September 12, 2024 • 31 mins
In this episode of The Deal, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly start off by discussing their excitement for the pro and college football seasons. The hosts then interview New York sports radio icon Mike Francesa about his legendary career at WFAN and his partnership with Chris Russo on Mike and the Mad Dog. Francesa shares his insights on the evolution of sports media, the future of baseball and what he says are the three biggest stories in New York sports.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hi.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Everyone, welcome to the deal. I'm Jason Kelly along with
my co host Alex Rodriguez. All right, Alex, I feel
like this is a really special edition kind of paired
with some of our earlier shows. We're getting deep into
the media world, not just the media world, the baseball
media world of New York City sports radio talk show hosts.
Mike Francessa. You listen to him, You listen to him
(00:37):
talk about you. So I can't wait to get into
all that. I mean, you've got to have a lot
to ask him.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
First of all, a lot like Michael Kay.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
These guys have had Mike Processa on sports radio talk
over the last three and a half decades, So passionate,
bigger than life character, and when he has an opinion,
he's resolute about it with a lot of factions.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Everyone's going to hear it. All right.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
So before we get to that, you and I both
sent our college kids back to school, which I don't
know how it is in your house. That's a big
moment in my house because everything, like the tone and
tenor just changes when they leave.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
Bittersweetness for sure, you know, I have one in Michigan
who's a sophomore this year, and then I send my
little one to Boston on a you know, little retreat,
and I miss my girls, you know, dearly as you
as you do.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
I'm sure, all right.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
So one of the things that does happen when fall
is upon us is college football's back, which has been
super exciting to watch. You have to be excited about
the Miami Hurricanes right now. They're looking really, really good.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
So that's one.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
And then playoff baseball, the NFL so World Series. Playoff baseball.
You're going to be in LA, You're going to be
tracking it. How are you feeling about the playoffs upcoming?
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Well, first of.
Speaker 5 (01:53):
All, you know to zoom out Jason's answer your first question.
I feel great about baseball. I think commission on Manford
and Tony Clark the head of the union. Obviously Rob Manford,
the baseball commissioner. He deserves to go to the Hall
of Fame just for this one change he did alone.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Is the time clock.
Speaker 5 (02:08):
You've gone from three and a half hours to under
two or two and change.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
That's been wonderful.
Speaker 5 (02:13):
I'm one probably in the minority, Jason, and where I'm
incredibly bullish in baseball long term.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Obviously short term you have some you know, headwinds.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
However, I think you have a perfect storm potentially with
the World Series that is very much looking like it
could be a rematch of seventy seven to seventy eight
World Series.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Of Yankees Dodgers.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
Now, one of the things that I think Rob Manford
and Tony Clark, the head of the Union, have an
opportunity is you have to change the narrative a little bit.
You can't have the only metrics be ratings because you
have a competitive disadvantage with Fox. I mean, you have
NFL at you know, seventeen eighteen games, you have NBA
eighty two and you're at one sixty two. The conversation
(02:58):
that we'll be getting out there is the biggest inning eater,
which means we get more content in our sport consumed
by fans than any sport around And that conversation should
be monetized some way, somehow. And then you got to
jump into you know, can we do a situation where
you have what HBO does with their show with Hard
(03:20):
Knocks and all of that, and yeah, look you have Otani,
you have Judge of so many wonderful stories. But I
think over the next three to five years, baseball should
start changing the conversation and really taking the helmets off
these great players so we can be invested in them,
so then we can cheer for them.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
And I'll give you another status is going to blow
you away? You ready for this? Bucking your chin strap, Jason?
Are you ready?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
All right?
Speaker 5 (03:41):
The Dodgers is my prediction, and we're going to go
back and visit it. I want you to call me
on it, so keep me honest. The Dodgers will be
the first team in professional sports around the globe that
surpasses the billion dollar revenue mark, and.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
A big part of that is Otani.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Totally. Yeah, it was interesting.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
I I was just talking about how baseball does have
this global opportunity which is sitting right there which to
compare contrast.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
And I'm with you.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I think Manfred has done a really good job, especially
of late, with the things that he's doing with the game.
The pitchclock, you know, the widening the bases, you know,
some of the rules, extra innings and whatnot that have
sped the game up, made it a little more exciting.
It does feel like baseball is missing a beat that
the NFL is increasingly aggressive on, that the NBA is
(04:30):
super aggressive on in terms of really making it a
global game. And when you think about how popular baseball
was in this country, it is just as popular, if
not more so. If you think about Central and South America,
you think about Asia, as you were just mentioning with Otani,
think about the you know, the season starting as it
(04:52):
did in Korea, massive massive fan base. They need to
be leaning into that more. And part of it is
just embracing it in a way. Fe and you've had
a front row seat to this. The NBA has done
that in a massive way, recruiting from overseas and also
exporting the product there. So I just I feel like
baseball needs to and can do more, or otherwise it
(05:15):
is gonna keep sort of slipping vis a vis some
of these other big pro leagues.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
And let me add one thing to your great point
is think about the NBA right, whether it's Steph Curry,
going back, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, you think about Michael Jordan,
and take our own player, Anthony Edwards, who just turned
twenty three. He just finished on Netflix documentary. We know
more about Anthony Edwards than we know about Aaron Judge
and Shohei Otani, and there's absolutely.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
No reason for that.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
These guys are world class, historic players, but we need
to invest in marketing these players and getting to know that.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
And that goes back to the friction.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
Of course, Marvin Miller who started the union, you know,
many decades ago, and baseball with this.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Union owners hate each other.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
You've got to come together and build that watermelon as
big as possible and try to figure out what's a
better way to split that.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
And to wrap this up. I mean, the product on
the field is great. So I was toward the end
of the summer, I was in southern California, as you know,
we were in LA for the weekend. We literally landed
and everybody, I felt like we ran into a lax
was talking about the fact that Shohe Otani had just
had a walk off Grand Slam, and I mean it
(06:22):
was like one of those electric moments where you know
you're in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
If you think about Otani, you think about Aaron Judge.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
These are generational players, and so you really do hope,
you know, selfishly just for fans, but also selfishly for
the business of baseball. Otani versus Judge in the World Series.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I'm in. I'm one hundred percent.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Is there a better product than watching Otani against Judge,
Yankees versus Dodgers and Yankee Stadium or Dodgers you pick
on a beautiful fall night. I mean, I take it
against football. I'll take it against basketball, take it against soccer.
