Pat McAfee Is About To Make An (Even More) Enormous Amount Of Money

Among NFL players, punters are usually not the ones who become household names. They jog onto the field a few times per game, try to flip field position, maybe hold the ball on field goals, and then disappear back to the sideline. When they make a tackle or pull off something unexpected, teammates celebrate like they just watched a trick play.

Pat McAfee was never a typical punter.

McAfee spent eight seasons in the NFL, all with the Indianapolis Colts. He was a two-time Pro Bowler, a first-team All-Pro in 2014, and one of the more charismatic specialists the league had ever seen. Over the course of his playing career, McAfee earned a little more than $15 million in NFL salary before abruptly retiring after the 2016 season.

For most punters, that would have been the whole story: eight years in the NFL, $15 million in earnings, and a comfortable retirement before age 30.

Instead, McAfee turned himself into one of the most powerful people in sports media.

According to The Athletic, ESPN and McAfee's representatives are negotiating a new contract extension that could pay him between $60 million and $65 million per year. The deal has not been finalized, but the two sides are reportedly in that range as they discuss a broader role for McAfee across ESPN's programming.

That number is staggering on its own. It is even more stunning when compared to his NFL career. McAfee earned a little over $15 million total as a professional football player. His next ESPN package could be worth roughly four times that amount every single year.

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From NFL Punter To Media Empire

McAfee began building "The Pat McAfee Show" almost immediately after leaving football. What started as a podcast and digital media project eventually grew into a video, radio, and streaming operation, with deals involving platforms such as DAZN, Westwood One, SiriusXM, FanDuel, and YouTube.

The real inflection point came when ESPN brought "The Pat McAfee Show" into its daily lineup. Today, the show airs every weekday, with the first two hours on ESPN and the full three-hour version on YouTube. McAfee also appears on "College GameDay," contributes to other ESPN programming, and hosts alternate broadcasts for major sporting events.

In a very short period of time, he has gone from retired punter to one of ESPN's most recognizable and commercially important personalities.

McAfee's current ESPN arrangement is already massive. According to The Athletic, his existing package approaches $30 million per year when his production agreement for "The Pat McAfee Show," his "College GameDay" role, and his other ESPN appearances are combined.

The new deal would essentially double that.

The $60 Million Clarification

One important point: the $60 million to $65 million figure should not be viewed as a traditional TV salary that goes directly into McAfee's pocket.

McAfee's ESPN arrangement is unusual because it includes a production/licensing agreement for "The Pat McAfee Show," which McAfee still owns. That means a portion of the money covers the cost of running the show itself. McAfee is responsible for paying contributors, crew members, producers, editors, production staff, travel costs, studio expenses, sets, legal bills, insurance, and other costs tied to the program.

That said, the production costs probably do not swallow anything close to the majority of the deal.

A reasonable back-of-the-envelope estimate is that "The Pat McAfee Show" costs somewhere in the range of $8 million to $15 million per year to operate at its current level. That would include salaries for his regular crew and contributors, production staff, social and digital employees, studio costs, travel, equipment, insurance, legal and accounting expenses, and the general overhead of producing a daily three-hour sports show.

Even if the true number is higher, perhaps closer to $20 million in an especially expensive year, that would still leave an enormous amount of money flowing to McAfee and his company.

So a $60 million to $65 million ESPN package might not mean McAfee personally pockets $60 million. But after production expenses, he could still be looking at something like $45 million to $55 million in gross annual salary.

A Raise Unlike Anything In Sports Media

McAfee's post-playing career has been unusually aggressive from the beginning. In 2017, he walked away from the final two seasons of his Colts contract, leaving roughly $6 million on the table to pursue media full-time. He then bounced through Barstool Sports, WWE, DAZN, SiriusXM, Westwood One, FanDuel, and finally ESPN.

That kind of platform-hopping made sense while he was still building the business. But a long-term ESPN extension would represent something different: permanence.

For the first time, McAfee may be staying put.

And if the deal closes anywhere near the reported range, it will be one of the most remarkable second acts in sports history. A player who earned a little over $15 million across his entire NFL career could soon be attached to an ESPN package worth more than $60 million per year.

Not bad for a punter.