ESPN’s Paul Finebaum makes decision on Alabama Senate run

Paul Finebaum is sticking to sports. 

The ESPN and SEC Network college football analyst told AL.com that he will not run for the U.S. Senate in Alabama on the Republican ticket despite floating the idea of a foray into politics earlier this year.

“I have been deeply moved by so many people in Alabama who have reached out encouraging me to run for the United States Senate,” Finebaum, 70, told the outlet in a statement.

“It has been a gratifying and rewarding experience. I am also appreciative of my bosses at ESPN for allowing me to explore this opportunity. But it’s time for me to devote my full attention to something everyone in Alabama can agree upon – our love of college football.”

In September, Finebaum told OutKick’s Clay Travis that “one or two people in Washington had reached out” to gauge his interest in joining the world of politics. 

He added that the assassination of Charlie Kirk, who was killed on Sept. 10 during an event in Utah, sparked his desire to move from sports media to politics. 

“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,” Finebaum said of Kirk during the interview. “… One or two people in Washington had reached out to me about whether I would be interested in politics, something I never thought about before, something I didn’t really think possible. I gave some thought to it as the weekend [after Kirk’s death] unfolded and got a little bit more interested.”

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville is running for governor in the Yellowhammer State, leaving one of the two Senate seats open for the 2026 election.

Finebaum had told Travis that he would fully commit to running for the Senate seat if President Donald Trump asked him to fill it.

“Impossible to tell him ‘no.’ There’s no way I could. I would tell him, ‘Yes,’ ” Finebaum said. “The biggest issue is the direction of: ‘Where are we going [as a country]?’ And I don’t like some of that. When I watch a newscast, I know how biased it is because I do this for a living. And that’s incredibly disturbing. But I keep all this to myself. I feel this is a cathartic conversation for me because I’m saying some things that I really did not intend to say when I walked in this room.”

Finebaum moved back to Alabama from Charlotte earlier this year. 

He previously spent decades as a columnist and radio host in Birmingham before joining ESPN in 2013.