WWE Performer Pat McAfee Wasn't Expecting Online Backlash After Jumping To ESPN

Upon news of onetime WWE commentator Pat McAfee moving his talk show to ESPN in a new multi-million dollar deal, many viewers expressed strong disapproval of the change. During Thursday's edition of "The Pat McAfee Show," McAfee and his co-hosts addressed the online backlash, noting that some referred to them as "sellouts." McAfee admitted that he didn't expect the announcement to draw such a negative reaction.

"I think the reason why I did not expect it is because – it didn't even cross my mind," McAfee said. "At this stage, and we're young, obviously, we're 20 years younger than pretty much everybody else that's on TV at this stage, so we are young, but I feel like our people were the ones that were most mad."

McAfee then suggested that his long-time supporters have a little more faith in him and his business decisions.

"We have a good history, do we not?" he asked.

If that rhetorical question isn't enough to sway them, then perhaps McAfee's full announcement will be. While his show is indeed moving to ESPN, he promised that's the only big change viewers can expect. McAfee stated he and his crew will "retain full creative control" and the format will be unchanged. The show will follow "Get Up" and "First Take" every weekday, airing on ESPN and ESPN+ as well as ESPN's YouTube channel. According to McAfee, that was a point of contention with other networks during negotiations. However, he has made and delivered repeatedly on the promise that it would always be available to watch on YouTube regardless of where the show landed. That said, one change was unavoidable.

"Out of respect for that, we have decided that we won't be saying 'f***' nearly as much," he stated. "But every other word is good to go."