Mike Francesa

Michael Patrick Francesa (born March 20, 1954) is an American sports-radio talk-show host. Together with Chris Russo, he launched Mike and the Mad Dog in 1989 on WFAN in New York City, which ran until 2008 and is one of the most successful sports-talk radio programs in American history. On December 15, 2017, Francesa retired from his own show, Mike's On: Francesa on the FAN, which had been airing in the afternoon-drive slot formerly occupied by Mike and the Mad Dog. He was succeeded by Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray and Bart Scott in the same time slot for the first ratings book of 2018. On April 27, 2018, WFAN announced that Francesa would return to the station for a -hour afternoon show, a shorter shift than his original slot. Francesa hosted this shortened afternoon drive WFAN slot during a tumultuous tenure through the end of 2019 before he retired for a second time, moving to a half-hour evening slot on WFAN while also producing content for the Entercom-owned Radio.com platform, which began in January 2020. On March 24, 2020, Francesa was tapped to return to the station for a daytime slot on Sundays, and on May 26, 2020, he returned to WFAN on weekdays for an hour each day. On July 24, 2020, Francesa retired for the third time, citing the desire for more time with his family. Currently, he hosts The Mike Francesa Podcast with BetRivers Network. Early life Francesa was born and raised in Long Beach, New York. He is the second son of Michael Anthony Francesa and his mother Marilyn, who abandoned the family when Francesa was eight years old. He has an older brother John and had a younger brother named Marty who committed suicide on November 27, 1990. Francesa attended Maria Regina High School in Uniondale (now known as Kellenberg Memorial High School) and graduated from St. John's University in 1977 (transferring there after one year at the University of South Florida), majoring in communications and athletic administration.