Pat McAfee had only retired from the NFL for 15 days before he launched The Pat McAfee Show, in collaboration with Barstool Sports. Staying away from the NFL – or any sport for that matter – was never an option for him. Over the years, through other collaborators and his own podcast network, Pat McAfee Inc., he built it into one of YouTube’s sports stables before ESPN saw enough upside to ink a deal with the former punter.
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That kind of a rise was always going to get him some attention, and as of Tuesday, June 9th, Time magazine acknowledged his success: Pat McAfee is now one of the 100 most influential figures in global sports.
“Congratulations to @patmcafeeshow on being named to the inaugural #TIME100 Sports list,” wrote ESPN PR’s Instagram handle, along with a picture showcasing his honor. “The 2026 list recognizes 100 of the most influential figures shaping the global sports landscape.”
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TIME released the list by slotting the names into four categories: Icons, Titans, Innovators, and Leaders. McAfee has notably landed with the Innovators alongside popular streamer IShowSpeed and journalist Pablo Torre. UFC president Dana White is among the leaders, and NBA superstar LeBron James has landed on the cover of the magazine as the “Athlete of the Century.”
McAfee got this honor because he single-handedly transformed ESPN’s afternoon block. In 2025, The Pat McAfee Show averaged around 436,000 viewers between TV and digital platforms, an 8% jump from the year before. By September, the show had pulled over 1 billion social media views for the first time in a single month.
The TIME 100 Sport honor is the full circle moment to all of that – proof that McAfee’s reach now goes beyond ESPN’s traditional studio. And that’s why the network is now thinking about giving him a bigger check.
Pat McAfee’s contract upgrade is almost here
McAfee’s success is also leading him to a massive payday. Per the Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, ESPN is negotiating a new deal with McAfee that could pay him between “$60 to $65 million per year.”
“The deal is not yet completed,” noted Marchand, “and if an agreement can be reached, it could be a sliding scale based on McAfee’s new responsibilities. McAfee, already omnipresent, could be on the air even more, with a bigger role in NFL coverage a possibility, according to sources.”
McAfee signed a 5-year, $85 million deal with ESPN in 2023, and still has two years left. His new deal will be “similar in structure.” Meanwhile, the network is reportedly planning to put McAfee in a category of his own.
“ESPN has viewed the arrangement as a production contract and a separate ‘talent’ agreement,” writes Marchand, “differentiating it from the deals with most of its on-air personalities.”
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McAfee currently runs multiple ESPN platforms. His weekday show runs noon to 3 p.m. ET on YouTube, with the first two hours on ESPN. He has already led College GameDay to its most-watched season in 2025 with an average of 2.7 million viewers. And for the third consecutive year, he has provided on-site NFL Draft coverage.
The $60 million range would make Pat McAfee ESPN’s highest-paid personality, leaping over Stephen A. Smith, who currently earns $20 million a year. McAfee is, as Marchand notes, already “omnipresent” across the network. A bigger deal would mean an even bigger role in the NFL coverage is possible.
McAfee’s TIME 100 Sports honor was also about cultural impact, something ESPN saw as well. He brought a younger audience to ESPN studio shows and generated a billion social media views in a single month. McAfee’s got the honor, the reach, and the network’s confidence… the money simply follows.