There is nothing better. So to your point, the heart,
this sport's already done. You have a talent, you have
a great game, you have an incredible history. Now we
(07:05):
got to do a little bit more storytelling.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
All right, Well, speaking of storytelling, we know that he's
a big storyteller. Coming up, sports radio talk show host
Mike Francessa the legend he's going to tell us, probably
his take.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
On what's going to happen coming out of the World Series.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
All right, so, Alex, we're bringing in now Mike Francessa,
a legend, no doubt about it. One of the most successful,
best known sports radio talk show hosts in American history.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Mike, Welcome to the deal.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
My pleasure. Hey, Ron, how are you.
Speaker 6 (07:48):
I'm doing great, Mike, Great to see you, as always.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
My pleasure.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
All right, So let's start there.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Mike what do you remember about first hearing about and
meeting Alex Rodriguez.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
You know, the Mike and the Man show had already
started before er came up. But Ayrod was a very
savvy player, even when he was in Seattle. And he
actually came and visited our show at spring training one time,
and we were like completely mystified and surprised because that's
very unusual for an out of town player, especially a
young one, to kind of seek us out. And he
(08:20):
came and introduced himself to us, and we were like
shocked by that, And he came on the show, and
then he had a habit of coming on the show
a lot, and then obviously as the years went on,
he and I developed a friendship. Then eventually, obviously his
career led to the Yankees after the stint in Texas,
and all those years he would be a visitor on
(08:41):
the show a couple of times a year, he'd be
a guest. He became kind of a regular, and obviously
when he came to New York, it blossomed from there
and we've always maintained a close relationship.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
So Alex, what prompted you to do that in the
first place.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
Yeah, Well, look the thing about Mike, and I'm lucky
to call him a friend today and a big fan,
but I get upset with him sometimes because you know,
he's got the perfect hair, he's got a house he's
in I think Cornelius Vanderbilder.
Speaker 6 (09:08):
John T.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Rockerrock get Off. It is about as big as your
garage when are you a kid.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
And so you know, I was a fan Jason way
before I was a major league baseball player, and I
was fortunate to play for almost a quarter of a century.
But with Mike, he's such an integral part and has
been of the fabric.
Speaker 6 (09:30):
Of New York sports, New York period. So anyways, Mike
is awesome. I don't think there'll ever be another one
like Mike.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Prosessa listen Ad has been a big Stuft for a
very long time. And the Mic and the Marydog Show was,
you know, hit the ground running and became a sensation.
It really did. And we were together for twenty years,
so we were in a big place for a long time.
So we had a lot of players, but he was
one that was always connected to us. So that's really
how it started. And then a Ron obviously had just
(09:58):
not been one who was shied away from the line light.
Through the years, he seemed to find the spotlight now
and again, as we all know.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Really well, I want to dig into the Mike and
the mad Dog era, but I would love to go
back just a little further if we could, because it's funny.
Alex and I talk about this all the time because
I have something of a dream job.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Alex has obviously had a dream job.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
You have a dream job, But like there are a
lot of kids who have dreams of being who you are,
How does.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
This start for you?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Like are you listening to the radio as a kid
and saying I can do that?
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Like, what's the origin story here?
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Okay, like every other kid. When I was a kid,
I grew up and I wanted to play center field
for the Yankees. Okay, I wasn't good enough. Okay, I
love baseball. I like to play baseball. But that's everybody's
dream when they are kids. And I did not grow
up wanting to be a broadcaster. But I did always
have a fascination and a very much an attachments to
(10:58):
sports and to the game since I was a little boy.
I've just always devoured everything. When I was a little kid.
I used to stop this on the school bus a
block from school and buy the newspapers when I was
in second grade and read them in the classroom. I
paid eight cents for the daily news in those days,
so I did it from a very young age. What
happened was my first real break was well. ESPN wanted
(11:24):
to hid me, but I wound up going to CBS
and I became Brent Musburger's right hand man, his information guy.
At a very young age, I worked on the NFL Today.
I wrote Jimmy the Greek Syndicate a column when I
was very young. I worked for him. I did the
NFL Today for years. I wrote Jimmy the Greek's column
three times a week when I was eighteen. I actually
(11:45):
inherited it from Pete x Holm. As a matter of fact,
it was one of the brilliant sports writers of all time,
who was a guy who was a little bit of
a mentor to me, who died very young. So I
got involved, and he is really the way I got
into sports. Talok, it's very strange, who worked at ESPN
for many years. You might know him as a divine albino.
He's a legendary figure in sports. He was at Rolling Stone,
(12:08):
but then he became the guy who ran Inside Sports magazine.
I did some work for Inside Sports magazine. Well, Inside
Sports Magazine went out and John was looking to do something,
so he said, Hey, I'm going to pitch Random House
on a book. You write the college let Pete Axlm
write the pros. So he did a book called Inside
(12:29):
Football for Random House for a couple of years eighty
four eighty five. I was a lowman on a totem
pole because Axel was already the guy who was the
commerce for Newsweek. He was a legendary writer. He was
a lot older than me. He was twenty years older
than me. So I was the lowman on a totem pole.
