Pat McAfee Is Having a Howard Stern-Like Impact on Sports Media

Remember Howard Stern? What was his impact on the broadcast radio and media industry? Stern was different. He took risks and made his life its own reality show on his program. He was radio’s greatest provocateur, finding an audience with his edge and by pushing the envelope. Today, Stern is revered for taking risks and being unique in an age of uniformity. Is it fair to say Pat McAfee’s impact on sports media is similar to Howard Stern’s impact on radio?

McAfee has grown an audience all his own, tested boundaries and found opportunities through traditional media before taking ownership of his content and going digital. Does he have the edgy, against-the-grain content Stern had? No. But his impact is similar, as is the reaction to it. Today, McAfee’s influence is at a fever pitch. Traditional media figures across every sector are pushing back, but the results continue to impress.

Am I the biggest fan of Pat McAfee? No, but I respect the audience he has earned.

There hasn’t been anyone in sports media who has built what McAfee has. He didn’t need a traditional network to reach an audience. He founded his own platform, reinforced it through social and digital media, and has rarely said no to an opportunity.

That should be celebrated more than it is. McAfee is an example for every brand, talent, executive, creator and business to study. There are elements of his success that others should attempt to replicate. But this isn’t 2023. It’s 2026. Today, audiences are quicker to complain than compliment and quicker to engage than ignore.

But isn’t that the point?

Reaction From Unusual Places

In many ways, McAfee approaches sports media like a professional wrestler. When business is good in professional wrestling, it’s because the act doesn’t make people think. It makes them feel. The goal is no different in any form of media. McAfee knows how to flood the zone, play the algorithm, get into your feeds and make you react.

That’s why business is good, and why it continues to be.

Over the past couple of weeks, everyone from former congressman and television host Joe Scarborough to former Deadspin founder Will Leitch has weighed in on McAfee’s influence on College GameDay. Their criticism centers on how the 40-year-old program has shifted from celebrating college football to being, in their view, diminished by McAfee’s presence.

“I’ve just had enough of this Pat McAfee ruining College GameDay,” Scarborough said Tuesday. “I look forward to waking up on Saturday mornings and watching that. I don’t know if they haven’t got the message yet, but the manosphere that we all thought was brought in in ’24, it may get washed aside.”

Leitch compared McAfee’s presence on GameDay to Mr. Beast, saying, “Eventually, if you don’t have anything to actually contribute other than yourself and your stunts and your neuroses, you’re going to realize there’s no gas left in the tank.”

Earlier this year, I wrote that College GameDay would never be the same without Lee Corso. He was a giant of a man who embodied everything the sport stands for: fun, family and football. He was the grand marshal of the Saturday morning parade, always kicking things off with his headgear selection.

But results don’t lie.

Stats Don’t Lie

College GameDay viewership in 2026 is up 5% through eight weeks compared with last year’s regular-season average. The final hour continues to draw more than three million viewers, with last Saturday’s edition averaging 3.1 million. McAfee’s “Kicking is Easy” competition also generates significant audience spikes, with ESPN reporting an average 10% increase in viewership from the start of the segment to its conclusion.

Those numbers don’t mean McAfee alone is solely responsible for the show’s growth. However, they do demonstrate that the program continues to attract an audience despite the criticism surrounding its changing identity.

Yes, McAfee isn’t for everyone. The demographics prove that. He skews younger, and always has. His weekday program just recorded its best October audience since joining ESPN in 2023, averaging 483,000 viewers across linear and digital platforms. If anything, McAfee has also become a fresh face on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown. Remember the concerns from many of his critics about oversaturation on ESPN?

The momentum continues

October was a huge month for The @PatMcAfeeShowpic.twitter.com/leiuxquG9s

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Monday Night Countdown is averaging 1.6 million viewers per show, up 26% from last year’s figures.

ESPN’s slogan continues to be, “Serving Sports Fans. Anytime. Anywhere.” McAfee is Exhibit A, B and C when it comes to fulfilling that mission. The reason he’s everywhere on ESPN comes down to one thing: He generates attention. People love him. People hate him. Either way, more people are watching, and they’re watching for longer periods of time.

Just like Howard Stern did for so many years.

Proven Product

Love him or hate him, Pat McAfee isn’t going anywhere. ESPN isn’t going to scale back his presence because a vocal minority believes he’s changing the network for the worse. The audience is telling a different story. Viewership is growing, his influence continues to expand, and ESPN keeps finding more opportunities to put him in front of sports fans.

Howard Stern faced plenty of the same criticism throughout his career. He wasn’t universally loved, nor did he need to be. He understood how to make people pay attention, and McAfee has figured out how to do the same in a different era.

The media landscape has changed, but one principle hasn’t: Audiences gravitate toward personalities who make them feel something. As long as McAfee continues to deliver that, ESPN will keep giving him the airtime.

The critics can keep complaining. The audience has already delivered its verdict.

Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__barrettmedia.com_subscribe_&amp;d=DwMFAw&amp;c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_Cdpg