College Football

Pat McAfee’s College Football Playoff ‘Field Pass’ was the first great alt-cast in years

Add alt-casts to the list of sports media formats that Pat McAfee has solved.

As twin turnovers from Drew Allar and Quinn Ewers capped off a pair of College Football Playoff classics this weekend in the semifinals, McAfee and his crew impressively translated their popular digital show over to the fields of the Orange and Cotton Bowls on Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show. While viewers may have come away confused at what they were watching, the alt-casts gave hope for a stale format.

Throughout the sports calendar in 2024, you couldn’t follow a big event without an alt-cast forced into it. Whether it is the Manning brothers talking shop from their basements, a slime-infused Nickelodeon Super Bowl, or Kevin Hart calling hoops, sports executives are all-in on the alt cast.

As technology improved and audience habits changed, the idea was sound. For networks constantly chasing elusive young sports fans, melding the branding of popular cartoons with the chill energy of a Twitch stream makes some sense.

Adults, on the other hand, are served talking heads on couches. ESPN in particular has tried to bring the vibe of a podcast to the live sports broadcast, handing the reins to Hart, the Mannings, Stephen A. Smith and Michael Kay for various alt-casts in recent years. Nobody has reached the heights of the ManningCast, though 2024 even saw Bill Belichick help reimagine that pioneering alt-cast.

It’s what Barstool Sports has tried to mimic on YouTube this season by putting Jon Gruden front and center on its livestreams of big NFL games and the College Football Playoff.

A creative idea from the Mannings brought about so many imitators in just a few years that quickly, everyone’s alt-casts felt stale.

Until Field Pass.

Many things stood out about McAfee’s setup across the CFP, but it all starts with his talent. Naturally, McAfee is more frank and cutting than Chris Fowler upstairs in the broadcast booth. Guests like Kirk Herbstreit, Tony Hinchliffe and Tim Tebow kept the show moving. But with nothing more than a spotting sheet in his hand and a digital monitor propped up near his station in the end zone, McAfee shines in his role because he takes it seriously.

Behind the self-deprecating front, McAfee loves this stuff. You can hear in his delivery as Field Pass‘s default play-by-play man that he relishes the chance to truly broadcast a game. After trying his hand at guest color commentary in his early days in sports media, McAfee calls a game better than half the kids you might hear on ESPN+ or on a local broadcast. Whereas so many alt-casts ignore play-by-play (or the game itself) on purpose, McAfee keeps the focus. It goes a long way when someone is actually calling the action, naming players, and setting the stakes.

At the same time, McAfee plays host, just like he does from Indianapolis each day on his show. In particular, retired defenders AJ Hawk and Darius Butler shine on Field Pass far more than they ever get to on The Pat McAfee Show. Live from the field, feeding off a great crowd and a close-up view, the pair was consistently on the money with their analysis.

After officials took away an interception for Notre Dame on Thursday night with a questionable pass interference call, Butler didn’t miss a beat. The longtime Colt brought a former defensive back’s while ripping the “terrible call” while the main ESPN broadcast took the referees’ side.

McAfee even brought the best out of Tebow, who appeared to stay several minutes past his call time for the SEC Network to stick with Field Pass.

On a key fourth down in the fourth quarter, Tebow foreshadowed a big run by Buckeyes QB Will Howard.

The guys are put in position to succeed because ESPN dedicates real production support for Field Pass. Whereas other alt-casts fix one main camera on the conversation while the usual game broadcast floats in the background (often in a smaller window), Field Pass actually featured unique camera shots customized to McAfee’s flow.

During a game-winning defensive touchdown from Jack Sawyer late, Field Pass producers captured Texas coach Steve Sarkisian’s somber reaction as Sawyer streaked down the field.

One criticism of Field Pass might be that the other guys in McAfee’s crew are sidelined. Standing far apart from McAfee, Hawk and Butler, the court jesters of PMS rarely get a word in. With so much going on in the game, McAfee has a hard time finding space for them over the guys who can break down the action.

Unless McAfee is going to Ty Schmit for an impression of Lou Holtz or Pete Thamel, we don’t hear from Schmit, Boston Connor or Tone Diggs much at all.

It’s not easy to pull off a broadcast like this. There’s a reason the McAfee crew and ESPN only do Field Pass for the CFP. Bringing an extra production team to a big game like that is likely claustrophobic and expensive.

Yet side by side with Field Pass, other alt-casts bring little to the table. Why watch a celebrity chatter about nonsense when something like Field Pass is possible? And for networks like ESPN, why waste time booking the next sports-adjacent celebrity when Field Pass is working?

This is the benefit when you employ great talent and own live sports rights. Bring fans into the action, entertain them with a good broadcast, and see what happens.

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