Pat McAfee Show Officially Moving To ESPN In Multi-Million Dollar Deal

In 2023, there may not be any broadcaster in higher demand than former (and still occasional) WWE performer Pat McAfee. The New York Post is reporting that McAfee has accepted an extremely lucrative offer from ESPN, said to be a multi-million dollar deal that is reportedly eight figures, to bring his popular "Pat McAfee Show" to the network. ESPN owner Disney is rumored to be bringing McAfee to their upfronts presentation on Tuesday to announce the deal, which will release McAfee from his 4-year, $120 million dollar contract with his current sponsor, FanDuel, which was in its second year. McAfee's show will reportedly remain on YouTube in some capacity.

According to the article, McAfee will be retaining the crew that produces his YouTube show and they will be joining him at ESPN. There is no word on what this means for McAfee's already-limited responsibilities in the WWE. McAfee is an occasional broadcaster and wrestler, usually appearing for WWE's "big four" PLEs like Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series.

WWE recently merged with UFC, which is currently broadcast on ESPN. WWE is set to renegotiate its media rights with both NBCUniversal and Fox, which could open the door for some kind of offer from ESPN. WWE was absent from the upfronts presentations that both NBCUniversal and Fox gave to potential advertisers, but this was later clarified as having to do with WWE's classification as a sports property, as opposed to being related to any kind of upcoming or currently-underway negotiations.