Prior to attending Media Row in New Orleans, La. ahead of Super Bowl LIX, Mike Golic knew that his time with DraftKings Network would soon be coming to an end. The company informed him of its decision not to renew his contract as it settled on plans to cease in-house production, diminishing the amount of proprietary content that would appear on its free ad-supported streaming television channel. In addition to Golic, several other on-air talents were affected by the decision and have departed the network, some of whom include Jessie Coffield, Trey Wingo, Claudia Bellofatto. Golic’s son, Mike, also did not have his contract renewed and signified the denouement of GoJo and Golic after less than two years.
“We had done the last few months knowing that our end date was at the end of March,” Golic said. “There’s no sense in saying, ‘Oh, I wish this didn’t happen,’ or complaining about it because it’s, ‘I don’t have a choice,’ we didn’t have a choice. They were going to end the show, so we just had to move on and find something else.”
Sports betting in the United States accrued $13.7 billion in revenue last year, representative of a 24.4% year-over-year increase in this regard. States continue to hold regulatory power over the legalization of the practice authorized through the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act through judicial review, and Golic discerns that the wagering is never going to vanish. DraftKings Network continues to air sports content outsourced by different companies, some of which include Meadowlark Media, All The Smoke Productions and Ross Tucker Media, but it faces competition from other gambling companies who are continuing to invest in owned programming.
Golic and his son wanted to continue working together and ended up garnering options for their next move. In the end, the duo decided to sign three-year deals with FanDuel Sports Network, the cluster of 15 regional sports networks owned and operated by Main Street Sports Group, and will be hosting a new two-hour afternoon show leading into regional coverage of baseball, basketball and hockey. The program, titled Golic & Golic, is slated to premiere in June and will air on weekdays across the RSNs, and it came after questioning the company about its dedication to having sports content within its oeuvre.
“They were very receptive to saying, ‘We want sports content. This is something we definitely want to be part of our portfolio,’ Golic recalled. “So Mike and I had a few choices out there, and we ended up with FanDuel because it’s a strong brand and they are committed to sports content, so that’s something we really like.”
Embracing a New Day With FanDuel Sports Network
Formerly known as Diamond Sports Group, the company emerged from Ch. 11 bankruptcy this past January upon the approval of its restructuring support agreement and currently holds regional broadcast rights for 29 professional sports teams. Within the process, the business successfully eliminated approximately $9 billion of pre-petition debt to $200 million and is now owned by groups of creditors rather than operating as a subsidiary of Sinclair, Inc. On top of that, the company also reached a naming rights deal with FanDuel applying to its RSNs and digital platforms as well.
“Mike and I have a lot to do with what’s said on the air, and people are going to listen to us or not listen to us by how we present ourselves and what we say,” Golic outlined, “but there are resources that need to be given to us – from equipment to marketing to guests to bookers to get guests – that FanDuel is all in on providing us to make it an impactful show.”
Golic evinced that working on a live show airing in afternoon drive may have been “close to the deciding factor” in this transaction. The duo will bring shrewd insights and authentic rapport to the daypart with the new program, and he foresees the venture being more entertaining and less regimented than the previous arrangement. Prior to announcing the show, Main Street Sports Group recently altered its managerial structure under new president of production and programming Norby Williamson, someone whom Golic worked alongside during his days at ESPN.
“He’s got a proven track record at ESPN, and I always got along with him, was treated fairly by him, and I can’t say that about everybody there, but I can say that about Norby,” Golic explained. “My personal dealings with him have always been good, so I trusted him. I had good dealings with him working together, and I trust what he says about the future at FanDuel Sports and the sports content.”
With an abundance of regional matchups airing throughout the year, there will be no shortage of conversations in which Golic can take part, and the show will also implement analyst perspectives, in-person guests and interviews with athletes and personalities. Golic foresees topic selection being an independent process for the duo, approaching the project as a regular sports show examining national topics. In addition, he will not be deviating from his preparation process but stay cognizant of the time change and how that could change the cadence and timbre of discussion.
“They’ll be bigger games than others that we would normally talk about if we were just in a national show not affiliated with a regional network and teams, so we would choose the bigger games just like we would in a regular show and talk about those,” Golic said. “That will be no different – to go along with the other national topics that we’ll talk about, whatever the hot topics are for the day.”
What’s Old is New in the Afternoon
Even though there have been alterations in the platforms of dissemination over the years, Golic is going to be approaching the program in the same manner. In the end, he recognizes that his employer will decide how the show is distributed, and it will be up to him to present his distinctive style and passion to the airwaves. As someone who has been in the business for more than three decades, he considers himself “too old to change,” but he will nonetheless enjoy the challenge of hosting in the afternoons for the first time in his professional career.
