Pat McAfee Should Be Fed Up With Internal Leaks At ESPN

Technology
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Pat McAfee moved his eponymous digital show to ESPN nearly two years ago in a licensing deal in which he retained editorial control. 

Unlike every other program on the network, ESPN does not decide who appears on McAfee’s show. (TNT negotiated a similar deal for "Inside the NBA," which will debut on ESPN in the fall.) Hence, there are guests who appear on McAfee's show but are not permitted to appear on other ESPN shows. 

NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport is one of them. Rapoport, who is a direct (albeit friendly) competitor to ESPN's Adam Schefter, has become a regular over the past few months. And on Thursday, The Athletic reported that McAfee had "essentially banned" Schefter because he was unavailable for a scheduled appearance during NFL free agency.

McAfee responded to the report hours later, joking that the "news" was news to him, before introducing Schefter as a guest.

"Speaking of an update, I learned a lot about my business this morning in another article," McAfee said. "Which has been great news. Seems like that happens all the time. I don’t know if this is just normal, par for the course. I guess it’s just life these days. There’s so many of them it’s hard to keep track of. But when that rat writes something, it is nice to just be like, ‘Well, that’s bullshit,’ immediately."

"All these people that talk about our business are very interesting, because in a lot of situations, and this is going to sound narcissistic, there’s only one person who has the answer. And that would be me," McAfee said. "And I don’t talk to that fucking guy (reporter Andrew Marchand), so how would he ever (know)?"

Before saying goodbye to Schefter, McAfee told him to "Tell Seth we know." McAfee was alluding to ESPN executive Seth Markman, who oversees NFL studio programming.

For background, Rapoport was a previous regular on the program until NFL Network launched a daily show called "NFL Insiders" in 2023, which featured Rapoport. "NFL Insiders" aired at noon ET, the same time as "The Pat McAfee Show." 

With Rapoport unavailable, Schefter appeared in his place on a weekly basis. However, "NFL Insiders" has since moved to 7 pm. And when Schefter was unavailable during free agency, Rapoport returned.

One can get caught up in whether McAfee "banned" Schefter or simply started to book Rapoport after they reconnected when Schefter was busy elsewhere. Either way, the bigger story is the continued chatter about McAfee from people not associated with him or his show, people who so clearly want to undermine him. 

OutKick had heard about the "ban on Schefter" over a month ago. But hearing rumors about McAfee is nothing unusual. There are people within the industry who have tried to put out negative information about him since his debut at ESPN two years ago.

Let us try to explain why: 

Pat McAfee is an outlier. He built his brand independent of any corporate backing. He is not a product of ESPN, Fox Sports, or NBC. He owns and operates his show, eliminating the influence of middle management. Many of McAfee's colleagues are jealous of him. He negotiated two separate deals with ESPN — a licensing agreement and for appearances on "College GameDay" – for over $20 million without a traditional talent agency.

So, between the corporate midwits, jealous colleagues, and triggered agents, the chatter about McAfee across the industry is constant – and often devious. His success and subsequent freedom triggers them. 

That's not to say The Athletic's reporting is right or wrong. Andrew Marchand is a good reporter. His job is to report what he hears. The intentions of his sources are not his concern, so long as he believes the information is accurate.

However, it's understandable why McAfee would be so annoyed by the leak. There are only a few people who would have been aware of the situation with Schefter. And it's hard to envision a scenario in which the person didn't spread the information as a means to drum up more negative press around McAfee.

Why else put that information out there?

At some point, higher management, which supports McAfee, ought to take control of the situation. While ESPN doesn't need anyone, McAfee is one of the few individuals with singular value to the brand. 

There is no other show in the industry that regularly books Aaron Rodgers, Bill Belichick, Nick Saban, and The Rock. McAfee also bridges the gap between the younger generation of sports fans and the cable viewers, between his success on YouTube and "College GameDay." 

Put simply, McAfee is far more valuable than any of the low-level execs, talents, and agents trying to fracture his relationship with ESPN. 

Until ESPN does take control, expect the leaks to continue. 



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