Mike Francesa

Born in Long Beach, New York, Michael Francesa is an American sports-radio talk-show host. Francesa spent six years at College and Pro Football Newsweekly. In 1982, He was hired by CBS Sports as a researcher, primarily focusing on college sports. In August 1987, Francesa began working for WFAN as a weekend host, talking college football and basketball. From 1989 to 2008, Francesa and Chris Russo hosted a show dubbed "Mike and the Mad Dog." The duo won the 2000 Marconi Award for Major Market Personality of the Year, they were the first sports-talk hosts to ever win the award. On September 8, 2008, Francesa's new solo WFAN program began, titled "Mike'd Up." On March 24, 2014, Francesa's show began broadcasting nationally on Fox Sports 1. On March 30, 2016, Francesa and Russo hosted a "Mike and the Mad Dog" reunion show at Radio City Music Hall. On December 24, 2016, Francesa aired his last "Mike Francesa Football Sunday." On August 23, 2018, Francesa launched a subscription-based mobile app known as Mike's On. On January 6, 2020, Francesa debuted the first show in his new format, hosting a half-hour show on WFAN nights during the week while also hosting on Entercom's Radio.com platform. On March 24, 2020, he returned to daytime sports radio at WFAN for the first time after his second retirement, taking a temporary weekend gig. On July 24, 2020, Francesa retired from broadcasting his daily WFAN and Radio.com show for the third time. Since retirement, Michael Francesa has been podcasting with the BetRivers Network, hosting the "Mike Francesa Podcast."