Why Pat McAfee is Leaving A $120 Million Deal Behind To Join ESPN

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Today At A Glance:

Pat McAfee has announced that his daily sports show is heading to ESPN. So today’s newsletter breaks down all the details, including why McAfee walked away from a $6 million NFL contract, the history and growth of his YouTube show, the reality behind his $120 million FanDuel deal, and the program's future.

This newsletter is also available via podcast on Apple or Spotify. Enjoy!

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Friends,

Pat McAfee is officially headed to ESPN. The former NFL player turned YouTube megastar contemplated offers from four different networks but ultimately decided to sign a licensing deal with the worldwide leader in sports that will pay him more than eight figures per year, according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.

McAfee will leave behind his 4-year, $120 million deal with FanDuel. But he will maintain complete creative control of the show, and his co-hosts will join him at ESPN, too.

• The deal begins in the fall of 2023

• The show will air on ESPN, ESPN+, and ESPN’s YouTube channel

• The show will follow Get Up (8 am-10 am ET) and First Take (10 am-12 pm ET)

“We ain’t changing a damn thing,” McAfee said during yesterday’s announcement.

But why would Pat McAfee do this? I mean, on the surface, he is getting paid $30 million per year by Fanduel alone — not even counting his other sponsorship deals.

McAfee also owns 100% of the company, reporting to no one but himself. That gives him free rein to talk about whatever he wants, whenever he wants, however he wants.

But, like most things, the devil is in the details. So here’s everything you need to know.

Pat McAfee has always done things differently. In high school, for example, McAfee needed money to attend a kicking competition in South Florida. So he borrowed $100 from a friend and entered an underground poker tournament in Pittsburgh.

He then won $1,500 and flew to Miami, making nine straight field goals from 25 yards to 65 yards, and received a scholarship offer from West Virginia the next morning.

And this wasn’t just some gimmick or luck; Pat was a legitimately good player.

McAfee graduated as West Virginia’s all-time leader in made PATs (210) and career points (384). The Indianapolis Colts then selected him in the 7th round of the 2009 draft. And he finished his career with a trophy case full of accolades and awards.

• First-team All-American (2008)

• NFL All-Rookie Team (2009)

• 2x NFL Pro Bowler (2014, 2016)

• First-Team All-Pro (2014)

But then McAfee shocked the world in 2017, announcing his decision to retire from the NFL at 29 to join Barstool Sports as a full-time podcaster and content creator.

“Pat McAfee with the biggest L of 2017…Leaving the NFL, getting paid $2.5 million a year to PUNT, to be a writer at Barstool Sports…I repeat, L,” one Twitter user wrote.

And it wasn’t just fans that were perplexed at McAfee’s decision to retire. ESPN’s Mike Wilbon famously ridiculed McAfee for leaving a $6 million NFL contract behind.

“Make them tear the uniform off of you,” Mike Wilbon said on ESPN’s show Pardon The Interruption. “Look, someone needs to stage an intervention. People that know this guy get to him now. Make him put his helmet back on and get to camp.”

But Pat McAfee was confident in his decision. He had 700,000 social media followers at the time and was selling merchandise online. He had just completed a stand-up comedy tour throughout several states and was even hosting his own radio show.

Although, things didn’t exactly go as planned. He left Barstool Sports after just two years because he felt he was “being disrespected by the business people in the building.” And that’s when he launched “The Pat McAfee Show” in 2019.

McAfee has since become one of the biggest names in sports. He now has nearly 5 million followers across social media and another 2.2 million subscribers on YouTube. His daily sports show, The Pat McAfee Show, averages 316,000 viewers per episode, and the Aaron Rodgers Jets announcement drew nearly 500,000 concurrent viewers.

Pat McAfee’s Social Media Following

• Twitter: 2.8 million

• YouTube: 2.2 million

• Instagram: 1.3 million

• TikTok: 750,000

This level of attention has brought plenty of money, too. McAfee has worked with dozens of partners over the years, including Google, SeatGeek, Cash App, Manscaped, Roman, and 5-hour Energy. And he even donated $6 million to various causes in 2021 after signing a 4-year, $120 million deal with leading sportsbook operator FanDuel.

But this is where ESPN comes in. Pat and his wife, Samantha, recently had their first child, and McAfee has frequently mentioned his desire to scale back his workload.

This is because McAfee still handles many things that network talent wouldn’t typically have to deal with. For example, when I went on his show last year, Pat DM’d me on Twitter himself to book it and even spent time going back and forth on topics.

Now, he’s hired some great people to help with ad sales, operations, and production. But when you're the sole owner of a business, there’s never really a day off.

And some people are already making comments about the money. They say that Stephen A. Smith is ESPN’s highest-paid host at $12 million in annual salary, and they question why McAfee would give up a $30 million annual deal with FanDuel for that.

But the truth is that $30 million in annual revenue from FanDuel is just that — revenue. It doesn’t account for employee salaries, production costs, office space, travel expenses, talent fees, or any of the other multi-million-dollar expenses for the show.

And this deal seems to offer Pat the best of both worlds. In addition to an eight figure annual salary, ESPN will take on more of the show’s behind-the-scenes operational duties — and DRASTICALLY expand McAfee’s overall audience.

The Pat McAfee show will immediately be available in 74 million households. It will be broadcasted at bars, restaurants, and gyms nationwide. And his social media presence should 10x based on the reach of ESPN’s 100 million-plus followers alone.

ESPN’s Social Media & Broadcast Reach

• TV Subscribers: 74 million households

• ESPN+ Subscribers: 25.3 million

• ESPN YouTube Subscribers: 9.3 million

• ESPN Twitter Followers: 45.5 million

• ESPN Instagram Followers: 25.3 million 

• ESPN TikTok Followers: 36 million

So I wouldn’t criticize this deal too much — whether McAfee stays at ESPN for two or twenty years, he’ll emerge with a much bigger audience while maintaining 100% ownership of his company. And when you add in the fact that he’ll get to spend more time at home with his family, that seems like a pretty good deal to me.

If you enjoyed this breakdown, please consider sharing it with your friends. My team and I work hard to consistently create quality content, and every new subscriber helps.

I hope everyone has a great day. We’ll talk on Friday.

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Huddle Up is a 3x weekly newsletter that breaks down the business and money behind sports. If you are not already a subscriber, sign up and join 100,000+ others who receive it directly in their inbox each week.

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