Fox Sports and Skip Bayless coming to terms on a $32-million deal that will keep the 69-year-old broadcaster delivering hot takes on Undisputed for the next four years could be good news for a rising sports media star.
Former NFL punter Pat McAfee, the host of the Pat McAfee Show on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio and YouTube, is currently negotiating with ESPN about increasing his role at the network and potentially bringing his show over to The Worldwide Leader, according to USA Today.
McAfee, who has served as a guest commentator on ESPN’s College GameDay over the last two seasons, has grown in popularity since splitting from Barstool Sports in 2018, and The Pat McAfee Show is the most-watched sports program on YouTube and had 54 million viewers in January. Undisputed, which Bayless co-hosts with Shannon Sharpe on FS1, is the No. 2 sports show on YouTube.
That’s a fact McAfee can certainly use to his advantage in negotiations with ESPN or any other network that comes calling moving forward.
“With Skip being a part of the second-largest sports show every single day, behind one other show, if you look at basically all analytics, this is great fucking news,” McAfee said Friday while discussing Bayless re-signing with Fox. “[But] it would take a lot more than $8 million a year to get us exclusively to ESPN, so I’m not even in that conversation. We are in a much different time than we were [Thursday].”
A two-time Pro Bowler, McAfee played eight seasons for the Indianapolis Colts and has been growing his following since retiring from the NFL following the 2016 season. Just 33 years old, McAfee has a great shot at becoming a much bigger star than he already is, especially if he brings his show over to ESPN, Fox or another major network.
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