Why The Pat McAfee Show wasn't on today and when it will be back
Pat McAfee will broadcast from the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday and the Peach Bowl on Friday.
Why The Pat McAfee Show wasn’t on today and when it will be back
Pat McAfee will broadcast from the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday and the Peach Bowl on Friday.
By Wesley Stenzel
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Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.
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January 8, 2026 2:52 p.m. ET
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Pat McAfee on 'The Pat McAfee Show' on Feb. 5, 2025. Credit:
Sean Gardner/Getty
- *The Pat McAfee Show* didn't air a new episode on ESPN at its usual 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT time slot on Thursday.
- An ESPN representative says that Pat McAfee will instead broadcast from the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday and the Peach Bowl on Friday on ESPN2.
- *The Pat McAfee Show *will return with a new episode in its usual timeslot on Monday, Jan. 12.
*The Pat McAfee Show* didn't air a new episode on ESPN on Thursday — and it won't be back on Friday, either.
The daily sports talk show, which is hosted by the former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee, missed its usual broadcast at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT on Thursday, and ESPN aired an episode of *The Rich Eisen Show* in its place.
A representative from ESPN tells ** that the show didn't air on Thursday because of McAfee's commitments to other broadcasts on the network this week.
"*The Pat McAfee Show* is not on-air today as Pat is getting ready for College GameDay (today and tomorrow) as well as *Field Pass With The Pat McAfee Show* for both the Fiesta Bowl and the Peach Bowl," a spokesperson for the network says.
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Pat McAfee on 'The Pat McAfee Show' on Feb. 8, 2024.
Candice Ward/Getty
The representative also clarified that McAfee's usual show will be off the air on Friday due to his commitments at the Peach Bowl, and that *The Pat McAfee Show* will return to its usual 12 p.m. ET timeslot on Monday, Jan. 12.
ESPN's broadcast schedule shows that *The Rich Eisen Show* will air from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. ET in McAfee's usual slot again on Friday.
However, McAfee will still broadcast on ESPN2 on both Thursday and Friday. He'll provide "entertaining, free-flowing commentary" for the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., on Thursday as well as the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Friday on *Field Pass With The Pat McAfee Show*, according to a press release.
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Those *Field Pass* broadcasts will see McAfee "anchor coverage and call the action while roaming the sidelines" of both games alongside "a rotation of ESPN analysts, notable personalities, and celebrities." McAfee's usual cohort — including AJ Hawk, Darius Butler, Connor Campbell, Ty Schmit and Tone Digs — will also be part of the broadcasts.
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McAfee will return to the airwaves with *Field Pass With The Pat McAfee Show* on Thursday and Friday at 7:40 p.m. ET. *The Pat McAfee Show* will return with a new episode on Monday, Jan. 12, at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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Source: “EW Sports”
