Pat McAfee was in the middle of a pleasant conversation with his show’s producers/co-hosts on Thursday when an ad for ESPN Bet popped up the screen.
The news surrounding the Penn Entertainment-run sportsbook has been anything but pleasant in recent days.
Rather than pushing forward with his story, the host of The Pat McAfee Show opted to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Pointing directly at the superimposed ad, the All-Pro punter-turned-media mogul sarcastically stated, “things are going great here” before adding a more truthful “not at all.”
McAfee’s comments came in reference to Penn’s stock tumbling on the heels of its Q1 earnings. The first quarter of 2024 marked the gaming operator’s first full quarter with ESPN branding on its sportsbook, with revenue from the company’s interactive business falling well short of industry expectations.
“The truth has come out,” McAfee said. “Just think about how — this [ad] should not have popped up right now.”
Perhaps realizing the irony of laughing about an ESPN product’s shortcomings on ESPN airwaves, McAfee shifted from making light of the negative publicity to offering the sportsbook a pep talk of sorts. He also made sure to point out that it’s Penn that actually owns and operates the sportsbook, with the company leasing the ESPN name through a 10-year, $1.5 billion deal.
“ESPN Bet’s got a lot of room to grow,” McAfee said. “Hey, good luck. Let’s go ESPN Bet. You get knocked down, you come back. Legit, good luck. We’re pulling for it. Because we are on ESPN and obviously we’re a part of ESPN, so we would like ESPN stuff to succeed.
“Now, granted, ESPN Bet, I don’t think ESPN people are running the book. I think it’s somebody with a whole thing. With that said, let’s go. You’ve got ESPN on it. Come on… let’s go, let’s get into this thing.”
This is Pat McAfee laughing at ESPN Bet, saying "ESPN Bet's got a lot of room to grow," and then giving ESPN Bet a pep talk.
"We are on ESPN and obviously we're part of ESPN so we would like ESPN stuff to succeed."
Download the app today! pic.twitter.com/WayjxDUnfu
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 2, 2024
While ESPN would likely prefer that McAfee not address ESPN Bet’s early faltering publicly — let alone in such a humorous fashion — one would imagine that his sentiments are currently being echoed in Bristol. Although it’s ultimately Penn’s bottom line that’s being affected, it’s ESPN’s name that’s on the product. And the Worldwide Leader would obviously prefer that the sportsbook succeed as opposed to becoming the modern version of Mobile ESPN.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.