I had to do all the interviews at the radio
stations to promote the book. When I would go to
(12:50):
promote the book, I'd sit in there and they'd interview me,
and I'd walk out of the room and I swear
I'm not going to mention any names. I'd walk out
and say, hey, I could be better than that guy
right now, I mean, and I was like, you gotta
be kidding me. I could do this blindfolded better than
that guy. Okay, well I thought about that. And then
during the eighty six playoffs, so I'm driving and I'm
(13:13):
listening to ten fifty country music AM station in New
York WHN ten to fifty AM. They had the met
games and they go to commercial with what they call
a bump and it says sports Radio ten fifty, and
I'm like, what what is sports radio ten fifty? So
I investigate. I find out they're going to start an
(13:34):
all sports station next July. They're gonna flip the station
from country music. They had been bought by a company
called M's Broadcasting at Indianapolis, and they're gonna start an
all sports station. So I write them a letter. I
asked them for an interview. They bring me in. They say,
why would someone who works for CBS Sports Network Television
want to work as a radio producer. I said, I
(13:56):
don't want to be a radio producer. I said, I
want to have a sports talk show. They said, oh no,
we're bringing in the biggest guys in the country, the
biggest guys. Ever. You wouldn't have a chance ever to
have a show here. I said, give me a chance,
and they said no. They said it's overqualified to be
a producer. They said no once, they said no twice.
(14:18):
I know one of the producers. I work with him
at Gillett. I'll call him, he calls them. They gave
me a weekend tryout that led to a weekend show,
which led to me stepping in on Thanksgiving for Pete Franklin,
which led to me going the afternoon drive and being
there for thirty.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Oh my god, that's incredible. So I mean, Alex, there's
the lesson shoot your shot.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
So Mike, I want to go back a little bit
before the weekend gig because obviously you're a voracious reader.
The fact that you were behind the newspaper eight cents
and second greatest incredible.
Speaker 6 (14:49):
I've never heard that. Was it your father? Was it
your mother?
Speaker 5 (14:51):
Was it your grandpa? That you can hold court because
you do have a gift from God that when you speak,
you're able to land your points clearly and concisely.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
How and where the hell did you get that from?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I've never really spent a lot of time on this.
I think most of my audience knows it. My father
left when I was very young. I never saw him again,
so we grow up fatherless. My mother had to work
my older brother took me to games a couple of
times when I was we didn't have money to go
to games or anything. I had to work most of
my time since I was like nine years old to help,
you know, put some you know, food on the table.
(15:25):
I always had a knack for this stuff when I
was young. It wasn't like anybody taught me. I taught myself.
I've been lucky enough to have a lot of people
I've met through the years who have been very good
at teaching me different things. I spent a lot of
years working with Arab Passeigan, who was a football wizard
(15:46):
at CBS. Musburger was a guy I learned a lot
from When I was young. Bill pass Els and I
have always been very very close, So I've learned a
lot of football from those guys. I got a chance
to spend a lot of time around Bob Knight, I
learned basketball. I think I've spent time around. I've been
lucky to spend it around a lot of people who
(16:07):
helped teach me the games the right way and put
a lot of pressure on me to learn it the
right way. So I think that was just thing positive.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
And so, Mike, how do you get together with Chris Russo,
what's the mad dog Mike meet cute story?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Oh, shotgun marriage? It was. So, here's what happens. I'm
filling in for Pete Franklin, who has been ill. He
had a three year contract. He came from Cleveland. He
never caught on in New York. So they're going to
move on now. Was the time when I'm filling in
for him over the summer, I didn't realize I was
doing really well in the ratings. I wasn't cognizant and
(16:43):
small enough yet savvy enough to understand the ratings. I
hadn't been the business long enough. If I did, it
could have been a different because I might have implied
some pressure, which I didn't think I had the ability
to do that. I thought I had to just do
what they said. They called me in at the time.
Dog is doing really well. He's catching on what I
am miss. He's got a little bit of a following.
They called me and said, you know what, we're not
(17:05):
getting a new Pete Franklin in September. We're going to
put you in Afternoon Drive. I'm like, great, this is great.
You won't regret it. And they said we have the
show Mike and the Mad Dog, and I said, no way,
no way. In the Afternoon Drive. I don't want to
work with mad Dog, I said, I don't even like
mad Dog. I want to work, I said, I've only
(17:28):
heard him a couple of times. I want to I'm
a solo act. I don't want to work with anybody.
They said, either you work with Dog in the afternoon
in ten days, or you don't go to Afternoon Drive.
Your call. I'm like, I didn't think I had any leverage.
I didn't realize they did. I go home, make a decision.
(17:51):
I'll do it. He obviously doesn't want to do it either,
but decides we'll both do it. A lot of people
thought it was a big mistake. They're not gonna mesh.
It's not gonna work. Well. It starts off and we
hate each other and we are trying to one up
each other, and we're fighting and we're screaming, and the
show is awful, and the program director calls me and says,
(18:13):
you know, the general manager, you didn't want this show.
I just didn't believe in this show. I'm gonna get
fired because of the show. This was my great idea,
and you guys are blowing it. I'm telling you we'll
take both of you down with me because you know what,
I'm gonna get fired do something. So we go back.
Nothing's working. I come up with a gimmick called Dog
(18:34):
Date Afternoon I was married, Dog was single. He bought
into it. It became a sensation. Now at the same time,
the first book comes out, the rating book. Rating books
are at that time, they're every three months. In radio,
before that was just trends. The first rating period comes out,
the first trend, and we go from eleventh to third.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
And then the book comes out and second and people
are like, who were saying, we wouldn't have finished fifteenth?
A sports show would never work in afternoon drive. No
one could ever do a full time sports show in
New York and get away with it. We're now number two,
and we know now we're not going anywhere. Within six months,
we're in number one by four points.
Speaker 6 (19:18):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
And we knew that no matter what we did. What
we both did was rip up our contracts and get
new deals. And we realized that despite all our issues,
that we were stuck together. And we were stuck together
for twenty years. And you know why. It works so well.
You know why it's the best sports stock show of
all time by a mile, because you had two guys
(19:42):
who understood how to work together and play off each other,
but both thought they were better individually and alone than
they were together their whole careers.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Wow, So do you still feel that way?
Speaker 6 (19:57):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Now listen, he's still working twenty years later, doing really well.
I was number one the rest of my life after
he left, for the rest of my years, and that
was about when he left. I worked eleven straight years
and was number one the whole time. So I think
we both proved a point and we were right together,
and we were great apart. And the reason why we
(20:23):
were so great together is because we're great apart.
