Pate now turns down sponsorship deals and other financial offers at the risk of overexposure."The truth of it is I leave a lot on the table because I don't want to overextend myself," he told OutKick."A lot of these, you know, influencer marketing deals and stuff like that, I appreciate the offers.
But I think there's a limit to how much of me the public should have to consume."But it wasn't always this way.Less than a decade ago, Josh Pate was working in Columbus, Georgia, making far less than the average American.His financial struggles eventually led to his eviction."I was making a little over, slightly over $27,000 a year.
I was counting on YouTube revenue, Google AdSense revenue at that point.So I'm barely, I'm barely getting by.
In fact, I got evicted.I didn't get by.
So we fell below the get-by line for a little while," he explained.Josh Pate speaks onstage during Josh Pate's College Football Show at Fanatics Fest NYC 2026 at Jacob Javits Center on July 17, 2026, in New York City.(Getty Images for Fanatics)JOSH PATE DISCUSSES NEW ESPN SHOW, FOUR FACES OF ESPN, PAT MCAFEE AND FUTURE OF MEDIA COMPANY WITH OUTKIn 2020, he started to make more, but not much more."I think I signed for $75,000 when I came to CBS in 2020.
My goal when I was working down in Columbus was to one day make $50,000 a year.So please understand, I thought I had hit the lottery even then."It was that year, during COVID-19, that Pate began building the show that would eventually put him in a position to own his content."So when I came to 247Sports in 2020, I came with a complete fresh slate.
We started from scratch.That's right there pre-COVID.
We started a YouTube channel before the show I was going to do, and so we started doing the show.Boom, COVID sets in, and I'm working for CBS.
I'm working out of the 247Sports office down in Brentwood, Tennessee, just south of Nashville at the time.""The key was I was smart enough, I guess strategic logic enough, whatever you want to call it, t...