The official unofficial start of the NFL season is only two weeks away.
On July 31, the Los Angeles Chargers will take on the Detroit Lions in Canton, Ohio, for the Hall of Fame Game.
Nothing gets the football juices flowing quite like watching practice squad guys fighting for a spot on a 53-man roster. The Pat McAfee Show would seem to agree.
On his eponymous show Tuesday, McAfee revealed that his show would be going on location to Canton for a live broadcast the day of the Hall of Fame Game. McAfee has made a habit of bringing his show on the road to marquee events. And while the Hall of Fame Game is hardly “marquee” in the truest sense of the word, its historic viewership strength would seem to indicate that the game is of interest to many people.
Last year’s Hall of Fame Game, which was halted in the third quarter due to severe weather, still averaged over 5 million viewers on NBC. In 2023, viewership reached 6 million. Past editions have eclipsed 7 and 8 million viewers. Those are audiences most other sports properties would kill for during their regular seasons, much less a preseason game featuring very few household names.
McAfee’s show, of course, lives and breathes football, so it makes sense he’d be there to kick off the season, even for a meaningless game.
We’re reaching the point of summer where our football-starved selves can’t take any more. Thankfully, we’ll have a morsel of that gridiron goodness in no time. And McAfee will be there to serve it up for his audience.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.