The Pat McAfee Show is taking its production on the road. Well, it’s taking its production down the road, more accurately.
The Indianapolis-based program will air live from the Morris Bicentennial Plaza outside of Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers, on Tuesday prior to Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. PMS will keep its standard timeslot, from noon to 2 p.m. ET on ESPN along with an extra hour from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET on digital platforms.
McAfee is no stranger to taking his show on the road. The former Indianapolis Colts punter and current sports media multi-hyphenate has produced on-site shows from WWE events, the NFL Draft, and the week-to-week locations traveled to by College GameDay.
He’s also not shy about rooting for his hometown Pacers. In fact, McAfee will be wearing a full clown suit if the Pacers end up falling to the New York Knicks, courtesy of a wager he made with fellow WWE announcer Michael Cole.
Frankly, McAfee’s tendency to bring his show on-site is becoming a lost art for sports studio programming. Outside of major events, or road shows like GameDay, networks are deciding to send their studio shows to games less frequently as a way to minimize costs. McAfee, who retains full creative control over his show under a licensing deal with ESPN, isn’t restricted by any network executive telling him when he can and cannot travel.
So kudos to McAfee, it’s not cheap to bring your show on the road. But he continues to do it, even when the expenses are coming out of his own pocket.