New Sports Media Rule: The Lower Brow Audience is More Valuable

Why Pat McAfee Is Worth $60 Million

Pat McAfee is the source of a lot of sports media envy. That won’t change with Pat set to make over $60 million per year in his next ESPN deal, as Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports. McAfee’s windfall is fine by me, as I could never do what this guy does any more than I could replace 1990s Jim Carrey in a movie.

Other people in the industry find that level of power to be a bit of a mystery, though. Pat is obviously a charismatic star, but McAfee’s TV ratings are modest, and while 3 million YouTube subscribers is a lot, the clips generated often land in the five-figure view range.

It all tracks, though. On HoS pod, our guy Ryan Glasspiegel broke down exactly why Pat is getting such an unprecedented sum. Obviously, the guy is versatile enough to play a role on a variety of ESPN properties, including and especially “College GameDay.” But that’s not all. Glass added an observation that has implications beyond McAfee and happens to be, in my opinion, a truism that’s awkward for current sports media stars to discuss. Apologies to Ryan if I’m twisting his words here, but my interpretation of what he said is this:

You have more value in sports media if your audience is less sophisticated.

Here’s what he specifically meant and why it makes sense.