Inside Pat McAfee’s ESPN Takeover

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.andrewmarchand.comBy placing Pat McAfee front and center for its football coverage, ESPN is tying itself to the popular and polarizing figure in a Super Bowl year. Andrew Marchand & Jon Meterparel go deep on what it means for the network, its other big personalities and its future.It is a 36-minute “Marchand & Meterparel: Everybody Loves Sports Media” podcast.For access to our twice-a-week podcasts sign-up as a free or paid subscriber at AndrewMarchand.comPOD RUNDOWN …* What is the biggest take-away from McAfee adding Monday Night Football Countdown, a potential a Monday Night alt-cast to go along with his daily show, College GameDay as part of his anticipated $60M-65M per year extension* What to love about the ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen, who passed away at 93 last week* The young Fox Sports play-by-player on the rise * Why Netflix’s low “Field of Dreams” ratings are bad news for MLB* Is “Hard Knocks” on the Seahawks good or no …* What is misunderstood about the ‘Stephen A. vs. McAfee: Who is bigger?’ conversation* What McAfee is very good at* ESPN is clearly saying it is OK with some of the poor choices that McAfee has made* MNF Countdown is Scott Van Pelt’s show, but McAfee likes to lead* Did ESPN have to put McAfee on MNF Countdown * ESPN should be known for having the Super Bowl, not any distractions* Jason Kelce is moving into the No. 2 ESPN NFL booth with Dave Pasch and Kurt Warner, what to think of this trio* Karl Ravech gets his due as he says goodbye at ESPN* ESPN is very good on the Little League World Series* The real story in light of the Tom Pelissero Netflix/Ringer move* Bill Simmons’ scours the ESPN waiver wire for a hat trick * Being a human being, a reporter and the tragic Ed Oliver story* Is Frank Isola a strong choice to succeed Tony Kornheiser on PTI with Michael Wilbon* The ESPN, NBC, USA Network and the post-soccer World Cup bump* Two years in, Meterparel vs. Ourand is the modern day Brady vs. Manning debate* Cakes are Baking Game