The conversations began last year to organize a reunion of Mike Francesa and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo to take place on ESPN’s top-ranked morning debate show, First Take. The iconic sports talk duo hosted Mike and the Mad Dog on WFAN for 19 years, but since had had sparse public reunions, some of which included at a Garden of Dreams benefit event, on MLB Network’s High Heat and at an appearance at the 2022 Barrett Sports Media (BSM) Summit in New York, N.Y.
Yet there is no animosity between Francesa and Russo, as they frequently discuss their families and lives primarily through text, maintaining an amicable relationship despite various disagreements over the years. Since the end of the program in 2008, fans have clamored for them to return to the New York City airwaves where they consistently finished at the top of the ratings. Today though, each remains invested in viable solo careers post-WFAN and remain prominent figures in sports media.
Stephen A. Smith, executive producer and featured commentator on First Take, listened to Francesa and Russo in his youth and helped facilitate the reunion, which was originally set for last spring. Initially, ESPN wanted Francesa to come on the show unannounced, surprising Smith, Russo and host Molly Qerim; however, Francesa thought it would not be right for him to intrude on the program, preferring it to be approved in advance.
“I had a cold so we canceled once and then we never got back to it,” Francesa said. “Then [ESPN] came back after me this year – I said, ‘Yes,’ and recently went on the show. That was basically it, but it was in the works for a long, long time.”
First Take, led by Smith, Qerim and a rotation of guest commentators, recently enjoyed its most-watched January in show history, averaging 561,000 total viewers and marking six consecutive months of year-over-year (YOY) growth in the persons 18-49 demographic. Francesa’s Feb. 1 appearance on the show drew approximately 524,000 total viewers, with persons 25-54 accounting for nearly half of the audience.
The show also happened to coincide with seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady announcing his retirement from the NFL, sparking conversation regarding his career, legacy and potential next steps in sports media. Francesa, with his vast insights and sweeping sports knowledge, was able to quickly adapt and provide valuable contributions to the conversation. It led some viewers to implore First Take to consider bringing him on as a routine contributor.
“I don’t see me doing that on a regular basis,” Francesa said. “They haven’t asked me to do that on a regular basis. I know they were very happy with the show. I know the show did very well in the ratings [and] did very well where they wanted it to do well. They were very pleased with the show, but there’s been no talk about me doing it…. and I don’t see me doing it on any regular basis.”
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On July 1, 1987, the sports talk format made its debut from the sub-basement of the Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York City on WFAN. Francesa was intrigued by the station, which was formerly known as WHN and played country music.
Jeff Smulyan and the management team at Emmis Communications brought in a lineup including Greg Gumbel in mornings, Jim Lampley in middays, Pete Franklin in afternoon drive (although his debut was delayed) and Howie Rose at nights. Francesa applied as a producer and landed an interview where he learned more about the direction of the new broadcast entity.
“They told me they were bringing in all these big talk show hosts from around the country [and] that I was too qualified as a producer because of my job at CBS,” he said. “They didn’t want me on the air because they were bringing people in from all over the country and they were going to bring the biggest and the best in. I asked them to give me a chance – they wouldn’t.”
After one year on the air, WFAN was struggling, reporting losses and meager listenership, insinuating that changes needed to be made – one of which was moving frequencies (1050 AM to 660 AM). Francesa was still working at CBS Sports and eventually was given a chance to fill in for Pete Franklin on WFAN since his colleague, Jim Nantz, knew one of the producers.
Another talk show host, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, had also joined the station in late-1988 as a fill-in host and sports reporter on Imus in the Morning, returning to New York City after he had broadcast on WKIS in Orlando and WMCA in New York.
“I learned a lot from Don Imus in radio; I spent a lot of time talking to [him],” Francesa said. “I learned how to pace a show; I learned about timing from him – certain things I picked up from him being in the studio with him seeing how he did [them].”
