Pat McAfee hasn’t exactly endeared himself to the viewers of College GameDay.
At first, his presence on set seemed like a welcome change of pace, especially with the declining health of Lee Corso. But he’s seemed to overstay his welcome, as his schtick and lack of respect for tradition have made viewers sour on his presence on the pregame show. Just don’t take our word for it, the numbers back up the claim.
Recently, The Athletic surveyed its readers and how they watch college football, by comparing networks and getting their views/opinions on realignment and viewing habits. One of those viewing habits had to do with viewers’ particular feelings about McAfee and his presence on the show. As you can see below, those numbers didn’t exactly reflect well on the 36-year-old.
How do you feel about Pat McAfee on “College Gameday”?
Like it: 30.1 percent
Don’t like it: 48.9 percent
No opinion: 21 percent
Earlier this month, McAfee drew the ire of Washington State fans by calling the program out after head coach Jake Dickert called out Lee Corso for dismissing the forgotten Pac-2 of the Cougars and Oregon State. McAfee launched into a full-fledged rant that didn’t reflect well on himself or GameDay, as it essentially came off as telling the school to keep quiet and accept their fate. Which is a bit ironic in the sense that the Ol’ Crimson flag has become a staple, flying high every Saturday on College GameDay.
And it appears that McAfee’s actions/comments haven’t particularly sat well with prospective viewers.
‘I don’t watch Gameday anymore solely because of Pat McAfee. I think he’s an embarrassment to ESPN and a major knock on whatever credibility they have left,” wrote one reader.
Another reader thought McAfee added a great level of energy and didn’t understand the hate. However, most of the comments fell in line with McAfee not being their favorite host, and being at risk of being overexposed, something that’s become all too familiar at ESPN, especially with the likes of Mike Greenberg and Stephen A. Smith.
“Pat McAfee is being over-utilized and I’m not sure he has a distinct enough point of view to stick in people’s minds. [Dan] Orlovsky is excellent with analysis but in danger of over-exposure, as well.”
“While I’m not a big McAfee fan, it far outweighs watching anything involving Urban Meyer.”
That’s true, McAfee is not Urban Meyer and maybe Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff has bigger problems to address, but the elephant in the room here is that the person that the Worldwide Leader has gone all in on, might not be as popular as they once thought. But, even if readers aren’t exactly thrilled by his presence on College GameDay, it doesn’t appear as if he’s going anywhere anytime soon.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.