Pat McAfee’s rise from NFL punter to sports-media power player has been a fast one, and the money attached to it keeps climbing. Celebrity Net Worth now pegs him at $80 million, up from $60 million in its 2024 and 2025 estimates, and the next ESPN deal could push his annual income even higher.
The biggest driver is his current ESPN arrangement. Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported in June that McAfee is making about $30 million a year across The Pat McAfee Show, College GameDay and his other work for the network. McAfee originally came to ESPN in 2023 after leaving FanDuel, signing a five-year, $85 million contract that included about $17 million per year for licensing The Pat McAfee Show.
That package is lucrative, but it is not pure profit. McAfee pays for contributors, production and the sets for his show, and he also funds the prize money for his College GameDay kicking contest. That contest has handed out more than $5 million to students who try 33-yard field goals.
Even with those costs, ESPN is already talking extension. The network opened negotiations two years before his current deal is set to expire in 2028.
According to Marchand, McAfee’s representatives - TKO executives Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro - started by asking for $100 million annually before the sides moved into a $60 million to $65 million range. ESPN content president Burke Magnus said in September 2025 that he “could not imagine” the network’s daytime schedule without the show.
McAfee’s path to this level started long before the current media money. Indianapolis drafted the West Virginia punter in the seventh round, No. 222 overall, in 2009. The Colts tagged him in 2013 at $2.977 million and then gave him a five-year, $14.5 million deal in 2014.
He earned two Pro Bowl selections and finished his playing career after the 2016 season with about $14.8 million in career earnings. That’s less than half of what ESPN now pays him in a single year.
After retirement, McAfee spent time with Barstool Sports before building Pat McAfee Inc. and taking his show independent. FanDuel later signed the program to a four-year, $120 million deal in December 2021, but McAfee left that setup for ESPN in 2023 even though the annual number was lower.
Owning the company behind the show gives him flexibility. McAfee can still line up outside partners, and on June 1 he announced a multiyear deal with DraftKings that made it the program’s first official sportsbook partner since the FanDuel split. DraftKings is also ESPN’s official sportsbook sponsor.
His business portfolio stretches beyond TV and radio-style show work. McAfee started calling WWE events in 2018 and later wrestled part-time, then stepped away after WrestleMania 42 in April when Cody Rhodes beat his ally Randy Orton and McAfee made good on his promise to leave. Emanuel also represents him in Hollywood, where he is set to appear in director Peter Berg’s upcoming World War II film.
McAfee also added to his ESPN presence this fall by joining Monday Night Countdown. Starting Oct. 19, he will lead Monday Night Football alt-casts when the ManningCast is not on. He also addressed speculation this week about replacing Troy Aikman alongside Joe Buck, saying, “I’m not supposed to be in a football booth.”
If ESPN closes the extension in the reported range, McAfee would become the network’s highest-paid employee, topping First Take host Stephen A. Smith, who signed a five-year deal worth more than $100 million in 2025.
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The bigger development is at cornerback, where starter Nick Taylor moved from doubtful to questionable, keeping alive the possibility he could be available in Morgantown. West Virginia still has one more availability update to come before kickoff, so the picture could change again, but for now the Mountaineers have a little more breathing room than they did earlier in the week. [Read more 🡒]
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WVU Faces A Pressure Game As Its Season Starts To Slip
West Virginia heads into Saturdays Big 12 matchup at Milan Puskar Stadium trying to stop the slide before it becomes a deeper problem. The Mountaineers have dropped three straight overall, even though they are still 3-0 in conference play, and the timing is less than ideal with Cincinnati coming in on the heels of a strong start to the season and a week off to reset.
The matchup brings some recent history into play, too, with West Virginia riding a four-game winning streak against the Bearcats. Cincinnati opened 4-0 before losing its last game before the open week, so both teams arrive with something to prove. For the Mountaineers, the bigger question is whether they can steady themselves in league play and protect their place near the top of the conference race before the pressure starts to build even more. [Read more 🡒]