Pat McAfee surprised by reaction to ESPN move: ‘That was a miscalculation.’

The Pat McAfee Show is headed to ESPN. And to say that Pat McAfee’s supporters are pleased with the move would be far from the truth.

McAfee is surprised by the internet’s reaction to him joining forces with a network he once waged war against for briefly banning their talent from appearing on his show. While that seemed to has blown over when McAfee joined ESPN’s College GameDay last year, his supporters are fearful for the future of his daily podcast. 

Many fear that McAfee has given up his freedom to join the Worldwide Leader. McAfee acknowledged that the reactions on Twitter have been a “little bit more negative” than he may have anticipated.

“It’s been tough to go over the mentions,” McAfee said during Thursday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show. “It has been tough out there. I don’t think I expected that. That was a miscalculation…I think the reason I didn’t expect it is because it didn’t even cross my mind…I feel like our people are the ones that were most mad. It’s like, ‘Hey, we have a good history, do we not?'”

https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1659239113751662592?s=20

Posing a rhetorical question to viewers and listeners of the show, McAfee asked if he hadn’t earned any trust at all from anybody for any of the things he’s accomplished with The Pat McAfee Show.

“I don’t know,” McAfee quipped. “I guess not.”

“Some of the things that are being said are very, very, very rude.”

McAfee went on to add that it’s almost disrespectful to him and his show that so many of his viewers, who have been with him since 2020, believe that the daily podcast will sacrifice its freedom once it joins forces with the ESPN establishment. There will certainly be fewer f-bombs, but McAfee feels like he’s built up enough trust and goodwill with his base to make this type of career move.

[Pat McAfee]