Does Pat McAfee really pay for College GameDay field goal challenge? ESPN coworker answers

Over the last few seasons, College GameDay evolved to mimic the basketball version, where at the end of each episode, a student from the home team would get to shoot a half-court shot for the chance to win thousands of dollars. Now, at each campus during the football season, one student kicks a field goal with the chance to win money.

According to a story in The Athletic by Chris Vannini, the concept belongs to the brain of Pat McAfee, now the primary GameDay showman with his loud team chants and unpredictable hijinks. Vannini reports that the former West Virginia punter helped up the new field goal contest.

"It was McAfee’s idea ahead of the 2023 season to add the field goal contest, where a fan attempts a 33-yard kick to win money from McAfee himself," Vannini wrote. "The first 300 people to show up get a raffle ticket and a chance to kick."

Hold on, McAfee pays himself? That line from Vannini's story got around over the last week with fans wondering whether McAfee actually does cover the payouts — usually $100,000 or more — all by himself. If you're a doubter, allow Dan Orlovsky to clear things up for you. He tweeted confirmation on Week 2 Saturday that McAfee is the source behind the field goal payouts.

Accurate. It’s his money

Guys the best https://t.co/mibk1FUKI1
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) September 6, 2025

That's commendable from McAfee. Sure, he played in the NFL and is now a major media star, so he likely carries a heavy purse, but still, multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars out of his pocket every time some frat brother makes a 20-yard kick must sting a tiny bit. All in the name of the game, I guess.

Perhaps College GameDay should consider covering the expenses, because accoridng to Vannini's story, the field goal segment is drawing huge numbers.

"The segment has become the second most popular on the show, after the game picks," Vannini wrote. "It’s produced big numbers on social media, especially when McAfee ups the financial offer for a second chance after a miss."

McAfee has been hurting over the first two weeks of the season, as both kids in Week 1 and Week 2 were able to place the pigskin between the uprights, celebrating in a fit of screams alongside McAfee, who prepares to cough up a life-altering amount of cash to a kid that may or may not be able to legally consume alcohol.

Credit to Pat McAfee, man, because that's a great college football story and, again, a truly commendable action by a guy who is backing up the words he throws out every week during the field goal challenge.

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