Monday was a banner day for Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee in their never-ending battle to prove which of them is bigger than ESPN.
Smith practically tried to claim he invented WNBA media coverage while McAfee referred to one of the most popular athletes in America as a “b—-.”
Consciously or not, they both pulled focus from the women who play and cover women’s sports and made the narrative about them. And truthfully, they probably wouldn’t want it any other way.
Smith often talks about his big aspirations that go beyond ESPN, into the world of entertainment and politics. McAfee has called out ESPN brass and essentially does whatever he wants without fear of accountability.
You wouldn’t be out of step for assuming that these two sports media titans were untouchable. At this moment, they certainly seem like it.
However, David Samson thinks both Smith and McAfee are forgetting something. No empire lasts forever and, in the end, the house always wins.
.@DavidPSamson wanted to drop some sports media knowledge on folks like Stephen A. & Pat McAfee this morning on Nothing Personal.
"Here's what Stephen A. & Pat don't realize that I've always realized: We are incredibly replaceable."
(Via Nothing Personal/@LebatardFriends) pic.twitter.com/V7Xzf8xs3U
— DraftKings Network (@DKNetwork) June 4, 2024
“Pat McAfee has been an absolute thorn in the side of ESPN. You can say anything you want. The power play that’s gone on over ESPN, McAfee is delivering and winning,” said Samson on Nothing Personal, via DraftKings Network. “But there’s going to come a point, you can’t beat the corporate behemoth. I don’t care what level of talent you are. It will always, always end up with you losing.
“It’s the same way a power struggle in baseball between a player and a GM or a manager and a GM or a GM and an owner. The higher you are, the more power struggles you win.
“Here’s what Stephen A. and Pat don’t realize that I’ve always realized. We are incredibly replaceable. At the height of your game, you may feel that you’re not. In your own business, you may feel that you’re not. But trust me, you are. The only people who are not replaceable are the owners.
“I was a team president. Replaceable. Host of Nothing Personal. Replaceable. Host of ESPN First Take. Replaceable. Host of The Pat McAfee Show. Replaceable.”
We’ll quibble with some of what Samson is saying. First and foremost, with all due respect, there is a difference between Samson and Smith or McAfee. Those two are household names (of a sort) so they’re playing a different media game than he is. Second, McAfee is less “replaceable” as the host of his show than the notion that he and ESPN could decide to part ways, which is different from what Samson is saying. (Though it would be very funny to see The Pat McAfee Show with host Kendrick Perkins.)
All of that said, however, there’s some truth to what Samson is saying. It was once considered unthinkable for Fox News to get rid of Bill O’Reilly. The same goes for Glenn Beck and Tucker Carlson. And yet it happened and that train kept rolling.
As for ESPN, there were times when losing Keith Olbermann, Skip Bayless, or Chris Berman might have seemed impossible to consider. And yet they did, and ESPN marched on.
Smith and McAfee indeed seem untouchable at this moment, but those situations always change. Ratings dip, audiences lose interest, or a shinier object emerges. Whether that day comes this year or five years from now, no one knows. As Smith and McAfee continue to tout their power and push boundaries, they’ll inevitably hit a wall someday.
And the house will win.
