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Pat McAfee Asks Audience to ‘Please Have Faith’ in ESPN Move

“The conversation with the powers that be at ESPN right now and at Disney all had the same exact line up.”

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Pat McAfee

On Tuesday at The Walt Disney Company Upfront in New York City, it was announced that Pat McAfee is taking his digital show to ESPN. The reported eight-figure deal is unique in scope, as his show will air live on linear television and stream on ESPN’s YouTube channel simultaneously.

Prior to the conclusion of “Up to Something Season” being divulged, McAfee made sure to thank the fans of the show for believing him, and he is excited for the next chapter of the show. Yet there is also a deluge of people who believe McAfee and his show are “selling out” in going to ESPN, despite stating that the only change the show is making aside from operating in a block format is limiting its explicit language.

“I would also like a little bit of faith,” McAfee said on his show Wednesday. “Look at everything that I’ve been a part of – pretty much like everything. [It is a] little bit different, probably, than what other people have been a part of. No offense to anybody else, but the way my conversations normally go with people [are] a little bit different than how they normally go. The conversation with the powers that be at ESPN right now and at Disney all had the same exact line up.”

ESPN is home to a broad catalog of enticing content produced by a variety of studio and shoulder programming, including Get Up, First Take, College GameDay and Around the Horn among others. McAfee’s show has an unconventional approach in that it is more conversational and less formal in its structure, apropos to younger demographics predicated on instant gratification and evident dynamism. With McAfee’s show presumably slated to start the afternoons on ESPN – potential changes to the morning lineup notwithstanding – he hopes to alter the sports media ecosystem for years to come.

“Sports media has really been like one particular thing for a very long time,” McAfee said. “I know there’s people that do different things other than debate, but the debate era certainly became a thing in sports media and debates naturally lead to division and nitpicking and tearing people down…They start trying to mimic that and that’s become sports media pretty much.”

Rather than promulgating contentiousness, McAfee and his show want sports to act as a unifying force rather than an additional means of division. The host acknowledged that his program has people across the broad political spectrum.

“I think we have a real opportunity here to change sports media as a whole,” McAfee said. “Just like Stephen A. and Skip had success and everybody wanted to replicate it, if we’re able to get in there and showcase that, ‘Hey, you’re able to cover sports in a celebratory fashion; in a way that you’re happy for people as opposed to trying to prove why people shouldn’t be in the position that they’re in.’ I think there’s a chance that that could maybe ooze to other decisions that are being made.”

With the move to ESPN, McAfee is cognizant that the company will receive acclaim and pushback from its viewers, and is appreciative of them putting up with it. Even though the transition will have somewhat of an adjustment period for everyone involved, McAfee and his cast know they will be able to present an informative and innovative multiplatform show for everyone in the United States and abroad.

“Please have faith that we will be able to produce a show that is entertaining and still is so in our spirit,” McAfee implored, “because that is literally what the entire conversation was.”

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Joe Buck Misses Calling Baseball But Says He’s Already Called it for “A Lifetime”

“People go, ‘Do you miss calling baseball?’ — I did it for 35 years, that is a lifetime in broadcasting…I feel like I put my time in.”

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Credit: Richard Shotwell AP

Longtime sports broadcaster Joe Buck gave up calling baseball when he made the switch to ESPN and, while he says he misses the sport, he’s called 35 years’ worth of the sport. On the latest edition of Nothing Left Unsaid with Tim Green, Green asks his former broadcast partner about the lack of baseball in his life. While Buck says he misses parts of baseball, he doesn’t miss all of it.

