An ESPN executive is denying a report from Outkick's Clay Travis that the network pulled NCAA football analyst Paul Finebaum from all TV appearances since he publicly expressed interest in running for senate in Alabama.
“This is not true at all. The below is TOTALLY FALSE,” ESPN's Vice President of PR Bill Hofheimer wrote via X above the original post from Travis.
“Per sources: Disney/ESPN has removed @finebaum from appearing on @ESPN since his @outkick interview expressing interest in running as a Republican for senate in Alabama,” Travis wrote on Monday morning. “ESPN has canceled all network appearances on all shows, including some that have occurred for a decade plus.”
Since Hofheimer's post, Travis has continued to double down.
“LOL. This decision is above your pay grade, Bill,” he wrote. “Why wasn’t Finebaum on Sunday AM SportsCenter yesterday? Or First Take this morning? For the first time in over a decade? Reacting to one of the biggest college football weekends of the year? I stand by my sources.”
Though Finebaum has appeared on ESPN's YouTube channel, he has not been present in his regularly scheduled slots on TV. That includes a Sunday SportsCenter hit to recap the previous day's college football action. He told Outkick last week that he was considering running for Tommy Tuberville's senate seat when the former football coach leaves to pursue the Alabama governorship.
On3's Nick Kosko confirmed Travis' report on Monday.
Finebaum added that the murder of Charlie Kirk was what got him thinking about the soon-to-be vacant senate seat.
“I spent four hours numb talking about things that didn’t matter to me. And it kept building throughout that weekend,” he said, talking about doing his radio show immediately after Kirk’s death. “I felt very empty doing what I was doing that day … It’s hard to describe, not being involved in politics, how that affected me and affected tens of millions of people all over this country. And it was an awakening.”
