SEC Network host Paul Finebaum is entering the political arena.
On Monday, the Fox Corporation-owned OutKick reported that Finebaum is considering departing his post at ESPN to seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in Alabama, where he recently moved after over a decade in Charlotte, where SEC Network is headquartered. Later on Monday afternoon, OutKick founder Clay Travis posted an interview clip with the longtime SEC Network host where Finebaum revealed his Senate run was all but certain if President Donald Trump asked him to do it.
If @realDonaldTrump asks @finebaum to run for the senate, what would Paul say? “Impossible to tell him no.” pic.twitter.com/qiMEecK3pQ
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 29, 2025
“At this point, you got to make a decision on whether to run. The deadline is January at some point in time. …You have dealt in the world of recruiting for a long time. If the President of the United States says, ‘Paul, you’re my guy.’ can you tell him no?” Travis asked Finebaum.
“Impossible to tell him no,” Finebaum replied. “There’s no way I could. I would say yes.”
In OutKick’s original reporting, Finebaum revealed he is a registered Republican and voted for Trump in the 2024 election. During his time at ESPN, Finebaum has maintained a politically neutral stance, rarely straying into politics on or off the air. However, it seems his time holding back on politics is coming to an end.
During another portion of his interview with Travis, which is set to be released in full on Tuesday, Finebaum reveals that ESPN shut down an interview he had arranged with Trump in 2019. Finebaum was to travel to Washington, D.C., to interview the then-President before a game between No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama, which Trump was set to attend.
“I called my boss, and they killed it,” Finebaum said of the interview. “I was devastated. They told me that we were not allowed to mix politics with sports.”
Obviously, any potential Senate run would put Finebaum’s job at ESPN in jeopardy as he focused on his campaign. Seemingly, that potential campaign would be just one phone call away from the White House, leaving the Worldwide Leader with a considerable hole to fill in its college football lineup.
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.