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Pat McAfee leaving $120M FanDuel contract behind to join ESPN

Pat McAfee is a hot commodity in sports media. (Kirby Lee/Reuters)
Pat McAfee is a hot commodity in sports media. (Kirby Lee/Reuters)

Pat McAfee is leaving FanDuel for ESPN.

McAfee confirmed the news Tuesday after a report from the New York Post's Andrew Marchand.

In doing so, he'll leave behind a four-year, $120 million contract, according to the report. The former NFL punter turned media personality was in the second year of his deal with FanDuel for "The Pat McAfee Show."

The precise value of the deal with ESPN isn't known. Marchand reports that it exceeds "eight figures" annually. McAfee is taking his crew, which includes former NFL linebacker A.J. Hawk, to ESPN with him.

The news arrives amid announced Disney layoffs of more than 7,000 employees, including some at ESPN.

McAfee's show, which features interviews with athletes and irreverent discussion of sports and news, is a hit on YouTube, where it will remain on ESPN's YouTube channel, according to McAfee. He announced that the show will also appear on ESPN and ESPN+.

McAfee also vowed to "not change a damn thing" before announcing at least one small change. The show's language is not fit for daytime TV, especially on a network owned by Disney. McAfee said in his announcement that "we have decided that we won't say f*** nearly as much, but every other word is good to go."

McAfee spent eight seasons as an NFL punter with the Indianapolis Colts from 2009 to '16. He retired from football to pursue a media career after making his second Pro Bowl at 29 years old. He worked in varying capacities with BarStool Sports, DAZN, SiriusXM, Fox and Westwood One before joining FanDuel in 2021.

He has been a contributor at ESPN throughout, including regular appearances on “College GameDay." He has also made appearances as a wrestler for WWE.

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