Longtime ESPN Star Refuses To Watch Pat McAfee

Wilbon admits that McAfee is still rather new at ESPN.

“I don’t consume Pat McAfee, so I don’t have a sense of it, and it’s new,” Wilbon said. “It is not in the world in which I am, and that’s just a matter of time. The other guys have been at ESPN a hell of a lot longer than Pat McAfee. Obviously, McAfee has his audience.

“I don’t look at ratings at all. I don’t. Have never done that. That’s part of not being a TV guy. So, I don’t know what McAfee’s core audience and who they are. I know he has one, and it goes on, and it’s beyond ESPN. I know that. And maybe he is, too, but for me, it’s those three guys at this point — in my house, with family members who watch. And my friends are of a certain demographic, a certain age, across racial lines, but still largely of a certain age. I think, with that, comes a certain identification for certain shows.”

Wilbon had surprising answer when asked about 'face' of ESPN

Wilbon believes it could be a lot of different people.

“Two of them most be [Mike Greenberg] and Stephen A., right? And Scott Van Pelt,” Wilbon said. “It depends on what you follow and what you cover. If you are transactional with the NFL, then it’s Schefty. Right? If you’re that way with baseball and you’re a baseball fanatic, even though we do very little baseball now, maybe it’s Buster Olney. Maybe it’s Jeff Passan. I think it’s what you identify with because we are siloed now in this business.”

“Again, ESPN brought that on itself, where you have this sort of division of labor that I hate,” Wilbon continued. “So, I’d say that those are the leading candidates for the face [of ESPN]. There can’t be one. I’d say that those three. We’re talking actively, not a Mount Rushmore, but we’re talking actively, it would be in some order, depending on the time of year as well, Greeny, Stephen A., and Scott Van Pelt.”

Who would you pick?