For Pat McAfee, controversy and record-breaking success are two sides of the same coin. One day, he is calling out journalists, and the next day, he is taking heat from college football fans. Meanwhile, the noise never really slows down. Still, right in the middle of all that chaos, McAfee quietly hit a milestone that ESPN cannot ignore.

According to Front Office Sports, “The Pat McAfee Show just wrapped its most-watched year ever at ESPN.”

During 2025, the weekday show averaged 436,000 viewers across TV and digital from noon to 2 p.m. ET. That figure jumped 8% from the previous year. Even though ESPN does not split out TV-only data after the move from YouTube in fall 2023, the growth is still impossible to miss.

At the same time, the digital side exploded. In September, McAfee’s show crossed more than one billion social media views in a single month for the first time. That kind of reach is rare. Because of that, the win did not just belong to McAfee and his crew. It also landed as a big boost for his biggest backers in Bristol, including SVP Mike Foss, content president Burke Magnus, and chairman Jimmy Pitaro.

Whenever Magnus and Pitaro were pushed by reporters about the show’s pull, they leaned into one thing. They praised McAfee’s knack for landing A-list guests, from superstar players to league commissioners, while also pulling in younger viewers. Now, instead of selling the vision, they can point straight to Nielsen numbers to back it up.

On top of that, McAfee’s value stretches beyond his daily show. While leading College GameDay, he helped deliver its most-watched season in 2025 with an average of 2.7 million viewers. Because of that, the former Colts special teamer feels more secure than ever in Bristol. Still, one question lingers. Will his fan-favorite kicking contest return to GameDay?

Meanwhile, other ESPN staples also climbed. Mike Greenberg’s Get Up posted its most-watched year after a 10% bump to 424,000 viewers. At the same time, Stephen A. Smith’s First Take stayed dominant from 10 a.m. to noon ET, averaging a record 517,000 viewers, up 6% from last year.

However, despite McAfee making history, everything around him is not as smooth as it looks.

ESPN producers are not happy with Pat McAfee’s behavior

While the spotlight keeps finding Pat McAfee, the mood behind the scenes looks very different. According to another Front Office Sports report, his recent comments about ESPN did not land well with everyone. In fact, some coworkers reportedly reacted with clenched jaws, frustrated by what they call “diva-like” behavior.

Still, at the same time, there is a clear belief that nothing will change. McAfee continues to enjoy strong backing from the very top, including ESPN content president Burke Magnus, chairman Jimmy Pitaro, and even Disney CEO Bob Iger.

That tension traces back to remarks McAfee made earlier this week. Sources told FOS the reaction followed his dismissive comments about the “old ESPN people” who produce College GameDay.

Speaking in a video on his own Instagram, McAfee said, “If you think about old white people and old ESPN people, those are really the people that hate me the most at this stage of life.” Those words quickly made the rounds inside Bristol.

Continuing the same clip, he added, “Now, granted, there’s some other groups that certainly have threatened my life on a pretty regular basis; I’d say they hate me too. But throughout the entirety, old whites and the old ESPN people over the last like three years have really hated me. That’s who all the producers are of GameDay, too. So now—it’s been a fun run. College football is great. OK, cheers, have a great day.”

Frustration is reportedly growing, with some staffers viewing McAfee’s public venting as unprofessional and harmful to business. They believe such issues should be handled internally and face-to-face, not on a public platform where the producers he criticized cannot respond.

“Totally unnecessary. Grow up and talk to these people to make it better. You are not a victim,” the source said. Meanwhile, in a statement to FOS, Magnus praised McAfee as a “creative force” but admitted his disruptive style can create “friction.”

“Pat is a creative force. He’s pushed hard to advance College GameDay, and his impact has been enormous,” Magnus says.

“Since he joined ESPN, GameDay—as well as his own daily show—have experienced unprecedented success. Pat is also an innovator, and when you have someone who disrupts the status quo, it’s not surprising when there’s friction and disagreement as a result. We will continue to encourage and support Pat and the entire GameDay cast and crew as together they break new ground on one of ESPN’s most important franchises.”

For now, McAfee has not addressed the situation directly. So, until he does, everyone waits to see where this uneasy standoff goes next.