Dan Patrick reveals he turned down $10 million to host The Price is Right

In 2007, Dan Patrick was preparing to leave ESPN after a decorated run. He was one of the network’s most recognizable faces, and his eponymous radio show also became a national staple.

That same year, Patrick got a call. Bob Barker was getting ready to retire from hosting The Price is Right, meaning the show had to search for a replacement. Before Drew Carey ultimately took over, Patrick’s name came up – and he took the call.

At the time, Patrick was hosting ESPN’s NBA Finals coverage, so The Price is Right offered to build a mock set in San Antonio for him to audition for the role. He then asked what it paid, but didn’t get an answer, but later learned it was upward of $10 million.

“I was still in a sports mode,” Patrick said on Pardon My Take. “I wasn’t ready for a game show. … I get a call out of the blue and said, ‘Hey, are you interested in The Price is Right?’ I thought they were selling me something – I didn’t know what it was. They said, ‘We’re interested in having you host The Price is Right. And we checked with Bob Barker and he signed off on you hosting Price is Right. We want to build a set in San Antonio,’ where the NBA Finals were, ‘and we want to just see you on stage and we’re just going to build the set.’

“I just remember hanging up the phone and going, ‘I don’t know what that was.’ For shits and giggles, I go, ‘Well, what’s it pay?’ They said, ‘If you take the job, we’ll tell you.’ I go home and I say to my wife, ‘Hey, I got offered the job at The Price is Right.’ She goes, ‘Well, you turned it down?’ I go, ‘Not exactly. I just wanted to know what it paid.’ She goes, ‘What’s it pay?’ ‘They said, if I take the job.’ And she goes, ‘Well, you’re turning it down, right?’ And I said, ‘Well, I will, but it’s not because of that.’ I just didn’t think I could do it well enough.”

That wasn’t the first time Patrick entertained the idea of hosting a game show. He also confirmed Who Wants to be a Millionaire? made a run at him before Regis Philbin got the job. In fact, the show never called Patrick to tell him Philbin won out.

Jeopardy! also showed interest in Patrick if Alex Trebek didn’t re-sign with the show. That one, he said, he “would have taken” before Trebek ultimately re-upped. However, Patrick later hosted Sports Jeopardy!

As for how things worked out, Patrick said he wasn’t quite done in with sports to make the jump into hosting a game show. He later went on to work for NBC, hosting the Olympics and the Super Bowl, and The Dan Patrick Show airs on Peacock. But he later learned just how big the check would have been if he took over for Barker – and it was a big number.

“It was $10 million back then. … I wasn’t ready for it, though,” Patrick said. “I wanted to do the Olympics, I still wanted to do Super Bowls. There were things I wanted to do.”