Shannon Sharpe will reportedly be a free agent later this month and Pat McAfee is already recruiting him to ESPN.
Wednesday afternoon, The New York Post reported Sharpe and Fox Sports agreed to a buyout to make FS1’s co-host of Undisputed a free agent after the NBA Finals conclude later this month. On Thursday, McAfee discussed Sharpe’s looming sports media divorce from Skip Bayless and quickly began calling for the Pro Football Hall of Famer to join him at ESPN.
We are MASSIVE Shannon Sharpe fans#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/rbqMcrj6OH
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 1, 2023
“Shannon is gonna be in a really good spot here,” McAfee said. “And I hope he comes to ESPN. And when I say, ‘come to ESPN,’ we’re not even at ESPN. But we’re gonna be there, and if Shannon Sharpe is there and you start talking about what a day could look like, that’s ******* awesome.”
McAfee shook his audience and the sports media world when he decided to take his talents to ESPN last month for what is reportedly a whopping $85 million over five years. ESPN knew they were getting an immensely popular podcast host when they signed McAfee, but they probably didn’t realize they were also getting a brand ambassador.
Years after waging war against ESPN for briefly banning their talent from appearing on his show, McAfee is now all in, even encouraging other sports media personalities to join the Worldwide Leader’s talent pool.
Sharpe has co-hosted FS1’s Undisputed since September 2016, but after more than seven years together, their relationship began to look strained in recent months. The Undisputed co-hosts had multiple on-air blowups, most infamous was Sharpe’s decision to no-show the morning after Bayless was sent an untimely tweet about Damar Hamlin.
In the months after their public dispute, Sharpe insisted his relationship with Bayless was fine, but it was not fine enough to see them celebrate their eighth anniversary together. Sharpe will certainly have suitors as a free agent. The question is whether he wants to join a corporate network like ESPN or enjoy the freedom of building his Club Shay Shay podcast independently.
McAfee chose the former and hopes Sharpe will do the same.
