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Pat McAfee reportedly pays Rodgers, Saban for interviews

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

Pat McAfee reportedly pays Aaron Rodgers, Nick Saban for interviews

By Jason Clinkscales | Last updated 10/12/23

ESPN's newest full-time hire takes a far different approach to nabbing the biggest interviews than his colleagues.

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports that Pat McAfee has regularly paid New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Alabama's head football coach Nick Saban for their weekly appearances on "The Pat McAfee Show."

McAfee, who joined ESPN full-time in September, explained that both men, particularly Rodgers, have played significant roles in his ascendance in media and believed this was both returning the favor and providing his fans with worthwhile content:

“My company went from a valuation of [$2 million to $5 million] to a company valued over $500,000,000 in just a few years,” McAfee said. “Everybody who helped us get to this point has reaped the benefits of it, that’s how business is supposed to work. To be transparent, Aaron deserves much more than what he’s gotten for the time and effort he has put into ‘Aaron Rodgers’ Tuesdays.’
“I know there’s an old viewpoint that Billion Dollar corporations have tried to make a standard that players and coaches are lucky to get on the platform and talk.. Well, as the human who owns my company and sees the value directly associated with these guys sharing their stories and thoughts, I think that’s bull—t. ‘If somebody’s making money off of this, I’m making money off of this. If nobody’s making any money, and it’s all for good will, I’m making no money as well’ is my mindset for doing stuff and I treat my company the same way. I give rather large bonuses as thank you’s and I genuinely believe it’s the only way to operate.”

On one hand, the majority of viewers may not see a problem with this for several reasons. First, some would say that McAfee himself is not a real journalist, an argument that didn't stop Brett Favre from filing, then dropping a defamation lawsuit against him as it related to the Hall of Fame quarterback's legal entanglements with the state of Mississippi. Additionally, ESPN already has a massive staff of journalists on hand among all of its platforms, which would lend the need to "find the truth" to those trained and far more experienced in doing so.

Also, as Marchand notes, "pay for play" when it comes to exclusive athlete access isn't exactly new. From coaches shows on regional sports networks to weekly appearances on radio stations, sports networks have played the game for ages, though usually the agreements aren't spoken of publicly. Finally, in a way not too different from the simulcasts the network broadcasts (the "Manningcast" for "Monday Night Football," for example), McAfee's show is much more about debates and banter with media-savvy athletes and coaches than it is about breaking news and doing deep investigations.

However, the appearance that McAfee, therefore ESPN, can only get exclusive conversations through payment is not a good one for those who rail against any form of access journalism, no matter how lighthearted or serious the topics may be. It's not known how common these types of arrangements are in sports media, but with athletes and coaches taking more control of their images than ever before, it's fair to wonder if this can set a precedent for who gets to speak to whom in the sports world.

In a way, McAfee and Rodgers have given the public something akin to Ahmad Rashad's famed relationship with Michael Jordan throughout the 1990s, one that helped burnish NBC's image as a beloved home to the NBA. By writing a check or two for Rodgers and Saban, McAfee is expanding on the playbook of many athletes-turned-media personalities have written before him. Whether that's to the benefit of sports fans is left up to debate.

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