What was supposed to be a big Opening Daymoment turned into an awkward on-air letdown. Just hours before Derek Jeter was scheduled to appear on The Pat McAfee Show to help kick off the MLB season, the Yankees legend backed out-apparently not by choice.
Pat McAfee, never one to hide his emotions, showed up Thursday in full Yankees gear, ready to celebrate. Instead, he had to deliver a disappointing update.
“Derek Jeter’s not on the show today,” McAfee told viewers. “Not his fault. Got a personal call from him this morning-he’s not happy either.”
According to McAfee, Jeter told him the cancellation came from the top. The FOX Sports team, where Jeter is a lead MLB analyst, apparently didn’t love the idea of one of their own making a big splash on ESPN to promote Opening Day-especially when FOX isn’t airing any games that day and ESPN has two, including the Yankees-Brewers matchup.
Broadcast tension boils over as Opening Day begins
The timing couldn’t be more sensitive. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred recently expressed frustration with ESPN’s daytime coverage of baseball, calling out the network for giving the sport too little attention. Ironically, McAfee’s show-one of ESPN’s loudest platforms-was trying to fix that by bringing in a baseball icon.
“There’s a lot of history between the networks,”McAfee said diplomatically. “We get it. Still… we were bummed out.”
Whether it was network politics or cautious PR strategy, the move sparked speculation online. Some fans wondered if Jeter had second thoughts after watching Stephen A. Smith’s heated LeBron rant on McAfee’s show earlier in the week. No one wants to walk into that kind of storm-especially not a guy known for playing things close to the chest.
Regardless of the reason, McAfee’s effort to shine a spotlight on baseball got tangled up in TV turf wars. And what should’ve been a win for fans and the league turned into a missed opportunity and a subtle shot across the bow between ESPN and FOX.
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