In the days following ABC’s broadcast of Patriot Games, ESPN star Pat McAfee had some high praise for the event, claiming it was a “big deal” with many high-profile individuals putting a lot of effort into making it happen. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really track with reality.
While McAfee might have had a good experience at the event, which he attended alongside United States President Donald Trump, and he might have high hopes for the future, the reality is that the event was a massive disappointment in terms of ratings, and likely didn’t even include the best high school athletes in the country.
McAfee Praised the EventBack in 2025, Trump announced The Patriot Games as a way to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with one high school boy and girl from each U.S. state and territory competing in a competition where they would be “tested on the skills from the Presidential Fitness Test, go through a military-inspired boot camp circuit, and finalists will compete in an obstacle course designed to test strategy and skill.”
McAfee, who prominently attended the event alongside Trump earlier this month, spent a portion of his show praising the Patriot Games. McAfee seemingly believed that it was a very high-profile event that had a robust amount of support and would continue beyond this year.
“I think this is an initiative that is going to continue. I think this is a big deal,” McAfee said. “Anything that is going to amplify and encourage the next generation to remain active and competitive, I think that is a huge thing I will be a part of.”
“I think that thing is an incredible idea. I’m excited to see what that grows into,” McAfee said, pointing out that there are “a lot of people” invested in the event, including the heads of Disney, ABC, ESPN and Trump.
“This seems like something that a lot of people are aligned on making happen,” McAfee said.
Not RealityMcAfee has long been a proponent of keeping kids active, donating over $2 million back to his high school athletics, and taking part in the Play 60 initiative when he was in the NFL, so it’s not necessarily surprising that he was excited about the event, and it seems like he had the best of intentions.
Unfortunately, his perception and optimism about the event did not match reality.
While McAfee described the event as a “big deal,” the rest of America clearly did not see it that way, as the event received absolutely embarrassing television ratings.
The event was broadcast on ABC in a primetime 9 p.m. slot, which dedicated an hour to highlighting the competition’s best moments. However, very few people actually tuned in to watch, as it was considerably outperformed by reruns of a 43-year-old game show.
“According to viewership data compiled by Awful Announcing’s Manny Soloway, ABC’s one-hour telecast of the Patriot Games, which amounted to a highlight show of the competitions’ best moments, drew just 1.21 million viewers last Thursday. One week prior, ABC aired Press Your Luck in the same timeslot and scored 2.86 million viewers. The week before that, Press Your Luck averaged 2.88 million viewers. The Trumped-up Patriot Games could only scrounge up less than half the audience of a game show that’s been around for 43 years,” Awful Announcing reported this week.
Additionally, McAfee’s belief that this event was something that Disney, ABC, and ESPN were committed to bringing to life seems to be misguided as well. The reality is that the three-day event was distilled down into just an hour of coverage that aired two days after the event actually concluded, with very little promotion from ABC. That sure does not seem like a commitment to bringing the event to life or growing it.
Perhaps the biggest indictment of the event, however, was how the contestants were chosen. According to a CNN investigation, the contestants did not earn their way into the event through regional competitions. Instead of the top athletes in America, Trump’s Patriot Games was “more of a highly produced display of youth patriotism than athletic excellence.”
“Athletic ability wasn’t the sole factor considered for participation in the competition, and those selected appear to have largely similar backgrounds,” CNN reported. “Contestants were asked to film a video answering a series of prompts about why they wanted to compete and to explain how sports have shaped their identity. They were also asked to list places outside their home state where they had a ‘meaningful personal, family, cultural, military, or community connection,’ according to the application.”
Needless to say, it’s clear that McAfee was not totally correct about Trump’s event when he offered the heavy praise.
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