Credit: Jeff Lange/USA Today
By Drew Lerner on

Typically, two of the most powerful media executives in the country and the President of the United States wouldn’t be gathered together in Geneva, Ohio on a normal Tuesday in August. But they were this week, thanks to the inaugural Patriot Games.

For the uninitiated, the Patriot Games are the brainchild of President Donald Trump to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. Two high school athletes from each of the 50 states (supposedly), one male and one female, were selected to participate in activities like tug-of-war, pop-a-shot, dodgeball, and kickball. The top 32 athletes advanced to Tuesday’s final, in which we already knew Trump and his honored guest Pat McAfee were in attendance.

Now, with the help of some joyous selfies McAfee posted to social media, we also know that there were two key media executives joining him and Trump on Tuesday evening. Both Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro descended on the small Ohio town, population 5,924, to take in the games.


The Patriot Games streamed on ESPN’s app throughout the past several days, though the competition has received almost no promotion on the Worldwide Leader’s air. Laura Rutledge did a quick promo on ABC’s Good Morning America over the weekend, but the Games have otherwise been largely ignored on the four-letter network. The only mentions of the Patriot Games have come during McAfee’s show, which is not produced by ESPN. Outside of those two hours, ESPN has not mentioned the Patriot Games once.

The network will, however, air a one-hour primetime special of the Patriot Games on Thursday, the lone bit of this circus act that will seep through for public consumption.

The implication is pretty clear. ESPN has tepid interest in the Patriot Games given it’s not known property, and most people don’t even know of its existence. There are larger priorities to promote for the network. But despite this, Pitaro and D’Amaro showed up in an effort to ingratiate themselves with the president. Why else would this duo attend a farcical sporting event in the middle of Ohio that won’t even air live on ESPN and that the network refuses to promote? Pitaro probably doesn’t even show up to NBA games before the Conference Finals! Now he’s showing up to a competition that resembles middle school PE activities? Apparently, that’s the cost of doing business under the Trump administration.

Disney has already learned its lesson the hard way. It settled a bogus lawsuit with the Trump administration after ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos mischaracterized Trump’s prior sexual misconduct charges in a minor way, awarding the president’s future presidential library $15 million and throwing in an additional $1 million to cover his legal fees.

It’s unlikely Pitaro and D’Amaro wanted to be there, or deemed the event important enough for them to attend, aside from the overt political capital gained. But hey, the minor humiliation of legitimizing this weird-ass “sporting event” is worth staying on Trump’s good side. Maybe we’re being overly cynical and the Patriot Games becomes a regular event with Disney elevating it to a mainstay of the sporting calendar. McAfee seemed to suggest that was the plan on his show today.

But either way, as many have learned throughout his decade in public office, Trump’s good side is really only available for temporary stays.

About Drew Lerner

Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.

View all posts by Drew Lerner