It's always the numbers, not the words, that count.
That's how the biggest sports TV talents are evaluated, and Pat McAfee is no exception.
ESPN knew he would be a headache when it hired McAfee in the fall. They agreed, allowing him to swear on-air, wear a tank top, and maintain ownership of the show. ESPN executives correctly believed that if they were hiring McAfee, they couldn't castrate him.
McAfee has the appeal of a WWE-style talk show host who brings energy. ESPN wants its audience to be younger, and in theory McAfee should bring that. But the 36-year-old former Pro Bowl punter is doing what he wants.
This week, McAfee paid TV contributor Aaron Rodgers slandered ABC's star late night host Jimmy Kimmel by falsely suggesting he was on Jeffrey Epstein's list. The pedophilia innuendo led Kimmel to attack Rodgers on social media and threaten to take him to court.
Let's look at the numbers here.
Since McAfee's show debuted on ESPN in the fall, Stephen A. Smith and “First Take” has brought McAfee 583,000 viewers, while McAfee is down 48% to 302,000 viewers. only.
Compared to the same window last year that featured “SportsCenter,” McAfee is down 12%. On FS1, Colin Cowherd's show nearly outperformed McAfee on some days, averaging 156,000 viewers, up 19% from last year.
ESPN is now disputing those numbers by pointing to McAfee's direct-to-consumer sales and social following. This is something to consider in the new media world.
According to ESPN, the show averages 403,000 viewers on YouTube.
As previously reported, ESPN is paying McAfee more than $85 million over five years to license the show and appear on “College GameDay,” while Rodgers is paid as a weekly guest on the show. It pays more than $1 million a year. ESPN believes signing McAfee will be beneficial for them.
The question is whether McAfee can survive in the Disney world. McAfee never terminates the contract. It failed with FanDuel, DAZN, BetOnline, SiriusXM, WWE, to name a few. So with McAfee continuing his five years with his ESPN contract, we're on the back foot.
He is not affiliated with the company, and the deal is structured to allow Disney to distance itself from what's on the air. But it's on the air.
This was a Disney-on-Disney crime against someone producing at Kimmel.
It's very difficult for anyone to be too edgy under the Mickey Mouse umbrella. The media world McAfee grew up in, which he joined at Barstool Sports, doesn't have many rules, if any. This leads to a weekly spot on Rodgers, which is basically a combination of news, some guy stories, and conspiracy theories about whether he'll play or not.
Rogers clearly doesn't like rules. He spews out theories about vaccines and pedophile lists without any expertise. He has a right to his opinion, but the only reason people listen is because of his numbers. He has the fifth-most passing touchdowns of all time, has been named MVP four times, and has one ring in the Super Bowl.
In the end, the numbers will determine if it's worth the headache. Mr. McAfee typically leaves before his contract ends. If that happens, and McAfee is indeed producing, ESPN will only regret it.
