The New York Knicks hosted their first NBA Finals game since 1999 on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. ESPN treated the occasion accordingly, devoting wall-to-wall coverage to the game much like it would a Super Bowl or national championship.
However, Stephen A. Smith was noticeably absent from the center of that coverage.
“It’s kinda crazy how two years ago Stephen A was so heavily featured in ESPN Knicks coverage that he had that infamous entrance with Spike Lee. Now the Knicks are in the Finals and he’s basically invisible,” sports media reporter Ryan Glasspiegel observed Monday night.
Earlier this month, ESPN published a press release outlining its plans for the Knicks-Spurs series. Smith was not mentioned in any role.
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Instead, the release centered on Pat McAfee, who hosted a special alternate broadcast on ESPN while the traditional telecast aired on ABC. There are already discussions about McAfee hosting a similar alt-cast during ESPN’s first Super Bowl this season.
At the same time, McAfee is reportedly negotiating a new contract with ESPN worth roughly $60 million per year, a 50% increase over his current deal.
Such an agreement would put McAfee well ahead of Smith’s reported $20 million annual salary. For context, their contracts are structured differently. ESPN pays McAfee through a production agreement for his daily show in addition to a separate salary for College GameDay. Still, the network’s willingness to devote that level of money and promotional real estate to McAfee demonstrates where he stands in the pecking order.
This is arguably the first time since 2016 that ESPN has viewed a talent as more valuable than Stephen A. Smith.
Consider what happened after the Knicks eliminated the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. To fill the void of what would have been Game 5, ESPN handed McAfee a primetime special featuring major sports commissioners, including MLB’s Rob Manfred, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, UFC president Dana White and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
In past years, that spot would have almost certainly gone to Smith.
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The network has good reason to prioritize McAfee. For one, he’s 39 years old. Smith is 58. McAfee is also a bigger draw across digital platforms, an area ESPN views as the future of commentary-driven programming.
McAfee has made significant gains on Smith in traditional television as well. In recent months, The Pat McAfee Show has posted double-digit year-over-year growth, while “First Take” has struggled to match the broader momentum across ESPN’s daytime lineup.
Specifically, “The Pat McAfee Show” and “Get Up” were up 16% and 18%, respectively, last month. “First Take”, which airs directly between the two programs, increased just 5%.
At this point, McAfee is a more enjoyable presenter than Smith.
Over the past year, Smith has often appeared increasingly detached from the content. He has made a series of notable mistakes when discussing sports outside the NBA, particularly the NFL. Outside of his frequent and public feuds with athletes, Smith can come across as disengaged on ESPN’s airwaves.
Sports fans would be justified in wondering whether Smith watches much sports these days. It’s also fair to question whether he views his role at ESPN as anything more than a paycheck, given his growing focus on political and cultural commentary outside the company.
Perhaps 14 years of repetitive debate television will do that to a person.
Regardless, the quality of Smith’s work has diminished. His arguments often lack logic, and many of the debates feel forced. Smith hasn’t consistently debated a sparring partner of substance since Max Kellerman left the show in 2021. The current “First Take” rotation regularly features Ryan Clark, Cam’ron, Monica McNutt and Kendrick Perkins.
Compare that with McAfee’s weekly guest list, which has included Nick Saban, Aaron Rodgers and Bill Belichick.
McAfee also manages to avoid the types of political and racial controversies that have been so detrimental to ESPN’s brand. Simply enjoying and discussing sports remains an underrated quality in media.
If anything, Smith needs a new direction. Maybe that means adding a full-time debate partner on “First Take”. Maybe it means bringing back Skip Bayless.
In any case, dedicating an entire segment during the NBA Finals to criticizing Donald Trump while defending Joe Biden isn’t the answer:
Stephen A.’s act is tiresome.
Admittedly, we weren’t sure how long Pat McAfee would last at ESPN. In the past, his stops at Barstool, DAZN, SiriusXM and FanDuel all ended sooner than expected.
Yet his tenure at ESPN has gone better than anyone could have predicted. There’s a reason the company is looking to extend him despite having two years remaining on his current deal. The reported figures would place him in a tier of media talents that includes only Joe Rogan and Howard Stern.
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