Some surprising details have emerged on Pat McAfee’s contract status with the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
Last year, Pat McAfee left FanDuel to sign a lucrative $85 million contract over five years with ESPN. McAfee’s popular program has been a ratings boom, bringing in hundreds of thousands of viewers per show.
But interestingly, McAfee’s status with ESPN’s “College GameDay” program is more uncertain as the 2024 season approaches.
According to a report from Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, the former Indianapolis Colts punter is not currently under contract for “College GameDay”, which he began appearing on in 2019:
“With the start of the season a little more than two months away, Pat McAfee remains unsigned with ESPN’s “College GameDay,” sources briefed on McAfee’s contract talks told The Athletic.
McAfee, the 37-year-old talk show host, wrestling analyst and firebrand, said late last year that he would return to the program, but a deal to make that official is still not completed. McAfee has a separate contract that allows ESPN to license his daily “The Pat McAfee Show” on its network and YouTube.”
The “College GameDay” program features Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit (also an analyst on Amazon Prime Video’s NFL “Thursday Night Football” show), Super Bowl 31 champion and MVP Desmond Howard and Nick Saban, who announced his retirement from coaching earlier this year.
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Pat McAfee became a full-time ESPN “College GameDay” analyst during the 2022 season, while he was still under contract with FanDuel. Around this time, McAfee also took a leave from WWE after serving as a commentator alongside longtime play-by-play man Michael Cole.
McAfee also wrestled a handful of matches with WWE before he stopped working there regularly. This included matches with Austin Theory and Vince McMahon in a matter of minutes at WrestleMania 38 and a bout with Baron Corbin at SummerSlam 2022.
Pat McAfee Keeps Scoring Big Ratings For ESPN
McAfee’s program on ESPN certainly hasn’t come without controversy, including the long list of questionable statements from New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers as well as the host’s reference to Caitlin Clark as a “white b****.” McAfee later apologized for the comment on Clark.
ESPN has been mostly quiet on these controversies. Perhaps it’s because they know McAfee is a giant ratings draw and don’t want to stir the pot in what has been a mostly successful working relationship up to this point.