Francesa and Russo, dissonant and seemingly-polar opposites, both wanted the opportunity to take over for Franklin once he departed afternoon drive in 1989. Mark Mason, the program director of WFAN, famously devised a concept where Francesa and Russo would host afternoons together, an idea few at the station espoused. Instead of forming the new duo, most WFAN colleagues wanted Francesa and Russo each to host a solo program, one in middays and one in the afternoon, as was the norm at the time.
Instead, Mason, dogged in his pursuit to improve ratings and revenue, was insistent on his idea and delivered an ultimatum to Francesa. It was host afternoon drive with Russo or, if he decided to go solo, be deprived of the pending opportunity to enter the coveted daypart. He chose the former, marking the inception of sports talk radio’s greatest success story and WFAN’s hallmark program for the next 19 years.
“The show had a rough transition – we didn’t get along very well in the beginning,” Francesa said. “After a couple of months when the ratings came out, the ratings were so good that there was no issue anymore. We both had to just realize that was our future because within six months, they had ripped up our contract and given us five times the money and we were already a smash.”
Over the weekday program, which first broadcast from 3 to 7 p.m., Francesa and Russo debated sports topics, interviewed eminent figures in New York sports and took calls from fans who wanted to get in on the conversation. Conducting a two-man sports talk show rather than what Francesa calls “guy talk shows,” Mike and the Mad Dog effectively redefined the format. When Mark Chernoff joined the station as its new program director in 1993, he separated himself from the program but always offered his support and expertise if they deemed it necessary.
“He just did whatever he could to accentuate the show [and] add anything that he wanted to add,” Francesa said of Chernoff. “He was very strong [and] he had a great sense of the ratings. I learned a lot of different tricks about the ratings from him.”
When Russo departed WFAN to join SiriusXM and launch “Mad Dog Sports Radio,” Francesa remained on WFAN as a solo host and continued to draw a large audience, even leading dedicated fans to launch an annual “FrancesaCon” event in New York City.
The ironic part of the situation was that it was Mike and the Mad Dog that had normalized two hosts being on the air together; Francesa seemingly went backwards in terms of sports talk radio’s evolution, yet sustained the success of the previous program. Whether fans were listening on WFAN or watching a simulcast on YES Network or Fox Sports 1, Mike’s On: Francesa on the FAN kept sports fans engaged and entertained on a daily basis until his retirement in 2017. That retirement was more of a caesura though, as he returned to the station just one year later to host a three-hour solo program and later launched a subscription-based mobile app.
“When I left the first time, everything was perfect, but they really came after me very hard to go back, so I did,” Francesa expressed. “It was very different the second time; I wasn’t working the same hours [and] I wasn’t working a full show…. From that standpoint, I look at it as when I left the first time, that was really the end because I was never really doing the same show.”
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Coinciding with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision to give states regulatory power over sports betting, Francesa was recruited by several different gambling companies, especially those looking to launch in the New York-metropolitan area.
At this stage of his career, Francesa knows that he is more than just a solo broadcaster opining about the latest sports news; he is a brand, and those in the space duly recognize that. Since it is perhaps more facile than ever to promulgate one’s voice, it can easily be lost in the shuffle; therefore, standing out and doing something different is critical in launching a career.
“If you’re a brand, then you’re halfway home,” Francesa explained. “If I want to do something, the money’s going to be there; the production’s going to be there; the advertising’s going to be there; the audience is going to be built-in because I’m already a brand – I’m established. It’s very hard for a newcomer to be able to accomplish that, and now if you don’t accomplish that, you don’t keep the product that long so it’s a tough thing.”
As first reported by Barrett Sports Media, Francesa reached a multi-year deal with Rush Street Interactive to become a brand ambassador for BetRivers Sportsbook last March, through which he hosts The Mike Francesa Podcast.
Since its launch last year, the podcast has released over 150 episodes and Francesa has discretion to record and post an episode whenever he desires, which is produced and edited by one of his former producers at WFAN, Brian Monzo.
