You never quite know what you’re going to get from Pat McAfee on College GameDay, and on Saturday that included a lengthy discussion about… the Pittsburgh Pirates?
GameDay was in the Steel City for Saturday’s game between the Pitt Panthers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. It was also an opportunity for McAfee to celebrate being back in his hometown and adored by his people… even though he actually attended college at their hated rivals, the West Virginia Mountaineers.
But for his show-opening monologue that typically pays tribute to the host location, Pat McAfee began talking about what a great sports city Pittsburgh is, even including the moribund Pittsburgh Pirates. These days at least the Pirages have reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes to be thankful for… even though fans are just counting down the days and years until he signs for the New York Yankees.
The reference to the Pirates led the Pitt fans in attendance to immediately voice their frustration with their thrifty ownership as a “sell the team” chant broke out. It may be the first time the Pirates have been mentioned on ESPN airwaves in November in decades, especially with the additional history lesson from Reds fan Kirk Herbstreit.
This Pat McAfee monologue is the most the Pittsburgh Pirates have ever been talked about on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/5wRoSb1MXN
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 15, 2025
The Pirates’ lack of spending led by owner Bob Nutting, like other MLB teams, has become a huge source of consternation within the sport. McAfee’s ESPN colleague Jeff Passan has continually talked about their refusal to spend any money to build a roster around Skenes and actually try to win. Their $84 million payroll sits 27th in Major League Baseball and is multiples behind the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. They also have one winning season in the last 10 years and haven’t made it to the NLCS since Sid Bream broke their hearts in 1992.
But at least the Pittsburgh Pirates finally got some much needed attention in the fall, it just took an episode of College GameDay in the city to do it.
About Matt Yoder