Pat McAfee spoke out after being linked to the massive ESPN layoffs this week, which terminated the contracts of some of the most respected and longest-tenured names at the network.
“We hate anytime this happens,” McAfee, 39, said Tuesday, July 21 on The Pat McAfee Show, which airs on ESPN. “Obviously this is terrible. We don’t like that. But we are very honored that we are still partnering with ESPN and Disney for the good of sport, for the future.”
He added, “It feels like this happens in corporations a lot. Kinda getting baptized into this. NFL teams don’t really do this.”
McAfee has two years left on his licensing agreement with ESPN, which pays him over $17 million a year, according to a report published by The Athletic last month.
“The first time we licensed the show through ESPN, [a round of layoffs] happened,” McAfee recalled. “We got blamed for it all. It’s like, blame us. OK. OK, thank you. I feel like you don’t fully understand budgets and where things are coming from, but I do appreciate that.”
He continued, “This time we’re getting blamed as well, which I guess I can understand. But I mean, there’s billions and billions of dollars in these companies. Hard decisions have to get made. We don’t like any of them. We hope we’re an asset to the company going forward. I hope we continue to be an asset to the company and an asset to sport, as a whole.”
McAfee then turned his attention to two ESPN layoffs, in particular: NFL analyst Ryan Clark, who had been at the network for over a decade, and MLB analyst Karl Ravech, who had worked at ESPN for over 30 years.
“We learned about Ryan yesterday,” he said. “I think everybody did. Ryan is good to us. Ryan Clark, obviously been around ESPN a long time. Karl Ravech today. Friend of the program. It’s not a fun day.”
Amid the layoffs, some critics of ESPN’s decision-making pointed to The Athletic’s report, which claimed the network and McAfee are currently in discussions about a new contract that would pay him more than $60 million annually.
In a memo sent to ESPN employees on Tuesday morning and obtained by Us, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said the network “had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today.”
“While most of the job impacts are tied to the acquisition, we will also notify colleagues in other parts of the company today that their positions have been impacted,” the memo said. “We are committed to treating employees with compassion and respect and to providing support as they navigate this transition. Even in moments like these, the strength of ESPN comes from our people, our teamwork and our shared mission to serve sports fans.”
