Barry Reeger-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Aug 03, 2026; Latrobe, PA, USA; Pat McAfee records a segment of The Pat McAfee Show at Pittsburgh Steelers Training camp at Saint Vincent College. Jun 3, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; NBA analyst for ESPN, Stephen A. Smith, before game one of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center.
For years, Stephen A. Smith was the biggest show in town at ESPN. He made the most money and appeared on seemingly every show imaginable. Then Pat McAfee showed up.
These days, it’s clear that McAfee is the No. 1 attraction for ESPN and its executives, surpassing Smith, who is still pretty heavily exposed in his own right.
In a new interview with Front Office Sports, Smith opened up about some of the latitude that McAfee has at ESPN that he wishes he also had.
Stephen A. Smith Says Pat McAfee Plays By ‘A Different Set Of Rules’ At ESPN
Smith didn’t necessarily come across as bitter with interview Matt Iseman. But you could definitely sense that there was some sense of jealousy.
“Pat McAfee has a level of independence I’ve never had,” Smith told Iseman. “He owns his own platforms. He leases that to ESPN. I’m employed by ESPN because ESPN owns First Take. I don’t own First Take, they do.”
Smith did give McAfee credit for the media empire that he’s built. But he wanted to make it clear that not everyone is on a level playing field.
“He just leases his show to ESPN; We work for ESPN. And so that’s not to imply that Pat is not a part of the team because he’s on ESPN’s airwaves. But there’s a different set of rules that we’re obligated and culpable and attached to that he’s not,” Smith said.
“When people talk about that, they’re just missing the boat. They don’t get the fact that he doesn’t work for us. You see, he works for himself. And that’s a testament to him.”
“Pat McAfee has a level of independence I’ve never had.”
Stephen A. Smith explained to Matt Iseman why the comparisons between him and Pat McAfee don’t actually make sense. pic.twitter.com/RjEV7RW4mN
— Front Office Sports Tonight (@FOSTonight) September 14, 2026
To his credit, Smith himself has a good bit of flexibility. His five-year, $100 million contract signed last year allows him to appear on non-sports programming outside of ESPN.
But it’s not to the degree of McAfee.
“I do have freedoms that the average person doesn’t have in this business, and I get that part,” Smith said. “And there’s a lot of things that I can do because I negotiated the contractual right to do them; the reality is that’s an entirely different world than Pat McAfee.”
“Pat McAfee, when he says he’s his own boss, he truly is his own boss.”
Safe to say, Smith sounds just a little bit jealous of what McAfee has been able to build. But can you really blame him?