Speaker 7 (20:27):
Yeah, and so what was it like when you did
split up?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
What was that weird for you? Like? How did you
very weird job?
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So the show? Now he left and they were really
mad at him for leaving. Now, remember the station had
just had had the same afternoon and morning drive for
eighteen years, number one billing station in America many years.
I am is in the morning, Mike and Amans are
going the afternoon, the most accessible station in the country.
(21:06):
They never had to think about anything for eighteen years
and now Dog leaves, So now what they've had for
all these years is gone. So did I feel pressure? Enormous,
enormous pressure that a lot of people said I was
not going to make it, it was not going to
be the same. And I actually did better in the ratings,
(21:26):
which I was very proud of. But I have to
tell you, I really was worried. I have to admit,
because I was like, if I fail, I'm never going
to forgive myself and never hear the end of it.
But didn't happen.
Speaker 5 (21:38):
So, Mike, I want to go back to what you said,
which is really interesting, like the amount of pressure Mad
Dog leaves.
Speaker 6 (21:45):
Now you're like a one man show.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
How much different was the preparation where you're one solo
act for multiple hours versus being with Mad Dog with
a co pilot.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
The preparation wasn't different, but the show is completely different. Well,
because when you have a two man show, you had
to realize early on that we sat down at the beginning,
a lot of stuff has to be thought out when
you're a two man show. Like we sat down early
on and I said to the producer, Hey, everybody's gonna
(22:17):
always ask me because they think I'm the sports guy.
They're gonna ask me every question. We need to have
Dog answer the phones. I'm not gonna answer the phones
so that they talked to Dog first. Otherwise they're not
gonna talk to him. So we have to have him.
So what people don't realize is you have to have
a division of labor to make those work. Twenty years,
(22:40):
Mike and the Mad Dog, I never opened the show
or close the show. You listen to two man shows,
they'll be good night, good night, good night, good night,
five times good night because they each want to say
good night or hello. I never ever said hello, and
I never ever said goodbye, and I never once welcomed
(23:01):
in a phone call. In twenty years.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
Wow, and I've watched probably as many show as anybody.
Speaker 6 (23:06):
I've never noticed that as.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
A st No one knows that because we had to
have a division of labor.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Mike, if you think about decisions like that, like how
much of it is instinct, how much of it is
just learning from doing? Help us understand the the Mike
Francesa's secret sauce here.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
All right, listen. It was my job to plan the
show every day and that I would say, here's what
we're gonna open with, here's what the story today is,
here's where we're gonna go. Okay. Now, some days he
might have an idea, and I'm not saying we wouldn't
open with that, but most times that was my job, okay.
And we always had an idea. We always knew where
we were gonna go. But there were days where the
show was slow, where we say we need to turn
(23:48):
this over because it was flat, or I'd say come
not a commercial and say follow me. If I said
follow me, he could follow me. Unbelievably. He knew how
to play the clown. I knew how to reel them
out like a fishing rod. I would cast them out
and reel them in. I would cast them out and
reel them in. I would cast them out and make
(24:08):
them nuts and have them go crazy. I would let
them out, reel them in. That was my job.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
So Alex mentioned that, you know, now we find you
on a platform wherever, obviously very familiar with the podcasting platform.
How has that transition been for you?
Speaker 1 (24:24):
How?
Speaker 3 (24:25):
How is it the same, how is it different? And
how do you approach it?
Speaker 2 (24:28):
It's not any different. I don't approach it any differently,
except it's not Paul eccentric. It is top eccentric.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Right.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
So during football season, I love this. I will do
a Wednesday live show and this year they've now created
for me the Mike Francesc Channel on YouTube, so I
have my own channel now. Also, I've been doing a
lot of audio, but I'm going to do a lot
of video too, and I'll have a huge audience and
they'll listen to it. Some will stay up and watch it.
(24:59):
Others well brand it Monday morning as the taking the
train or wherever, or listening in their car. You know,
this is now very different from the old days because
now it's appointment radio. You can listen to anything anytime
you want, which is something you didn't have. You know,
in the old days, no one people would wait in
their car and tell me they changed their lunch hour
(25:21):
from twelve to one to one to two so that
they could hear the open of the show.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Hey, Mike, I love the fact that you have a
video element, and for someone who's heard you as much
as anyone. But Jason, let me bring you behind the
scenes a little bit on Mike and I's relationship.
Speaker 6 (25:37):
You know, when my partner and I Mark Laurie.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
We're pursuing the Mets, and thank goodness that Steve con
won that deal because we're very happy with the Timberloves.
Speaker 6 (25:45):
But as we were pursuing that, it was it was
a very long.
Speaker 5 (25:49):
Entiresome process, probably seven eight months along those and that
was around COVID. I would tick in with Mike all
the time because no one knows that fan base better
than Mike.
Speaker 6 (25:58):
Princessa period story, and when he was giving me this.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
Advice, I quickly found out, I'm like this guy, Mike
Prosessa could be an incredible asset to Mark and I
and I was going to offer from a huge job
with us with the Matt's huge I don't know if
it would have taken it, but I'm surprised, Mike that
more people in ownership management haven't approached you to dig
(26:24):
into your your rolodex, the way you think about sports,
connecting with the fan base, and your knowledge of sports.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
I know football, but baseballs, because what I heard your
most is what I know most.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
Anyone besides us that was kind of thinking about bringing
you into the front office, and that's something.
Speaker 6 (26:39):
You would consider.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
I have to tell you a couple of ownership groups
called me up about different things. One called me up
and asked me what the big that happened? Once? You
know that when you talked about that, I told you
about a couple of the ownership groups that I knew
were doing what because a couple of them had called me.
You actually know a couple of the other guys. Obviously
(27:00):
we don't need to say the names. But there were
a lot of people in on the met thing. But
you know, I like business, I like the stock market.
