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Pat McAfee to host alternate Super Bowl LXI broadcast on ESPN

Pat McAfee will anchor an alternate "Field Pass" broadcast of Super Bowl LXI in February 2027 as part of Disney's expanded plans. Variety reports that Disney will also offer a "ManningCast" and a stats-focused "Playbook" telecast.

2 outlets · 1L · 0C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: Fox News
Image: Variety

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Right · 1Pat McAfee announced on Friday 9 October that he will have his own alternate broadcast of Super Bowl LXI, in February, through ESPN. Right · 1McAfee said he expects it to resemble his "Field Pass" telecasts, which he did for the college football national championship earlier this year and is expected to do again this coming January. Left · 1Variety reported that McAfee will lead a growing number of "alterna-casts" built around Disney's 2027 Super Bowl plans, anchoring "Field Pass" as a commentary-driven option alongside a traditional broadcast on ABC and ESPN.

Left · 1Variety said the lineup also includes a Super Bowl version of the "ManningCast" with Peyton and Eli Manning on ESPN2, and a statistics-focused telecast, "Playbook," led by Field Yates, Chase Daniel, Louis Riddick and Seth Walder. Left · 1Variety placed "Field Pass" on ESPNU and "Playbook" on the NFL Network on Super Bowl Sunday. Right · 1McAfee will also do similar broadcasts for select "Monday Night Football" games this season, and has a larger ESPN role this year, joining the "Monday Night Countdown" pregame show on top of his full-time "College GameDay" role.

Right · 1The news came two days after Disney announced that Disney+ will stream the ESPN and ABC broadcast of the game, which Fox News said will be the seventh consecutive year a Super Bowl is available on a streaming service. Right · 1Fox News said ESPN was awarded this season's game in 2021 under the NFL's media rights deal, that the game will be played on Valentine's Day, and that Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will call the main broadcast, their return to the Super Bowl booth since 2020.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
Trade-press business angle: Disney widening its Super Bowl offering with several alternate telecasts, with McAfee as one part.
Emphasis
The full slate of alternate casts, their hosts and channels.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention the Disney+ streaming announcement, the date, or the main broadcast team.
Charged language
“outspoken host”
For example
“McAfee will lead a growing number of so-called “alterna-casts” built around Disney’s 2027 Super Bowl plans.” — Variety

Centre0 outlets

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right1 outlet

Framing
Personality-led sports story centred on McAfee, in a playful tone.
Emphasis
McAfee's growing ESPN role, streaming context and the Buck and Aikman return.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention the ManningCast or "Playbook" alternate telecasts, or channel placement beyond ESPN.
Charged language
“Pat McAfee'd”“media mogul”
For example
“The Super Bowl will be Pat McAfee'd.” — Fox News