Pat McAfee Reportedly Leaning Toward Move From FanDuel to ESPN

Pat McAfee is moving toward leaving his $120 million deal with FanDuel and is leaning toward signing with ESPN, according to a new report. The New York Post reports that the sports personality and WWE commentator has positioned ESPN as the leading candidate to be the home for his daily show. The report specifies that no deal has been finalized and neither McAfee nor ESPN have commented on the report.

McAfee is currently in the second year of his four year contact with FanDuel and has given indications that he may be leaving, including removing the FanDuel logo from the right-hand corner of his show and not appearing in their Super Bowl ads. The report notes that the amount of money McAfee would make in signing with ESPN is unknown but expected to be in the eight figures a year range. It may be smaller than the $30 million+ a year he makes with FanDuel.

ESPN sources have indicated that executives will only do a deal with McAfee if it ends up making financial sense. The deal comes at a time when Disney has laid of 7,000 people, including some at ESPN, so the optics are a potential concern. McAfee has worked with ESPN for college football broadcasts.

McAfee said on his show today that he was up to something that would be announced in the next 10 days. Disney’s Upfront presentation for advertisers on May 16th.