I like business. I've always managed my own affairs. I
haven't had an agent. I manage my own affairs. Once
in a while, I use Mike Levine, who runs CAAA.
If I have a big deal, like bringing Mike Levine,
who's a friend of mine, to do it. But otherwise
(27:22):
I do it myself. I did my last four or
five FAAN contracts with myself and Milk Commerson. I did
it myself with Lessman invest and with Melcomerson, myself. No agent. Wow.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
All right, So as we start to wrap up here, Mike,
I got to ask you, what do you think is
the most compelling sports story in New York?
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Right now? You know it better than anyone like, what's.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
The story that just either like needs to be told
more or has really just gripped your attention?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
All right, we have actually right now in New York
a very juicy time. So we have. If I if
you had asked me this eighteen months ago, I would
have said nothing. But now I will give you three. Okay, okay.
Number one, without any question is Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. Now,
(28:12):
Aaron Rodgers is from Mars Okay. As a person, He's
from Mars Okay or Jupiter. I'm not sure which one.
But let me say this, in all my years of
watching football, he might be the most talented quarterback I've
ever seen. I didn't say the winning is. I didn't
say the clutches. I said the most talented. And he
is the most accurate pastor I've ever seen. I think
(28:34):
he has a lot left. I think the Jets if
he and the left tackle stay healthy and the coach
doesn't screw it up, and I think the coach is
a real detriment, I believe they could have a great season,
and I'm talking about a super season.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Number two, the Knicks are fascinating. For so long, the
Knicks rivaled the Mets and the Jets. All three of
them could screw up a one car funeral. Okay, they've
all He's been able to do that, and now they
have done nothing wrong and they are on the verge.
They got very lucky with Brunson because listen, I've always
(29:11):
been a Villanova guy, and I loved the Villanova teams.
I loved Brunson. I thought he could play in the league.
I thought he could be a starter in the league.
I never thought he could be anything like this in
the league. Ever, no one did. Now they have a
team that is on the verge of being a championship contender,
and they have made no wrong moves. They are one
(29:31):
move away, and then the third one is tied into
both teams. It's the future of Soto. I'm telling you,
I don't see how writing him a six hundred million
dollars check, and I don't see him taking a dollar
less than five point fifty And would judge there, how
do you give him two hundred and fifty million less
(29:52):
than Soto? And Soto there and the Mets flurking. I
think the Sodo thing is going to be fascinating, absolutely fascinating.
The missive overachieved. Just the fact that they're playing important
games is better than anybody thought. The Yankees are not
that good because to be honest, I've been a five
hundred team since June first, and I don't think they're
(30:13):
gonna make the World Series. And then the sobo thing
is gonna be fascinating, absolutely fascinating, because I think Hal
has a budget more than he has a design on
another championship, Mike.
Speaker 5 (30:26):
And that to your point, just to add insult to injury,
the representative of US.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
You know, he's gonna start his five hundred million dollars.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
Oh man, he's looking down a townty deal for seven
hundred million, and he's gonna.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Say hey, and the pressure and the pressure from the
Play Association is going to be enormous.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Massive, absolutely absolutely Well Mike, you have been incredibly gracious
with your time.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
We really really appreciate it. Thank you so much, Thank.
Speaker 6 (30:55):
You, Thank you the best. Thank you, buddy, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and me Jason Kelly.
This episode was made by Stacey Wong, Annamazarakus, Lizzie Phillip,
and Victor Eveez. Our theme music was made by Blake Maples.
Our executive producers are Kelly Laferrier, Ashley Honig, and Brendan Newnham.
Sage Bauman is the head of Bloomberg Podcasts. Additional support
(31:25):
from Rachel Scaramzzino and Elena Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Thanks for listening to the deal.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
If you have a minute, please subscribe, rate, and review
our show. It'll help other listeners find us. And remember,
if you're a Bloomberg subscriber, you can listen to all
of our episodes absolutely ad free on Apple Podcasts. All
you need to do is find the Bloomberg channel and
connect your Bloomberg account.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
I'm Jason Kelly. See you next week.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Hi.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Everyone, welcome to the deal. I'm Jason Kelly along with
my co host Alex Rodriguez. All right, Alex, I feel
like this is a really special edition kind of paired
with some of our earlier shows. We're getting deep into
the media world, not just the media world, the baseball
media world of New York City sports radio talk show hosts.
Mike Francessa. You listen to him, You listen to him
(00:37):
talk about you. So I can't wait to get into
all that. I mean, you've got to have a lot
to ask him.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
First of all, a lot like Michael Kay.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
These guys have had Mike Processa on sports radio talk
over the last three and a half decades, So passionate,
bigger than life character, and when he has an opinion,
he's resolute about it with a lot of factions.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Everyone's going to hear it. All right.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
So before we get to that, you and I both
sent our college kids back to school, which I don't
know how it is in your house. That's a big
moment in my house because everything, like the tone and
tenor just changes when they leave.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
Bittersweetness for sure, you know, I have one in Michigan
who's a sophomore this year, and then I send my
little one to Boston on a you know, little retreat,
and I miss my girls, you know, dearly as you
as you do.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
I'm sure, all right.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
So one of the things that does happen when fall
is upon us is college football's back, which has been
super exciting to watch. You have to be excited about
the Miami Hurricanes right now. They're looking really, really good.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
So that's one.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
And then playoff baseball, the NFL so World Series. Playoff baseball.
You're going to be in LA, You're going to be
tracking it. How are you feeling about the playoffs upcoming?
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Well, first of.
Speaker 5 (01:53):
All, you know to zoom out Jason's answer your first question.
I feel great about baseball. I think commission on Manford
and Tony Clark the head of the union. Obviously Rob Manford,
the baseball commissioner. He deserves to go to the Hall
of Fame just for this one change he did alone.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Is the time clock.
Speaker 5 (02:08):
You've gone from three and a half hours to under
two or two and change.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
That's been wonderful.