“I’m looking at it as a glass half full,” Golic said. “I get the best of both worlds. I still get to talk about what happened the night before to a point, but then also get to talk about what’s coming up in just a couple of hours from the end of our show [with] whatever sports are going on.”
Golic’s son, Mike, has hosted in the afternoons before and is excited to return to the timeslot for the first time since his days at ESPN. The father-son combination has proved to be a formidable duo over the years, first collaborating on the national airwaves alongside Wingo in morning drive on ESPN Radio. The program lasted for three years before ending in 2020, but the duo ended up reuniting a few years later to host together on DraftKings Network. Golic had been previously working with Jessica Smetana on a podcast, but he concluded his tenure with the company hosting alongside his son once again and continuing to resonate with viewers.
“While I’m a bit old school, I understand the new-school ways. He kind of helped bring me into the new-school way of thinking, not that I was the old man on the front lawn saying, “Get off my lawn!,’ but there are old-school values that I still hold that are different today. Mike kind of brings that out of me as well, so they’re really good discussions along that part,” Golic said.
“But I definitely have to make sure I catch myself and not take for granted that I’m doing a show with a co-host who is named Mike Golic Jr., but appreciate the fact as I’m finishing my career, I get to do it working with my kid, which is a very cool thing.”
The End of ‘Mike & Mike’
Whereas Golic acknowledges that his son can both host and provide analysis, he realizes that the different dynamic that existed in his longtime national radio program alongside Mike Greenberg. The Mike & Mike show lasted for 18 years, finishing as the longest-tenured morning program in the history of ESPN Radio, and he considered the offering to proffer an entertaining verve with the yin-and-yang motif. Realizing that they were complete opposites, one of the promos for the show was modeled after “The Odd Couple,” and they remained cognizant of their audience and sought to be family friendly.
“We weren’t going to be a show moms had to turn off for their kids when they were driving their kids to school, and we were proud of that fact,” Golic said. “We really kind of entertained. Through ESPN, obviously, we got really good guests and had good conversations with them, but I think it was just a good, entertaining show.”
Golic’s last few months with ESPN took place during the global pandemic, and he ended up hosting the program from the couch of his basement. When his tenure officially concluded, he found himself as a guest on numerous programs, leading his wife to urge him to get back to work and divulging that he had too much to say. Since that time though, he has been partnering with larger companies despite having an opportunity to leverage his brand equity to create his own network. Golic decided against the proposition to ensure he would be able to spend time with his family and be present in the lives of his grandchildren.
“I figured it was going to be… a real full-time job preparing or building a network like a Colin Cowherd did or a Dan Patrick did, and those guys are unbelievably impressive for what they have done, and maybe I could have,” Golic surmised. “Maybe I sold myself short on that. Quite honestly, I may have. But you know what? I’m 62 now – I don’t think I’ll start to do it now. I had my chance to do it, but I just chose to be with the family as much as I possibly could.”
A Different Style for a Different Generation
Golic values the personal connection fostered through radio and has witnessed the instantaneous pace of feedback, although he does not always listen to users on social media platforms. Conversely though, he recognizes how the content ecosystem is replete with nuanced choices for consumers, a state that can render it more difficult to gain a proverbial foothold in terms of market share and reaching total addressable audience. As Golic remains attuned to the media landscape, he realizes there has been somewhat of a shift in style within the existing landscape.
“One thing I’ve never, never wanted to do is make myself part of the story, and that seems to be kind of an in thing now when someone on the show makes themselves part of the story,” Golic said. “It’s just a different [thing], and maybe that’s part of so many people involved in it, they’re trying to stand out, and you know what? If that’s what they feel they need to do, I understand it because there are so many options out there – so many options – that people need to find a way to stand out, so, ‘How are you finding your way to stand out?’ is something that only each host can decide.”
In addition to the new show with FanDuel Sports Network, Golic remains open to what the network wants them to do, such as guest appearances and traveling to marquee events. With this new venture, he hopes that he and his son will be able to construct a loyal audience who looks to tune in and takes a vested interest in what they have to say with no end in sight.
“I would never put an age on when I would stop doing anything,” Golic said. “It’s just how much I enjoy doing it, and I’m about to have my fourth grandchild. How many grandchildren are here that, at some point, I’d rather play with than go do a show.”
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Derek Futterman is a former associate editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. Find him on X @derekfutterman.
