ESPN hoping for younger appeal with McAfee, though limited in content oversight

ESPN hired Pat McAfee in a “quest to gain more currency with a younger generation of sports fans” in a "fractured media landscape where personalities can create more direct relationships with fans on social media instead of TV,” according to Ben Strauss of the WASHINGTON POST. McAfee is “charismatic and energetic and has a real connection to his fans.” He has “earned a reputation as a talent who knows what his audience wants and how to grow it, as well as an intense loyalty to his close-knit cast.” But McAfee’s show is licensed by ESPN and his co-hosts and guests are not employed by the network, which means there is "less oversight of the show" and "less responsibility for what appears on it.” Because of that, the "question that came up most among ESPN staffers is what, exactly, are the rules for McAfee?” There has been “internal chafing at his seeming dismissal of Washington State football fans and a decades-long 'GameDay' tradition.” Another clip that circulated among staffers was McAfee’s “spiraling speculation on the exit of Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams and an FBI raid that may or may not have happened.” People who have worked with McAfee said that he has “little regard for those who might suggest they know better, including media executives who don’t know him,” and he can be “sensitive to criticism.” After the Athletic ran a poll that found just 30% of “GameDay” viewers enjoyed McAfee while 50% did not, he tweeted that he “hasn’t committed to returning to the show next season" (WASHINGTON POST, 10/24).

OPEN MIC : In Indianapolis, Gregg Doyel writes every Tuesday Jets QB Aaron Rodgers appears on "The Pat McAfee Show" and “says something stupid about COVID-19 vaccines," including that "they don’t work.”  Rodgers can do this because he “has an accomplice in Pat McAfee.” Once a week, for a few minutes every Tuesday, McAfee lets Rodgers “come onto his show and say the absolute stupidest stuff.” Doyel: "Why does McAfee do it? Why does ESPN let him?" Taking on somebody as popular as McAfee is a “losing proposition of blowout proportions, especially for the media, especially ‘old’ media like a newspaper.” Doyel: “The bros like their Bud Light and Draft Kings, not their newspapers, and they love them some Pat McAfee. You can understand why” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 10/24).