Sports analyst and former NFL punter Pat McAfee is on the verge of bagging a massive new deal with ESPN. 

ESPN and McAfee’s representatives are discussing an extension to his current contract that will pay him more than $60 million per year, reported The Athletic.

If the deal goes through, Pat McAfee will be the highest-paid personality in sports media history, per Sam Amico of Hoops Wire.

“Pat McAfee and ESPN are reportedly discussing an extension to his contract that would pay him more than $60 million per year,” WrestlePurists shared on X. “McAfee is being represented by TKO’s Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, whose initial proposal to ESPN was $100 million per year.”

Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported that McAfee has two more years left on his current contract, which gives him $30 million per year.

The current agreement covers his daily show, his 'College GameDay' role, and alternative broadcasts.

The 39-year-old’s daily show, “The Pat McAfee Show,” has its first two hours airing on ESPN, while all three later air on YouTube. McAfee has maintained ownership of his show, which brings him $17 million per year.

He has a separate contract for “College GameDay” and for other events, including his former WWE days as a commentator and an occasional wrestler. 

Marchand added that the makeup of the new contract will be similar in structure. However, ESPN will have separate contracts for production and talent agreements.

The deal is different because ESPN is considering McAfee as both an on-air personality and a content producer.

ESPN touted a 25% increase in viewership per day for McAfee’s daily show. Their executives are making this move to appeal to younger fans. According to ESPN's research, McAfee has been highly successful in doing so.

However, fans took to social media to voice their disagreement with ESPN offering such a huge deal to McAfee. 

Fans Criticize the Contract Between ESPN and Pat McAfee

Fans flooded WrestlePurists' X post to debate the proposed contract.

A majority of fans criticized the proposed contract as excessive.

“He is not worth even 1/100th of that amount. Not a single person watches wrestling because of him,” commented an NFL fan.

“He isn’t worth anywhere near that amount,” another fan wrote.

A fan recalled McAfee’s days in the WWE and wrote, “Absolute insanity. Can’t stand this dude. And the stunt WWE pulled with him and Randy Orton made me dislike him even more.”

One fan pondered the compromises ESPN will have to make to offer such a huge sum.

“Just in time for another round of coincidental ESPN layoffs,” commented the fan.

The reported contract figure sparked significant backlash from fans, many of whom questioned whether McAfee’s value warrants such a large investment.

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Written by

Naomi Grace

Edited by

Koushik Biswas