There is an awkward tension at ESPN right now — a public back and forth between the top sports network and one of its prized 2023 acquisitions, Pat McAfee.
On Jan. 5, McAfee called out by name Norby Williamson — ESPN's Executive Editor & Head of Event and Studio Production who has been with the network since 1985 — on an episode of "The Pat McAfee Show."
McAfee accused the top executive of "attempting to sabotage" him and his show.
This saga dates all the way back to May 2023, when it was first reported by Andrew Marchand of The New York Post that McAfee would be leaving a four-year, $120 million deal with FanDuel TV to move to ESPN.
McAfee's ESPN deal was reportedly to license "The Pat McAfee Show" and have the former NFL punter appear on "College GameDay." Marchand reported that his ESPN deal was worth five years at about $17 million annually — less per year than what McAfee was receiving from FanDuel.
The number was more than the $12 million annual salary of arguably ESPN's top star Stephen A. Smith, though his deal was signed in 2019. But the report also came at a time that The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) -) was laying off thousands of workers, including just a month before ESPN cut around 20 on-air talents.
McAfee's ESPN signing was also interesting because the nature of McAfee's show wasn't always fit for television. McAfee, his team, and guests commonly used curse words on his show, which he said he'd lay off once his show made it onto ESPN airwaves.
But McAfee had been raking in the views and social media buzz since debuting in 2019, and Marchand reported that ESPN executives made the deal because they knew it would be profitable.
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In September 2023, coinciding with the start of the NFL season, "The Pat McAfee Show" debuted on ESPN. It also continued to air on YouTube to his now over 2.4 million subscribers.
McAfee's show for the first quarter of a year and change has gone without much of a hitch, and he's made regular appearances with Smith on "First Take," the show prior to "The Pat McAfee Show" on the ESPN weekday slate. But there were some warning signs about what could happen next.
In October, injured New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was a regular guest of McAfee's prior to the ESPN deal, appeared on the show and called out Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce for his commercial promoting COVID-19 vaccines. Rodgers, who has been public in promoting conspiracy theories and his stance against the vaccine, poked fun at Kelce by calling him "Mr. Pfizer" on McAfee's show.
A few days later, Marchand released a report saying that McAfee had paid Rodgers over $1 million for his appearances on "The Pat McAfee Show." McAfee called Marchand a "rat" on his show days after the report was made public.
That story simmered down in the coming months, but the tension was reignited on the second day of 2024 after Rodgers jabbed at late night host Jimmy Kimmel on McAfee's show.
Related: Jimmy Kimmel calls out Aaron Rodgers, suggests potential lawsuit
Rodgers suggested that Kimmel's name was going to be on the infamous client list of Jeffrey Epstein. The two had some beef going back to early 2023 when Kimmel had also called out Rodgers on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Kimmel responded to Rodgers' jabs on X (formerly Twitter) by suggesting that he could bring a lawsuit against the NFL quarterback.
Dear Aasshole: for the record, I’ve not met, flown with, visited, or had any contact whatsoever with Epstein, nor will you find my name on any “list” other than the clearly-phony nonsense that soft-brained wackos like yourself can’t seem to distinguish from reality. Your reckless… https://t.co/p8eug12uiS
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) January 2, 2024
This news was extra sour for the higher ups because Kimmel's been a decades-long late night fixture on ABC, which is also under the Disney family.
McAfee, who had attempted to defuse Rodgers after he made his initial comments, apologized the next day for the incident.
"I can see exactly why Jimmy Kimmel felt the way he felt, especially with his position. But I think Aaron was just trying to talk shit. Now did it go too far? Jimmy Kimmel certainly said that was the case," McAfee said. "We obviously don't like the fact that we're associated with anything negative ever ... we apologize for being a part of it."