“People go, ‘Do you miss calling baseball?’ — I did it for 35 years, that is a lifetime in broadcasting…I feel like I put my time in. I did 24 World Series — that’s a lot, 24 more than I ever expected to do on national television. What I do miss is calling the game for the home crowd. I do miss the local stuff, where you go into the booth, and you’re the Cardinal announcer, and when the Cardinals win, ‘Yay,’ and when the Cardinals lose, ‘Boo.’ When you do the network stuff, it’s like death by 1000 cuts. It’s, ‘you hate my team, screw you,’ and it gets in your head and it takes a little bit of the fun out of it…I don’t miss the stress that comes with all that, but I do miss calling baseball for [a local team]…You show up, you’re not just there for an organization, but for their fans, and you’re kind of rooting along with them. That’s fun. And so, I miss that, but as far as the national stuff, I don’t miss a lot of that.”

Buck reiterated points he made months ago on 810 WHB with Jason Anderson. “I miss doing local baseball. I miss putting on a headset and being the eyes and ears of Cardinal fans, Royal fans, Rangers fans, whatever,” Buck said back then. “That’s more fun than being Switzerland and getting all the junk that comes with it.”

He stopped calling baseball when he and longtime football partner Troy Aikman moved from FOX to ESPN to call Monday Night Football. While he said publicly that he would miss calling the World Series, he also said the 2022 World Series would have been his last anyway. Buck says he may one day feel compelled to call baseball again, though, saying, “I’ve never said that before, but I just feel like I’m 53, basically 54, [and] I think it’s too early to say nevers at this point in my life. I think at some point, I’ll get the itch again.”

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Former Red Sox Pitcher Jonathan Papelbon Joins Roster of ‘Foul Territory’ Hosts

“I am joining the Foul Territory podcast full-time, no more guest spots…I’m coming in and I can’t wait to pop a bottle on this year’s baseball season.

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The already-stacked roster on Foul Territory just got its closer. Jonathan Papelbon, formerly of the Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, and Philadelphia Phillies, announced today that he was joining fellow former All-Stars A.J. Pierzynski, Todd Frazier, Adam Jones, Lorenzo Cain, Brock Holt and Jason Kipnis on the show.

The podcast also features former MLB Network host Scott Braun and former 11-year MLB catcher Erik Kratz.

“I am joining the Foul Territory podcast full-time, no more guest spots,” Papelbon said in a video posted to his X account. “Whether it’s a big Ohtani gambling scandal or me giving you baseball gambling winners…I’m coming in, no bulls—-, real talk, and I can’t wait to pop a bottle on this year’s baseball season.”

Papelbon has been a contributor to the show in the past as a guest but will now join in an official capacity. He has also contributed to linear and digital content for NESN since 2021 and will reportedly head to the booth this year.

The former closer will join Alanna Rizzo on the Foul Territory network, who was brought on just a week ago to co-host the podcast’s live program, Fair Territory, with baseball insider Ken Rosenthal.

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Sage Steele Debuts Episode 1 of ‘The Sage Steele Show’ Through Bill Maher’s Club Random Studios

“The Sage Steele Show” is the first show on Bill Maher’s Club Random Studios podcast network and episode one features UFC CEO and President Dana White.

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Sage Steele
Courtesy: SiriusXM

Sage Steele is back in the sports media space with her own YouTube show, The Sage Steele Show. It comes courtesy of Bill Maher’s Club Random Studios and features UFC CEO and president Dana White in Episode 1.

Steele announced the move via her X account, saying that she was, “THRILLED to announce [her] new show! Genuine convos with fearless people who are unafraid to tell their stories & speak their truths in this crazy world!”

Steele left ESPN after 16 years and one First Amendment lawsuit, after claiming the company and her colleagues wanted to suppress her rights to free speech after making public comments about COVID-19 and former President Barack Obama. Steele says she lived in fear during her last few years at the company because of her beliefs and the potential clashes they would have with her colleagues. She made appearances on other programs in the time since her ESPN departure but now finally has a new home.

Steele’s show is the first on Bill Maher’s new Club Random Studios podcast network. She will join other hosts like Billy Corgan and Fred Durst with shows on the network. According to Variety, Club Random will also partner with Kevin Garnett on his KG Certified podcast and develop new shows in-house.

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