, but there’s no doubt his impact on the school has been invaluable.
“Anytime he goes anywhere, that’s instant brand recognition, instant brand value. You’re going to have an excitement that’s created,” Baker said. “You’re going to have people showing up, the atmosphere’s going to be incredible. It’s a huge asset for not just our institution, not just our athletic department, but also the state, and we’re really grateful for everything that he does.”
Mountaineer Money Flowing
In today’s college football landscape of reported $40 million rosters, Baker said he spends a lot of his time trying to sort out what’s real and what’s not.
“It really starts with trying to understand where our competitors’ numbers are,” he said. “There’s so much out there that gets exaggerated and misconstrued. I even see our numbers reported sometimes—I’m like, well, I know those aren’t correct. So, we spend a lot of time really trying to dig and find out where the market is, where the true numbers are.”
WVU’s athletics budget is up 50% over the past four years, Baker said, and the school has been diving into new revenue streams. That includes selling the naming rights to its basketball arena for the first time (now known as Hope Coliseum) and exploring a jersey patch deal, which Baker said the school is “on the verge” of getting done.
“We’ve really tried to put ourselves in that upper tier, upper third or so of the Big 12,” Baker said.
