More viewers approve of Pat McAfee's presence on College GameDay, poll shows

Last year, a reader poll conducted by The Athletic set off a firestorm after it revealed Pat McAfee's approval rating among respondents was significantly under water.

"I'm not right for some crowds and the 'distinguished' College Football folks are definitely one of those," McAfee wrote in a tweet, while going on to reveal that he was not under contract with GameDay beyond the 2023 season and seemed to indicate that the poll, which published the results of 3,100 respondents, could influence his decision on whether or not to return to the show.

To McAfee's detractors, which were nearly half of voters, insulting people who care about college football enough to pay to read about it and have opinions on pre-game show personalities was merely further proof that his place on the GameDay desk was merely about finding another avenue for self-promotion than a celebration of college football.

Regardless, McAfee re-signed with GameDay over the summer and the results seem to be positive all the way around. 

GameDay is on pace to record its highest-rated season of all-time, and the latest edition of The Athletic's reader poll shows McAfee has made significant gains with its viewership. 

After finding himself 18.8 points under water in 2023 (30.1 percent for, 48.9 percent against), McAfee sliced his disapproval rating down to 4.8. 37.7 percent of respondents approved of McAfee's presence on the show, while 42.5 percent were against. 

Now, McAfee is a personality who clearly likes to be liked, but ESPN executives see the larger picture. Polarizing plays in broadcast media. Hate-watchers count the same as regular viewers. McAfee likely wants to get his approval rating above 60, while ESPN execs are likely brainstorming how to move the 19.8 percent who have no opinion into one column or the other. 

Spectacle also plays on TV, and McAfee has successfully added that element to the show. His call-and-response rituals with fans and the field goal kicking challenge have become staples of the GameDay experience.

Elsewhere, Nick Saban is, unsurprisingly, broadly beloved and welcome on television. Nearly 80 percent of respondents (79.6 percent) approved his his presence on GameDay compared to a meager 7 percent who disapprove. 

More strikingly, respondents listed Saban as their second-favorite personality among all networks. Kirk Herbstreit owns a commanding lead at 36 percent, while Nick Saban was second at 12.9 percent, outpacing Fox's Joel Klatt at 10.6 percent. Urban Meyer, once praised by this writer as the best studio analyst in college football, was the favorite TV analyst of just 1.1 percent of respondents. 

ESPN/ABC and its talent were the preferred choice of respondents across the board. ESPN/ABC was the favorite network at 67.8 percent to CBS's 15.3, and the No. 1 crew of Chris Fowler, Herbstreit and Holly Rowe was the overwhelming choice among favorite announcing teams (42.8 percent) ahead of Fox's No. 1 team of Gus Johnson, Klatt and Jenny Taft (13.6), and GameDay (84.7 percent) trounced Big Noon Kickoff (15.3).

As FootballScoop demonstrated last month, Disney has dominated the 2024 college football season thus far. ABC led all networks by far in airing 15 of the 25 most-watched games to that point, while ESPN was tied for second with three. CBS, Fox and NBC combined for less than half of ABC's total.