Pat McAfee knows no limits when it comes to giving. And his popular College Game Day kicking contest proves it perfectly. From making various charitable donations by giving up money on his show or donating to WVU Children’s Hospital to giving opportunities to college students to earn prizes while making kicks. But generosity comes with a cost, and the $60 million guy knows it well. That’s exactly why he’s playing it safe this time.

Now that they are heading to Pittsburgh for the first time in 20 years to cover their matchup against Notre Dame. So, discipline is the only way he can save some money. As he hits X, making jokes around it, saying, “🗣🗣 PITTSBURGH Gonna be close to Rivers Casino… gonna have to remain very disciplined, or that kick on Saturday is going to be for $20. 😂 Can’t wait to celebrate the shit out of the city. The McAfees hail from… Now speaking of hail, Pitt folks… Let’s get LAHD on Saturday.”

Well, the concern makes sense. During Penn State game against Oregon in Beaver Stadium, a Nittany Lions student nailed a 33-yard field goal and earned a check of $300,000, which came straight from McAfee’s own pocket. So, now going around in the casino and kicking contests might drain him financially. As he has already lost a fortune since joining GameDay. ESPN’s Julie McKay reported, that McAfee has already given away over $2 million of his own money since joining. And that’s a massive amount.

The former NFL punter and West Virginia star joined the College Game Day crew in 2022 and later brought in his own Pat McAfee show to ESPN with a five-year deal of $85 million. Then started this field goal thing, which became one of Game Day’s most watched segments. Despite ESPN paperwork stating the baseline sponsor price listed in the rules as $25,000, McAfee has constantly added to that price pool by giving over six-figure and larger amounts personally and even donating funds for causes on site.

But his generous act doesn’t just stop there. Back in November 2024, a Georgia student made a successful kick and ended up generating a hefty amount of $800,000 total payout. Then earlier this month an Oklahoma fan made a kick worth $200,000 in Norman. Now, you know why McAfee is trying to avoid any extra expenses during his visit to Pittsburgh.

A month back this man helped his former team, West Virginia, with a massive NIL payout after WVU donors backed out. Talking about it, he said, “So, I sent the money over. I didn’t even think to myself, Man, I should get some leverage here. I should get some say in who’s playing because I think every guy I potentially played on their way out of the door already. They have not won a lot of games, but I didn’t say that. I just wanted to help the program.”  But only if he knows how to stop.

Pat McAfee’s big-hearted act for fans

The Disney-YouTube drama stretched into its second weekend, leaving fans and subscribers without access to their favorite shows on ESPN and ABC. This means fans didn’t just miss out on College GameDay but also on Monday Night Football totally. But Pat McAfee, being the generous one out there, stepped up and did the unthinkable.

As he kept the show alive by streaming it for free on The Pat McAfee Show on X and ESPN’s app. He even announced it on X: “GameDay will be available on X on our account in its entirety,” giving fans total access to the showdown between Texas Tech and BYU. Well, this was the second time in a row that McAfee and ESPN did this after bashing them for giving alternatives to fans. “We’re all done with it. And also, if you’re on TV, stop telling people to go to a website to save a multi-billion-dollar deal. Nobody cares what you have to say,” he said.

But the credit also goes to ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro’s leadership. And McAfee made sure the entire world knows it. “Jimmy Pitaro needs a lot of credit for this because he loves College GameDay and what it brings to people. He understands that people can be upset about everything that’s going on business-wise,” McAfee said. Now, with both parties failing to find common ground, it will be interesting to see how long fans have to wait for their favorite shows to return.