Speaker 5 (02:13):
I'm one probably in the minority, Jason, and where I'm
incredibly bullish in baseball long term.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Obviously short term you have some you know, headwinds.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
However, I think you have a perfect storm potentially with
the World Series that is very much looking like it
could be a rematch of seventy seven to seventy eight
World Series.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Of Yankees Dodgers.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
Now, one of the things that I think Rob Manford
and Tony Clark, the head of the Union, have an
opportunity is you have to change the narrative a little bit.
You can't have the only metrics be ratings because you
have a competitive disadvantage with Fox. I mean, you have
NFL at you know, seventeen eighteen games, you have NBA
eighty two and you're at one sixty two. The conversation
(02:58):
that we'll be getting out there is the biggest inning eater,
which means we get more content in our sport consumed
by fans than any sport around And that conversation should
be monetized some way, somehow. And then you got to
jump into you know, can we do a situation where
you have what HBO does with their show with Hard
(03:20):
Knocks and all of that, and yeah, look you have Otani,
you have Judge of so many wonderful stories. But I
think over the next three to five years, baseball should
start changing the conversation and really taking the helmets off
these great players so we can be invested in them,
so then we can cheer for them.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
And I'll give you another status is going to blow
you away? You ready for this? Bucking your chin strap, Jason?
Are you ready?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
All right?
Speaker 5 (03:41):
The Dodgers is my prediction, and we're going to go
back and visit it. I want you to call me
on it, so keep me honest. The Dodgers will be
the first team in professional sports around the globe that
surpasses the billion dollar revenue mark, and.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
A big part of that is Otani.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Totally. Yeah, it was interesting.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
I I was just talking about how baseball does have
this global opportunity which is sitting right there which to
compare contrast.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
And I'm with you.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I think Manfred has done a really good job, especially
of late, with the things that he's doing with the game.
The pitchclock, you know, the widening the bases, you know,
some of the rules, extra innings and whatnot that have
sped the game up, made it a little more exciting.
It does feel like baseball is missing a beat that
the NFL is increasingly aggressive on, that the NBA is
(04:30):
super aggressive on in terms of really making it a
global game. And when you think about how popular baseball
was in this country, it is just as popular, if
not more so. If you think about Central and South America,
you think about Asia, as you were just mentioning with Otani,
think about the you know, the season starting as it
(04:52):
did in Korea, massive massive fan base. They need to
be leaning into that more. And part of it is
just embracing it in a way. Fe and you've had
a front row seat to this. The NBA has done
that in a massive way, recruiting from overseas and also
exporting the product there. So I just I feel like
baseball needs to and can do more, or otherwise it
(05:15):
is gonna keep sort of slipping vis a vis some
of these other big pro leagues.
Speaker 5 (05:19):
And let me add one thing to your great point
is think about the NBA right, whether it's Steph Curry,
going back, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, you think about Michael Jordan,
and take our own player, Anthony Edwards, who just turned
twenty three. He just finished on Netflix documentary. We know
more about Anthony Edwards than we know about Aaron Judge
and Shohei Otani, and there's absolutely.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
No reason for that.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
These guys are world class, historic players, but we need
to invest in marketing these players and getting to know that.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
And that goes back to the friction.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
Of course, Marvin Miller who started the union, you know,
many decades ago, and baseball with this.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Union owners hate each other.
Speaker 5 (05:55):
You've got to come together and build that watermelon as
big as possible and try to figure out what's a
better way to split that.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
And to wrap this up. I mean, the product on
the field is great. So I was toward the end
of the summer, I was in southern California, as you know,
we were in LA for the weekend. We literally landed
and everybody, I felt like we ran into a lax
was talking about the fact that Shohe Otani had just
had a walk off Grand Slam, and I mean it
(06:22):
was like one of those electric moments where you know
you're in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
If you think about Otani, you think about Aaron Judge.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
These are generational players, and so you really do hope,
you know, selfishly just for fans, but also selfishly for
the business of baseball. Otani versus Judge in the World Series.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I'm in. I'm one hundred percent.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Is there a better product than watching Otani against Judge,
Yankees versus Dodgers and Yankee Stadium or Dodgers you pick
on a beautiful fall night. I mean, I take it
against football. I'll take it against basketball, take it against soccer.
There is nothing better. So to your point, the heart,
this sport's already done. You have a talent, you have
a great game, you have an incredible history. Now we
(07:05):
got to do a little bit more storytelling.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
All right, Well, speaking of storytelling, we know that he's
a big storyteller. Coming up, sports radio talk show host
Mike Francessa the legend he's going to tell us, probably
his take.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
On what's going to happen coming out of the World Series.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
All right, so, Alex, we're bringing in now Mike Francessa,
a legend, no doubt about it. One of the most successful,
best known sports radio talk show hosts in American history.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Mike, Welcome to the deal.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
My pleasure. Hey, Ron, how are you.
Speaker 6 (07:48):
I'm doing great, Mike, Great to see you, as always.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
My pleasure.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
All right, So let's start there.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Mike what do you remember about first hearing about and
meeting Alex Rodriguez.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
You know, the Mike and the Man show had already
started before er came up. But Ayrod was a very
savvy player, even when he was in Seattle. And he
actually came and visited our show at spring training one time,
and we were like completely mystified and surprised because that's
very unusual for an out of town player, especially a
young one, to kind of seek us out. And he
(08:20):
came and introduced himself to us, and we were like
shocked by that, And he came on the show, and
then he had a habit of coming on the show
a lot, and then obviously as the years went on,
he and I developed a friendship. Then eventually, obviously his
career led to the Yankees after the stint in Texas,
and all those years he would be a visitor on
(08:41):
the show a couple of times a year, he'd be
a guest. He became kind of a regular, and obviously
when he came to New York, it blossomed from there
and we've always maintained a close relationship.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
So Alex, what prompted you to do that in the
first place.
Speaker 5 (08:56):
Yeah, Well, look the thing about Mike, and I'm lucky
to call him a friend today and a big fan,
but I get upset with him sometimes because you know,
he's got the perfect hair, he's got a house he's
in I think Cornelius Vanderbilder.