"I can see exactly why Jimmy Kimmel felt the way he felt, especially with his position. But I think Aaron was just trying to talk shit."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 3, 2024
Pat McAfee opens his show by responding to the fallout and threats of legal action coming out of his Tuesday interview with Aaron Rodgers pic.twitter.com/UCv1yAp62Z
Related: Stephen A. Smith has some real advice for Aaron Rodgers in Jimmy Kimmel dispute
But on Jan. 4, Marchand published another article on The New York Post called "Pat McAfee needs to produce better ratings to be worth $85 million — and headaches — for ESPN."
The story highlighted that McAfee's television ratings were subpar, performing 12% worse than the SportsCenter program that aired at the same timeslot previously. Marchand did say that McAfee was raking an average of over 400,000 viewers on YouTube, more than it even received on ESPN.
"In the end, the numbers decide if the headaches are worth it. McAfee usually walks before the end of his deals. If that happens, ESPN will only have regret if McAfee is really producing," Marchand wrote.
The story's timing was interesting given what was going on between Rodgers and Kimmel, with McAfee's show as the platform for the behavior. Marchand is one of the top sports media news breakers, so his story carried a lot of weight.
And that seems to have sprung McAfee's comments about Williamson.
McAfee started by saying he and his team are "very appreciative" of ESPN. But then he went in on Williamson and seemed to once again reference Marchand as a "rat."
"We understand that more people are watching this show than ever before. We're very thankful for the ESPN folks for being very hospitable. Now there are some people actively trying to sabotage us from within ESPN. More specifically, I believe Norby Williamson is the guy who is attempting to sabotage our program. I'm not 100% sure, — that is just seemingly the only human that has information and then somehow that information gets leaked and it's wrong and then it sets a narrative of what our show is. Are we just going to combat that from a rat every single time? I don't know."
Full clip of Pat McAfee accusing ESPN Head of Event and Studio Production Norby Williamson of "sabotage" pic.twitter.com/sMFpa0Qk7q
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 5, 2024
Related: Pat McAfee gets clarification from reporter who revealed his Aaron Rodgers payments
McAfee also said that the numbers released by Marchand were "wrong." ESPN public relations released a day later the numbers of McAfee's show averaging 886,000 viewers — though this combined viewership on ESPN, YouTube, and TikTok. ESPN's release called it a 35% increase in viewership versus a certain time slot.
The numbers seem to be quite similar from both Marchand's story and ESPN's release, but the framing was certainly different between the two sides.
On Jan. 6, ESPN released a statement on McAfee's comments.
“No one is more committed to and invested in ESPN’s success than Norby Williamson,” the statement from an ESPN spokesperson read. “At the same time, we are thrilled with the multi-platform success that we have seen from The Pat McAfee Show across ESPN. We will handle this matter internally and have no further comment.”
On Jan. 8, the day of the college football championship which McAfee is helping boost for the network, he once again spoke on his show about the ESPN saga. It seems as though not much has changed about McAfee's stance over one weekend once again claiming a positive relationship with the network and even called out his "love" for top Disney and ESPN execs like Bob Iger, Jimmy Pitaro, and Burke Magnus.
But he was unwilling to take back his accusations.
"ESPN has set us pretty good," McAfee said. "There are some comments about one particular person at ESPN ... A lot people are saying I'm trying to get fired — no way ... Now there's certainly people we don't like, and they don't like us and that's how it's going to be. But I don't take back anything I said about said person. But the overall storyline about us and ESPN, I think people need to remember, we're strong, baby."
Pat McAfee “don’t take back anything” he said about Norby Williamson, but insists his relationship with ESPN is “strong” pic.twitter.com/U3YZe37O6n
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 8, 2024
ESPN is no stranger to a public feud with some of its top personalities while still employed with the network. Bill Simmons, Sage Steele, and Jemele Hill are just some of a long list of names that the company has battled with.
But they are investing a ton of money in McAfee, and while Marchand has hinted that McAfee has a history of cutting contracts short, ESPN is still tied likely tied to him for four and a half more years.
This saga is just beginning.
Related: Rachel Nichols speaks candidly about aftermath of infamous ESPN ouster
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