Details on Pat McAfee's new deal with ESPN revealed

Pat McAfee spoke to the New York Post's Andrew Marchand about his new deal with ESPN, delving into some of the contract details and his reasoning for moving on from his current pact with FanDuel.

McAfee, who actually joined ESPN College GameDay last fall, is bringing his YouTube show (and all of his crew, on his dime) over to the network while retaining creative control. The deal is for five years and for $85 million, which is significantly less than the reported four-year, $120 dollar agreement made with FanDuel two years ago. Marchand said that McAfee's pact is similar to that of his former teammate, Peyton Manning, who produces his Monday Night Football simulcast and other programs through his Omaha Productions.

As suspected, the driving force behind opting out of the FanDuel contract to fully move in with ESPN was about lightening the load when it came to the business of the show. Since setting off from Barstool Sports in 2018, McAfee launched an independent company to handle all the production. McAfee told Marchand:

"[ESPN] will be handling a lot more of the backend stuff, while also providing a platform that is incomparable linear wise with a network of talent that is deep and awesome. Their production assets, league rights capabilities, and access to everything in the sports world makes us incredibly pumped about the possibilities and can’t wait to get started this fall."

Also notable are the optics around McAfee's deal in light of the mass layoffs at The Walt Disney Company, ESPN's owner. Disney has planned to cut 7,000 jobs at the cabler, part of wide-scale staff reductions that have littered the media and tech industries over the last several months.

The Pat McAfee Show will formally move to ESPN this fall, hosting on one of its linear channels, YouTube and ESPN+.