Report: Pat McAfee Leaning Towards ESPN as New Media Home

Top media personality Pat McAfee is reportedly leaving towards leaving his $120M FanDuel deal as ESPN emerges as a favorite to sign the former punter. Andrew Marchand of the New York Post was the first to report all of the details on Tuesday.

NEWS: ESPN has emerged as the leading candidate to be Pat McAfee's new home as he moves closer to exiting his $120 million FanDuel deal, The Post has learned.https://t.co/630YHMLlI0

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) May 9, 2023

Marchand reports that the belief is that McAfee would make eight-figures with ESPN.

McAfee has become a media star thanks to his popular podcast in his post NFL days. After retiring from the NFL at the young age of 29, he signed a deal with Barstool and helped grow both that brand and his own in the sports media world. He left Barstool in 2018 and formed his own media company, Pat McAfee Incorporated, where his podcasts are now produced.

McAfee has done a show for ESPN MegaCasts throughout the college football season, where him and his podcast crew, the Pat McAfee show, watch the game and commentate while occasionally having guests, similar to ESPN’s popular MNF Manning Cast staring Peyton and Eli Manning.

McAfee also famously joined the College Gameday Broadcasts this past year and quickly increased his popularity.

Fans Praise Pat McAfee for Work on College GameDay

In addition to his podcast and ESPN work, McAfee also wrestled and commentates for the WWE. He both punted and kicked at West Virginia from 2005-08 and left with the most career points in school history (384).