“It was a lucrative offer, so I agreed to do it and I’ve had a terrific time with it,” Francesa said. “I’ve done a football Friday podcast every week that’s usually up by noon on Fridays that’s done really well. I’ve done some other podcasts including some postgame stuff on Sundays.”
When Francesa was on terrestrial sports talk radio, a distinguished part of his program involved taking callers and listening to their opinions. Although there was a share of listeners who interacted for the sole purpose of asking trivial questions and infamously hanging up to listen, there were plenty who engendered interesting content and erudite analysis.
Even though Francesa no longer hosts a live program, he still interacts with podcast listeners through email, dedicating select episodes to answering their questions. He says the show receives several-hundred emails per week and responds to them similarly to how he took calls in the past.
“It gives me a chance to keep my hand in and it’s been very well-received,” Francesa said. “We take a lot of emails from the audience where what they’ll do is send me a whole bunch of emails, and what I do is I read them spontaneously – I don’t look at them beforehand – and then I do them on a live-to-tape show.”
Much of Francesa’s sports talk still centers around New York sports, praising, commiserating and criticizing teams and players as he sees fit with the credibility, facts and proficiency to back it up. He offers the New York Yankees as an example, a storied franchise that has consistently achieved success in the regular season, but has failed to qualify for the World Series since 2009 – largely at the hands of the rival Houston Astros.
“I think what we do is easier to deal with teams when they lose than if they win,” Francesa siad. “What we do by our very nature – it’s more passionate; it’s just more compelling when the teams lose, especially if there’s a tough loss. As far as when teams win, yes – they get attention when they win, but it depends how they do when the big games arrive.”
Over his broadcast career spanning parts of six decades, Francesa, known as the “Sports Pope,” has always been motivated to procure success and explore new avenues to bring fans sports talk content. While there is nothing more he feels he needs to do in broadcasting, nor is he actively looking for new opportunities, he would be interested in exploring a Mike and the Mad Dog alternate-style broadcast.
According to Francesa, no broadcast networks have approached him about the idea just yet, but it has been brought up on a few occasions by others. With the recent rise in alternate broadcasts, including ESPN’s Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli; Turner Sports’ Inside the All-Star Game; and MSG Networks’ BetCast during select New York Knicks games, it is entirely feasible the duo could one day consider reaching fans through this new means of dissemination.
“I think that is one thing that would do very well,” Francesa said. “I just don’t know when or where it would get done. That is one of the things – something like that would do very well. I just don’t know what would be the perfect time and place and sport to do it.”
Beginning last year, Mike Francesa and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo are honored annually with the presentation of the Mike and the Mad Dog Award at the BSM Summit, given to the best local sports talk show.
Last year’s award was given to Felger & Mazz of 98.5 The Sports Hub, and was preceded by a retrospective where Francesa and Russo reminisced about their time working together. Despite Francesa receiving a deluge of awards and honors in his career, including Hall of Fame inductions, Marconi Award wins and No. 1 sports talk host distinctions, he remains thankful to be held in high regard by his peers.
“Any time you’re recognized for your body of work, you’re going to very humbly and graciously accept it because that’s what you do,” he said. “When somebody recognizes it as being outstanding, you’re going to be very happy about that because that’s what we do. We’re performers, so when somebody recognizes your performance, you’re going to be very grateful about it.”
With many consumers possessing a device that can reach an audience of billions in their pocket, differentiation between talent is indispensable and the means to cultivate prosperity.
Out of the number of aspiring sports media professionals, very few attain the success Francesa has in his career, and he did it simply by being genuine with the audience and acting as himself. The medium notwithstanding, Francesa is a trusted and respected voice among sports fans in the New York-metropolitan area and the United States at large, and he continues to amplify his takes through his podcast in this new phase of his career.
“There’s a lot of noise out there; there’s a lot of sound out there,” Francesa said. “….Whatever it may be, you have to find a way to cut through to get noticed because if you don’t, there’s just too many podcasts and too many programs out there.”
Derek Futterman is a contributing editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on X @derekfutterman.
