This is Pat McAfee's world

The NFL punter turned media personality has led a significant shift in the sports media landscape.

In the ultra-competitive world of sports media, Pat McAfee bet on himself.

The former Indianapolis Colts punter turned sports media anchor, College GameDay contributor, WWE co-commentator and general jack of all trades has transformed the US sports talk world in his own unique way, backing himself as a sports media empire to build around and upset the applecart of traditional television offerings.

By being charismatic yet down-to-earth, lighthearted but devoted to the important topics of the day, accessible on multiple platforms, committed to the underdog as well as championing the winners, whilst hosting a platform for everyone from the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Vince McMahon, to Bill Belichick and Roger Goodell to join and contribute, in the same seats as the rotation of journalists and experts that provide more nuanced takes.

Rather than following the well-trodden path of the athlete turned media personality, he managed to do it in his own unorthodox and endearing way, emphasising relatability and authenticity, setting the building blocks early on in his vision towards becoming one of the leading names on the sports media circuit. He is the show everyone wants to be on, stripped away from suits that are too tight, strict time limitations and tightly-engineered rundowns.

His candid and unorthodox style sets his guests at ease and affords them a chance to be themselves, comforted by his humour and charisma. Where people have come to expect highly manicured television that is very formal and restrained, McAfee is the opposite, creating an environment where he is just as likely to extract deep thoughted analysis as much as a whacky and bizarre anecdote, mixed with a bit of controversy.

The tone and style resonated quickly with younger audiences. Once anti-establishment, McAfee’s now crawled to the inside at ESPN, somehow managing to have his cake and eat it too. Having started off at the controversial Barstool Sports platform, McAfee soon broke away independently under his own name, The Pat McAfee Show, simulcasting on TV, radio and live on YouTube to his 2.5million subscribers, where he speedily grew a dedicated fanbase of stragglers from Barstool and want-aways from the mainstream competition looking for something different.

Taking the informal characteristics of the Barstool operation with less of the shock-jock nonsensicalness, and welding it with the more familiar aspects of sports-talk television, McAfee has etched out a robust market that has become immensely popular with sports fans.

It’s a tone that has has an increasing influence on traditional media. Styles are being relaxed, younger and fresher faces are beginning to come to the fore and strategies designed for online and direct to audience engagement are becoming the norm. Ben Koo of sports media commentator Awful Announcing told Forbes that “there's an audience for people who get in front of the camera and perform the way Pat McAfee does. If there's an audience and it can be monetized, it's probably going to end up on TV.”

Eventually, the mainstream wanted in with McAfee—and ESPN brought the renegade operation under their own umbrella in a massive five-year, $85million deal in 2023. He would continue to cast the show live on his YouTube channel whilst simulcasting on television, as well as featuring on other ESPN programming, including their College Gameday offering on Saturdays. Alongside huge sponsorship deals from gambling firm FanDuels, McAfee’s efforts have become big business, all whilst trying to maintain some semblance of independence in the hyper-corporatized world of ESPN. Moonlighting at WWE where he’s featured on the microphone as well as in the rings means it’s a pretty cool time to be Pat McAfee.

Waving away criticism of selling-out by some fans, McAfee has had a mixed run so far with ESPN after signing on the dotted line last September. ESPN, for their part, knew what they were getting with McAfee, with reports saying they “knew he would be a headache”, but in an effort to draw younger audiences were willing to give McAfee a long leash, allowing him to swear on air, wear a tank top and keep creative ownership of his show.

What they weren’t bargaining for were controversies with quarterback star turned conspiracy theorist Aaron Rodgers, who had a weekly slot for his inane ramblings on the show, when he falsely accused Jimmy Kimmel of being on the Jeffrey Epstein island list, nor McAfee feuding with ESPN executive vice president Norby Williamson, accusing him of sabotaging their programming. He’s been a headache for sure, a huge culture clash from a guy who is proudly non-corporate in a Disney-owned and operated organisation that is the definition of corporate.

The television numbers haven’t been blowing people away, but with nearly 500,000 tuning in live on YouTube on average, he is a type of headache that ESPN and their higher-ups may be willing to appease, at least for now, in their strategy to corner an online market and social engagement with a character like McAfee. With four years to go on their deal, they may also be conscious of the fact that McAfee, generally, hasn’t seen any of contracts through to completion, so it may be a case of who blinks first.

McAfee may have had a turning point in his journey recently however, with one of his biggest coups to date in nabbing Bill Belichick for their live NFL draft analysis last month. It was Bill’s first foray into media having left the New England Patriots this past off-season. Not many would have paired Bill with McAfee’s managed chaos, but it worked spectacularly, and there’s talk of Belichick becoming a regular contributor when the season kicks off now that he has a bit more time on his hands. The fact Bill leant towards this off-shoot of traditional sports television is the strongest signal yet that something is changing in how people want to consume as well as contribute to sports media. Come September, replacing the weekly Aaron Rodgers slot with some insight and analysis from Bill Belichick may be the most positive move for all parties, especially the ownership.

The future of sports media is an ever-ongoing debate. Online engagement and social media clicks have become king, seeing a major shift in what the traditional media networks are trying to achieve with their content. McAfee’s introduction has been the biggest shift for the status quo in a long time, and an expensive experiment ESPN are banking reputation and money on. McAfee will be the bellwether on which media companies might engage with more unconventional talents in the future.

More and more people want to see the type of content Pat McAfee is serving up. As long as the clicks keep coming and the big name guests are happy to line-up for the vest-wearing, mullet-sporting anarchy of The Pat McAfee Show, he will continue to push the boundaries of the ever-changing sports media landscape.