Speaker 6 (09:08):
John T.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Rockerrock get Off. It is about as big as your
garage when are you a kid.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
And so you know, I was a fan Jason way
before I was a major league baseball player, and I
was fortunate to play for almost a quarter of a century.
But with Mike, he's such an integral part and has
been of the fabric.
Speaker 6 (09:30):
Of New York sports, New York period. So anyways, Mike
is awesome. I don't think there'll ever be another one
like Mike.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Prosessa listen Ad has been a big Stuft for a
very long time. And the Mic and the Marydog Show was,
you know, hit the ground running and became a sensation.
It really did. And we were together for twenty years,
so we were in a big place for a long time.
So we had a lot of players, but he was
one that was always connected to us. So that's really
how it started. And then a Ron obviously had just
(09:58):
not been one who was shied away from the line light.
Through the years, he seemed to find the spotlight now
and again, as we all know.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Really well, I want to dig into the Mike and
the mad Dog era, but I would love to go
back just a little further if we could, because it's funny.
Alex and I talk about this all the time because
I have something of a dream job.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Alex has obviously had a dream job.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
You have a dream job, But like there are a
lot of kids who have dreams of being who you are,
How does.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
This start for you?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Like are you listening to the radio as a kid
and saying I can do that?
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Like, what's the origin story here?
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Okay, like every other kid. When I was a kid,
I grew up and I wanted to play center field
for the Yankees. Okay, I wasn't good enough. Okay, I
love baseball. I like to play baseball. But that's everybody's
dream when they are kids. And I did not grow
up wanting to be a broadcaster. But I did always
have a fascination and a very much an attachments to
(10:58):
sports and to the game since I was a little boy.
I've just always devoured everything. When I was a little kid.
I used to stop this on the school bus a
block from school and buy the newspapers when I was
in second grade and read them in the classroom. I
paid eight cents for the daily news in those days,
so I did it from a very young age. What
happened was my first real break was well. ESPN wanted
(11:24):
to hid me, but I wound up going to CBS
and I became Brent Musburger's right hand man, his information guy.
At a very young age, I worked on the NFL Today.
I wrote Jimmy the Greek Syndicate a column when I
was very young. I worked for him. I did the
NFL Today for years. I wrote Jimmy the Greek's column
three times a week when I was eighteen. I actually
(11:45):
inherited it from Pete x Holm. As a matter of fact,
it was one of the brilliant sports writers of all time,
who was a guy who was a little bit of
a mentor to me, who died very young. So I
got involved, and he is really the way I got
into sports. Talok, it's very strange, who worked at ESPN
for many years. You might know him as a divine albino.
He's a legendary figure in sports. He was at Rolling Stone,
(12:08):
but then he became the guy who ran Inside Sports magazine.
I did some work for Inside Sports magazine. Well, Inside
Sports Magazine went out and John was looking to do something,
so he said, Hey, I'm going to pitch Random House
on a book. You write the college let Pete Axlm
write the pros. So he did a book called Inside
(12:29):
Football for Random House for a couple of years eighty
four eighty five. I was a lowman on a totem
pole because Axel was already the guy who was the
commerce for Newsweek. He was a legendary writer. He was
a lot older than me. He was twenty years older
than me. So I was the lowman on a totem pole.
I had to do all the interviews at the radio
stations to promote the book. When I would go to
(12:50):
promote the book, I'd sit in there and they'd interview me,
and I'd walk out of the room and I swear
I'm not going to mention any names. I'd walk out
and say, hey, I could be better than that guy
right now, I mean, and I was like, you gotta
be kidding me. I could do this blindfolded better than
that guy. Okay, well I thought about that. And then
during the eighty six playoffs, so I'm driving and I'm
(13:13):
listening to ten fifty country music AM station in New
York WHN ten to fifty AM. They had the met
games and they go to commercial with what they call
a bump and it says sports Radio ten fifty, and
I'm like, what what is sports radio ten fifty? So
I investigate. I find out they're going to start an
(13:34):
all sports station next July. They're gonna flip the station
from country music. They had been bought by a company
called M's Broadcasting at Indianapolis, and they're gonna start an
all sports station. So I write them a letter. I
asked them for an interview. They bring me in. They say,
why would someone who works for CBS Sports Network Television
want to work as a radio producer. I said, I
(13:56):
don't want to be a radio producer. I said, I
want to have a sports talk show. They said, oh no,
we're bringing in the biggest guys in the country, the
biggest guys. Ever. You wouldn't have a chance ever to
have a show here. I said, give me a chance,
and they said no. They said it's overqualified to be
a producer. They said no once, they said no twice.
(14:18):
I know one of the producers. I work with him
at Gillett. I'll call him, he calls them. They gave
me a weekend tryout that led to a weekend show,
which led to me stepping in on Thanksgiving for Pete Franklin,
which led to me going the afternoon drive and being
there for thirty.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Oh my god, that's incredible. So I mean, Alex, there's
the lesson shoot your shot.
Speaker 5 (14:39):
So Mike, I want to go back a little bit
before the weekend gig because obviously you're a voracious reader.
The fact that you were behind the newspaper eight cents
and second greatest incredible.
Speaker 6 (14:49):
I've never heard that. Was it your father? Was it
your mother?
Speaker 5 (14:51):
Was it your grandpa? That you can hold court because
you do have a gift from God that when you speak,
you're able to land your points clearly and concisely.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
How and where the hell did you get that from?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I've never really spent a lot of time on this.
I think most of my audience knows it. My father
left when I was very young. I never saw him again,
so we grow up fatherless. My mother had to work
my older brother took me to games a couple of
times when I was we didn't have money to go
to games or anything. I had to work most of
my time since I was like nine years old to help,
you know, put some you know, food on the table.
(15:25):
I always had a knack for this stuff when I
was young. It wasn't like anybody taught me. I taught myself.
