A potential Pat McAfee “Monday Night Football” alt-cast is pending approval from the NFL, according to The Athletic, which cited anonymous sources briefed on matter.
ESPN and McAfee reportedly are in discussions on a list of checkpoints and once they reach an agreement, an alt-cast will begin immediately.
The former NFL punter and his team would likely do games on ESPN2 in the weeks when the Manningcast featuring Peyton and Eli Manning isn’t airing.
Peyton’s Omaha Productions has a long-term deal with ESPN, and the brothers’ alt-cast will not see any changes.
ESPN announced Wednesday that McAfee will join “Monday Night Countdown” as a panelist — in addition to his daily talk show and “College GameDay” analyst role.
McAfee’s integration to “Monday Night Countdown” and a potential alt-cast were part of his contract negotiations with ESPN in June — a deal that could pay him in the range of $60 million to $65 million annually.
The Mannings are scheduled to analyze 12 games, as well as Super Bowl 2027.
McAfee reportedly could do eight games, however, an exact number has not been set.
The NFL could charge ESPN — which already pays around $2.7 billion a year to the league — a fee for a McAfee alt-cast.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on numerous occasions.
McAfee previously did an alt-cast for the college football national championship between Miami and Indiana on ESPN2 in January.
His highest performing alt-cast for the Ohio State-Oregon game on New Year’s Day in 2025 brought in 2.4 million viewers, according to The Athletic.
McAfee joins “Monday Night Football” with host Scott Van Pelt, Jason Kelce, Marcus Spears and fellow newcomer Jason McCourty in place of Ryan Clark, who was fired last month after 11 years at the network.
His daily talk show joined ESPN’s daytime lineup in 2023, after he joined the cast of “College GameDay” in 2022.
