Last week, it was announced that Mike Golic Jr. will be co-hosting a daily podcast for DraftKings called GoJo with one of his former teammates at Notre Dame, Brandon Newman. The first episode of the show launched on May 2.
Recently, Golic Jr. was on The Dan LeBatard Show with StuGotz and he asked why he decided to join DraftKings.
“I think for me, it was the right time, right opportunity. I had seen what the partnership with DraftKings had done with you guys. I had seen that this was starting to bear legitimate fruit. They came through with the right amount of time and money to be honest, that always helps. There’s an opportunity here for maybe a little better work-life balance. There’s an opportunity here to do something that’s got more flexibility both creatively and schedule-wise.”
Golic made it clear that he does not have any ill will towards ESPN. However, he did say that he was interested in creating his own content and identity outside of Bristol.
“I didn’t leave with a bad taste in my mouth at ESPN. Obviously, there’s the stuff relative to dad that will always tick me off a bit. In my case, I know what that place did for me and the opportunities it was affording me. It was a hard decision, but one of those where I just looked and said ‘when am I going to have an opportunity to maybe go and get in on the ground floor of something, go and actually build and create something?’
“Inside the four letters, with very few exceptions, for the most part you end up feeling kind of like a product of the machine. You’re never quite sure how much does someone enjoy me, how much does someone just enjoy the safety and security that ESPN and the four letters provide? If not now, then when?”
I’m glad to see Mike and his father find other projects. I liked the Mike & Mike show and had watched it for many years til the end. I did feel like Mike senior got the raw end of the deal how they handled the ending of that show and how he found out. Then with the Golic and Wingo show it felt like they were never behind it. For me personally, I feel ESPN has been going down for a few years now. I don’t even watch it much. I have to believe their ratings have to be down and if they’re not I’m really surprised.