Pat Mc-Paid: ESPN lands bombastic McAfee

ESPN and parent company Disney have been, of late, quite publicly trimming their margins with layoffs, job reductions and other cost-cutting moves.

The self-dubbed 'World Wide Leader in Sports' isn't letting those moves thwart ESPN's pursuit of Pat McAfee, the immensely popular, brash former standout-punter in both college football and the NFL.

With ESPN's pursuit of McAfee for several weeks being common knowledge, the New York Post's Andrew Marchand reports Tuesday that the network and McAfee are in agreement for McAfee to bring his brand of entertainment full-time to the network.

Per Marchand, McAfee is expected to land more than $100 million from ESPN and, while he is going to spend more time on ESPN's traditional platforms, McAfee also is slated to maintain his YouTube channel, which has been a driving force in McAfee's mainstream popularity.

McAfee routinely had NFL star quarterback Aaron Rodgers on his show the previous several months, and it was on McAfee's show that Rodgers divulged his plans to continue playing and likely with the New York Jets, rather than retiring.

McAfee also drew national attention for his energetic appearances on ESPN's GameDay sets each Saturday throughout the college football season, donning orange-and-white checkerboard overalls on Rocky Top for a Tennessee Vols game, among other ratings-driving moments.

As noted and widely reported, Disney, back under the control of Bob Iger, has revealed ambitious downsizing plans across its various properties, with ESPN cuts coming as part of Disney's overall plan to reduce approximately 7,000 jobs.

McAfee had been with online-gaming brand FanDuel under his current multi-year broadcasting deal.