Over the past few years, Pat McAfee has become one of the hottest names in sports media. Even as ESPN has been laying off hundreds of employees, including dozens of high-profile, forward-facing television personalities, McAfee secured a five-year, $85 million deal in March to bring his show to the network.
There are numerous reasons for McAfee's rise but you can't overlook the impact of his ability to secure regular appearances by big names, Aaron Rodgers and Nick Saban, whose banter in the loosely structured interviews has led to some dramatic, iconic and viral moments. It shouldn't really come as a surprise that those regular appearances are paid for, at an enormous cost.
Per reporting from Andrew Marchand at The New York Post:
""Aaron Rodgers Tuesdays" and "Nick Saban Thursdays" have become staples of the program and the sports media world. But there is a special sauce that makes it all go: McAfee spends millions to procure these interviews, The Post has learned. Rodgers is receiving more than seven figures per year to come on the show each week, according to sources, while Saban is in that vaunted neighborhood."
Aaron Rodgers has been paid big bucks to appear on Pat McAfee, but it's not unusual
Not all athlete appearances on podcasts, radio or television are paid, but it's safe to assume that anything that is regular or recurring probably is, as Marchand went on to detail:
"What McAfee is doing with Rodgers, et al., is not unusual or new, even if the financial numbers are eye-popping. Baseball managers, from Joe Torre to Joe Girardi and Aaron Boone, have routinely done "exclusive" audio spots in the $250,000 neighborhood — deals with radio stations or, in Boone's case this year, with Jomboy's Yankee podcast. Eli Manning used to make around $125,000 to appear for 15 to 20 minutes on WFAN."
What appears to be unique about the relationship between Rodgers and McAfee is both the size of the numbers and the fact that, as Marchand reported, '[McAfee] cuts into his five-year deal for around $85 million from ESPN to pay people that help the business."
This makes it sound like McAfee is paying Rodgers out of his own cut, rather than ESPN footing the bill. Regardless, it's a formula that's working for McAfee, Rodgers and countless football fans who need a Tuesday fix of controversy.
