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The General Theory of McAfee

UTA’s Jerry Silbowitz candidly breaks down the evolving playbook for building lucrative, long-term, non-leaky sports media careers.

Jerry Silbowitz
"It’s inspiring for those talents who can move needles. They’re expanding their capacity, from both a content-output perspective, and a revenue one," says UTA’s co-head of sports media Jerry Silbowitz. Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
John Ourand
April 14, 2025

The media business, above all else, is a copycat game. So when ESPN signed lucrative and loophole-laden deals with Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith, virtually every agent received inbound from their roster of clients looking for similar concessions. Perhaps they weren’t agitating for Stephen A.’s $20 million per annum, but they wanted some of the same flexibility to create content on other platforms. On a recent episode of The Varsity, UTA’s co-head of sports media, Jerry Silbowitz, walked me through the advice he gives to his clients, including Gronk and Rich Eisen. (As usual, this conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.)