Pat McAfee calls out ‘mid level, powerless, bum ass suits at ESPN’ after WWE deal

Pat McAfee isn’t built to sit out a moment like this.

Shortly after ESPN announced a landmark deal to bring WWE Premium Live Events — including WrestleMania — to the network’s platforms starting in 2026, the former Colts punter and current WWE commentator fired off what’s become a familiar refrain: a self-congratulatory victory lap laced with jabs at ESPN’s power structure.

It’s classic McAfee.

Celebrate the moment, torch the bureaucracy, and remind everyone that he’s inside the building, and certainly not afraid to burn a few more bridges while he’s there.

McAfee’s criticism of ESPN leadership isn’t new. He’s spent the better part of the last year using his massive platform to blast ESPN’s behind-the-scenes suits and leakers he believes are out of touch or actively undermining him. His biggest public feud was with longtime (now-former) ESPN exec. Norby Williamson, whom McAfee once labeled a “rat” and accused of sabotaging The Pat McAfee Show from within.

Whether it’s ESPN’s middle management questioning the role of NBA insider Shams Charania on McAfee’s show or unnamed sources leaking to the press, McAfee views the ESPN bureaucracy as a constant threat to innovation. He’s made it his mission to push back, loudly and publicly, whenever he sees fit.

And now he has another high-profile deal to back it up.

The WWE-ESPN partnership marks a major shift in sports streaming. For the first time, WrestleMania and other WWE tentpole events will be available on ESPN’s platforms, giving the network premium, year-round live content that previously lived elsewhere, most recently on Peacock.

For McAfee, who straddles both worlds as an on-air presence for ESPN and WWE, this is a win on every front. It not only further cements his value as a crossover star but also hands him fresh ammo in his ongoing war with what he sees as ESPN’s old guard.

McAfee could’ve just celebrated the deal. But that’s not who he is. In fact, it’s never been who he is. He’s a disruptor.

And he clearly wants to remind folks in Bristol that he has no interest in playing nice with ESPN’s middle management. He’s not trying to fit in with the suits in Bristol. He’s trying to outlast them and reshape what the Worldwide Leader looks like along the way, whether the “dinosaurs” at the desks like it or not.