Pat McAfee could walk away from $120M FanDuel deal to join ESPN
Sports and entertainment megastar Pat McAfee could break his extremely lucrative deal with FanDuel to bring his wildly popular “Pat McAfee Show” to ESPN airwaves, according to a report from Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.
McAfee signed a four-year, $120 million deal, which included an opt-out clause after the third year, with FanDuel in Dec. 2021 that made the sportsbook the official sponsor of the show while allowing it to remain independent of any major network or radio affiliation and continue to stream episodes on YouTube.
McAfee vaguely addressed the reports on Tuesday’s show.
The reported split with FanDuel has been rumored for months with McAfee acknowledging he’d like to devote more time to his family, which includes his wife Samantha and newborn daughter Mackenzie.
"In an effort to make my life a lot easier, I'm exploring the options of maybe joining a network or a family or a community that can handle a lot of the things that we're running into at this stage," McAfee said in March, via the Post.
In addition to hosting his daily sports talk show, the 36-year-old McAfee is also a host on “College GameDay” during the college football season, and he makes the occasional WWE appearance as well.
Should McAfee reach a deal with ESPN, the “Pat McAfee Show” isn’t expected to see much change. McAfee has stated regardless of what happens with the show’s future, it will still be available for free on YouTube, though Marchand hinted that part of it could be broadcasted on ESPN.
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