The Dan Patrick retirement talks have been brewing for a while now. Three years ago, Patrick had set an ultimatum for himself: January 2028. But the sportscaster now might borrow some more time. As he faces the retirement question, Patrick shared that he will be pushing his retirement back by one more year on one condition.
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“You’re talking about your Sports Emmy stuff, and you’ve made it clear when you’re retiring, but I have to ask: if you went in your last year, will you stay one more year and try to repeat, or are you just going to walk away?” asked the caller on the Dan Patrick Show.
“It’s a good question, but I have to, do we have to take a break here? You got three minutes. That’s what I thought. If we win the Sports Emmy, I’ll stay another year,” Patrick let the cat out of the bag.
Back in 2023, Patrick broke his silence on the tentative date that he would be hanging up his headset.
“Here is the breaking news. So, four more years in December, that’s how long I’m gonna do this for,” Patrick said on The Dan Patrick Show. “Four and a half years, I’m gonna do this…by January of 2028 I will be on The Golden Bachelor. That’s it. That’s all I’m doing. That’s when the microphone gets turned off for the final time.”
In July 2023, Patrick inked a new multi-year contract extension with NBC Sports and iHeartMedia. The contract runs through the end of 2027, as he informed The Hollywood Reporter back then.
“I did it backwards, that I announced my retirement, then announced my contract extension,” Patrick told THR. “It’s sort of an Elton John Farewell Tour, where it’s going on for years, and I apologize for that.”
Now everything depends on his podcast, The Dan Patrick Show, winning the 2027 Sports Emmy.
Patrick joined ESPN in 1989 and served as a SportsCenter host through 2006. In August, 2007, he wrapped up his 18-year-long ESPN journey.
Launched on October 1, 2007, The Dan Patrick Show brought the former ESPN broadcaster to the forefront of syndicated sports talk radio and television. The three-hour program is hosted and produced by Patrick and distributed to radio stations through Premiere Radio Networks. It is available both within Fox Sports Radio’s programming lineup and as a standalone syndicated show.
On YouTube, it has a huge family of 413k subscribers. Definitely, subscribers are an asset for any podcast. But for Patrick, receiving the Sports Emmy would give him a reason to stay on the driver’s wheel for a while longer, even at the age of 70.
Patrick knows what it takes to win an Emmy, having claimed the “Outstanding Sports Personality – Studio Host” award during his ESPN tenure in 1997. However, his syndicated program has not enjoyed the same success. Despite what Patrick considers Emmy-worthy work, The Dan Patrick Show has never secured a nomination, let alone taken home an award.
Getting recognition in the “Outstanding Sports Studio Show – Daily” category could prove difficult, considering the competition from established television programs like First Things First and NFL Live.
“There might be people who want me out of the business,” Patrick shared. “So maybe there’s a reason why we won’t win. We’re not going to win the Sports Emmy. We’re not, I’m calling it. We’re not winning it.”
Patrick has effectively put the ball in the Emmys’ court. The organizers now face the pressure of whether to keep him on the air or not.
The date for the 48th Sports Emmy Awards in 2027 has not yet been officially announced by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS). Nominations are generally announced in March or April ahead of the main ceremony.