Report: 'Pat McAfee Show' Could Move to ESPN; Network is 'Leading Candidate'

Pat McAfee may be heading to ESPN on a more permanent basis.

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported Tuesday that McAfee is on the precipice of taking his daily talk show and moving it to a major media player, with ESPN being the "leading candidate."

The former NFL punter already has a relationship with ESPN thanks to his College GameDay responsibilities, which makes the partnership a natural fit.

It's likely ESPN and McAfee will have to negotiate a severance of the four-year, $120 million deal he signed with FanDuel in December 2021. That contract allowed McAfee's highly successful talk show to remain independent, with FanDuel serving as the primary sponsor with significant product integration.

McAfee has spoken openly about the idea of leaving behind the FanDuel deal, as he became increasingly disenchanted with behind-the-scenes minutiae.

"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.

Beyond his daily talk show and College GameDay, McAfee also occasionally appears on WWE programming as a commentator and in-ring competitor. His appearances on WWE have become more sporadic since he joined College GameDay ahead of the 2022 college football season.

McAfee and his wife, Samantha, also welcomed a daughter earlier this month, and he said a desire to spend more time with his family would play a major part in his decisions moving forward.

It will be interesting to see how much McAfee's show would have to adjust if moved to a major network. The show became renowned for its free-flowing, conversational nature—often featuring cursing and the exploration of topics not typically seen on broadcast television platforms.

On Tuesday's Pat McAfee Show, the former Colt addressed the rumors and attempted to assuage concerns by saying he's "too dumb" to change the format—though a move to a larger network seems like a lock.

McAfee has promised his show would remain free on YouTube regardless of where he winds up, but the content could be noticeably different if a deal moves forward.