Pat McAfee’s Field Pass Joins ESPN’s Super Bowl LXI Coverage

Pat McAfee is moving his sideline-driven alternate broadcast into the NFL’s biggest television event. ESPN has added Super Bowl LXI Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show to its plans for the championship game, expanding the number of ways viewers can follow the action.

The McAfee presentation will air on ESPNU. It will sit alongside ESPN’s traditional game telecast on ESPN, ABC and Disney+, the Peyton and Eli Manning alternate cast on ESPN2, and a separate analytics-focused Playbook with Next Gen Stats production on NFL Network.

Field Pass gets an NFL trial run first

Before the Super Bowl edition, McAfee’s format will appear during selected Monday Night Football games. The NFL version is scheduled to debut in Week 6 for the Washington Commanders–San Francisco 49ers matchup. ESPN says the show will cover five Monday games before concluding its six-episode regular-season run during the Week 18 doubleheader on January 9.

McAfee will work from field level behind an end zone with Dan Orlovsky and Darius Butler. Connor Campbell, Ty Schmit and Tone Digs will contribute from an in-stadium suite. The setup preserves the show’s looser style while adding former-player analysis and the immediacy of being close to the field.

ESPN expands choice around one game

The announcement reflects a broader broadcast strategy: one live event can support several presentations aimed at different audiences. The main telecast remains the center of ESPN’s coverage, while McAfee’s version emphasizes personality and atmosphere. The Manning brothers offer a conversational watch-along, and the Next Gen Stats feed is designed for viewers who want real-time data and tactical detail.

Field Pass began outside the NFL and has already drawn sizable audiences for college football editions. ESPN said multiple McAfee-led alternate casts have averaged more than one million viewers, with the largest reaching 2.4 million. The Super Bowl assignment therefore represents both a promotion for the format and a high-profile test of how far that audience can grow.

For McAfee, the new role deepens an already prominent relationship with ESPN without moving him into the traditional booth. His appeal here is the opposite: an energetic viewpoint from the edge of the action, delivered by the familiar group around his daily show.