Pat McAfee will officially return to ESPN’s “College GameDay” after offseason uncertainty. Plus: MLB Network launches direct-to-consumer offering; CBS announces its NFL broadcasting lineup.
Pat McAfee announces “GameDay” return
Former NFL punter and current media multi-hyphenate Pat McAfee announced he will return to ESPN’s flagship college football pregame show “College GameDay” this season after months of uncertainty about his participation. McAfee announced the news on his eponymous show Wednesday along with a video posted to social media.
McAfee’s future with the show has oscillated between staying and leaving since late last year. In October, following a poll conducted by The Athletic in which nearly 50% of respondents said they disliked him, McAfee mused about leaving the show at the conclusion of the season. Then late last year, McAfee indicated he would return to the program despite the supposed negative sentiment from fans. Later, reporting from June revealed that McAfee had not yet come to a formal agreement with ESPN to appear on the upcoming season of “GameDay”.
That agreement has seemingly been reached, and McAfee will join Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, along with the freshly retired Nick Saban on the “GameDay” desk this season. The crew’s first broadcast will be August 24th in Ireland for Georgia Tech-Florida State. (McAfee, 7.24)
MLB Network launches DTC product
MLB Network announced Wednesday that it will launch an over-the-top, direct-to-consumer offering of its linear channel available immediately. The service will cost consumers $5.99 per month. Additionally, MLB Network rolled out a combined offering called MLB Network + At Bat for $6.99 per month which will include the MLB Network linear channel plus live MLB game audio and live Minor League Baseball games.
MLB is not the first to launch a DTC product centered around its league-owned network. The NBA launched NBA Digital in 2019 which offers NBA TV programming for $6.99 per month. In 2022, the NFL launched NFL+ which similarly offers NFL Network programming and other ancillary products for $6.99 per month. (MLB Network, 7.24)
CBS reveals NFL broadcasting lineup
The CBS NFL broadcast crews remain largely unchanged from last season, aside from one notable addition, per the network’s press release on Wednesday. The top two crews will remain the same, with Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, and Tracy Wolfson manning the top team, and Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, and Evan Washburn on the second team.
Further down to broadcasting depth chart, the team lead by play-by-play announcer Andrew Catalon receives the biggest shakeup. Catalon will now helm a three man booth that includes Jason McCourty, who will now call a full schedule of games, and Tiki Barber. On certain weeks where CBS is airing more games, McCourty will be paired in a separate booth with play-by-play announcer Chris Lewis.
CBS will send its top team of Nantz, Romo, and Wolfson to Los Angeles in Week 1 for a Raiders-Chargers game. The crew will head to its familiar residence in Kansas City for Bengals-Chiefs in Week 2. View the full lineup of announcing teams and broadcast assignments for Weeks 1-3 here.