I've been lucky enough to have a lot of people
I've met through the years who have been very good
at teaching me different things. I spent a lot of
years working with Arab Passeigan, who was a football wizard
(15:46):
at CBS. Musburger was a guy I learned a lot
from When I was young. Bill pass Els and I
have always been very very close, So I've learned a
lot of football from those guys. I got a chance
to spend a lot of time around Bob Knight, I
learned basketball. I think I've spent time around. I've been
lucky to spend it around a lot of people who
(16:07):
helped teach me the games the right way and put
a lot of pressure on me to learn it the
right way. So I think that was just thing positive.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
And so, Mike, how do you get together with Chris Russo,
what's the mad dog Mike meet cute story?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Oh, shotgun marriage? It was. So, here's what happens. I'm
filling in for Pete Franklin, who has been ill. He
had a three year contract. He came from Cleveland. He
never caught on in New York. So they're going to
move on now. Was the time when I'm filling in
for him over the summer, I didn't realize I was
doing really well in the ratings. I wasn't cognizant and
(16:43):
small enough yet savvy enough to understand the ratings. I
hadn't been the business long enough. If I did, it
could have been a different because I might have implied
some pressure, which I didn't think I had the ability
to do that. I thought I had to just do
what they said. They called me in at the time.
Dog is doing really well. He's catching on what I
am miss. He's got a little bit of a following.
They called me and said, you know what, we're not
(17:05):
getting a new Pete Franklin in September. We're going to
put you in Afternoon Drive. I'm like, great, this is great.
You won't regret it. And they said we have the
show Mike and the Mad Dog, and I said, no way,
no way. In the Afternoon Drive. I don't want to
work with mad Dog, I said, I don't even like
mad Dog. I want to work, I said, I've only
(17:28):
heard him a couple of times. I want to I'm
a solo act. I don't want to work with anybody.
They said, either you work with Dog in the afternoon
in ten days, or you don't go to Afternoon Drive.
Your call. I'm like, I didn't think I had any leverage.
I didn't realize they did. I go home, make a decision.
(17:51):
I'll do it. He obviously doesn't want to do it either,
but decides we'll both do it. A lot of people
thought it was a big mistake. They're not gonna mesh.
It's not gonna work. Well. It starts off and we
hate each other and we are trying to one up
each other, and we're fighting and we're screaming, and the
show is awful, and the program director calls me and says,
(18:13):
you know, the general manager, you didn't want this show.
I just didn't believe in this show. I'm gonna get
fired because of the show. This was my great idea,
and you guys are blowing it. I'm telling you we'll
take both of you down with me because you know what,
I'm gonna get fired do something. So we go back.
Nothing's working. I come up with a gimmick called Dog
(18:34):
Date Afternoon I was married, Dog was single. He bought
into it. It became a sensation. Now at the same time,
the first book comes out, the rating book. Rating books
are at that time, they're every three months. In radio,
before that was just trends. The first rating period comes out,
the first trend, and we go from eleventh to third.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
And then the book comes out and second and people
are like, who were saying, we wouldn't have finished fifteenth?
A sports show would never work in afternoon drive. No
one could ever do a full time sports show in
New York and get away with it. We're now number two,
and we know now we're not going anywhere. Within six months,
we're in number one by four points.
Speaker 6 (19:18):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
And we knew that no matter what we did. What
we both did was rip up our contracts and get
new deals. And we realized that despite all our issues,
that we were stuck together. And we were stuck together
for twenty years. And you know why. It works so well.
You know why it's the best sports stock show of
all time by a mile, because you had two guys
(19:42):
who understood how to work together and play off each other,
but both thought they were better individually and alone than
they were together their whole careers.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Wow, So do you still feel that way?
Speaker 6 (19:57):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Now listen, he's still working twenty years later, doing really well.
I was number one the rest of my life after
he left, for the rest of my years, and that
was about when he left. I worked eleven straight years
and was number one the whole time. So I think
we both proved a point and we were right together,
and we were great apart. And the reason why we
(20:23):
were so great together is because we're great apart.
Speaker 7 (20:27):
Yeah, and so what was it like when you did
split up?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
What was that weird for you? Like? How did you
very weird job?
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So the show? Now he left and they were really
mad at him for leaving. Now, remember the station had
just had had the same afternoon and morning drive for
eighteen years, number one billing station in America many years.
I am is in the morning, Mike and Amans are
going the afternoon, the most accessible station in the country.
(21:06):
They never had to think about anything for eighteen years
and now Dog leaves, So now what they've had for
all these years is gone. So did I feel pressure? Enormous,
enormous pressure that a lot of people said I was
not going to make it, it was not going to
be the same. And I actually did better in the ratings,
(21:26):
which I was very proud of. But I have to
tell you, I really was worried. I have to admit,
because I was like, if I fail, I'm never going
to forgive myself and never hear the end of it.
But didn't happen.
Speaker 5 (21:38):
So, Mike, I want to go back to what you said,
which is really interesting, like the amount of pressure Mad
Dog leaves.
Speaker 6 (21:45):
Now you're like a one man show.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
How much different was the preparation where you're one solo
act for multiple hours versus being with Mad Dog with
a co pilot.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
The preparation wasn't different, but the show is completely different. Well,
because when you have a two man show, you had
to realize early on that we sat down at the beginning,
a lot of stuff has to be thought out when
you're a two man show. Like we sat down early
on and I said to the producer, Hey, everybody's gonna
(22:17):
always ask me because they think I'm the sports guy.
They're gonna ask me every question. We need to have
Dog answer the phones. I'm not gonna answer the phones
so that they talked to Dog first. Otherwise they're not
gonna talk to him. So we have to have him.
So what people don't realize is you have to have
a division of labor to make those work. Twenty years,
(22:40):
Mike and the Mad Dog, I never opened the show
or close the show. You listen to two man shows,
they'll be good night, good night, good night, good night,
five times good night because they each want to say
good night or hello. I never ever said hello, and
I never ever said goodbye, and I never once welcomed
(23:01):
in a phone call. In twenty years.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
Wow, and I've watched probably as many show as anybody.
Speaker 6 (23:06):
I've never noticed that as.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
A st No one knows that because we had to
have a division of labor.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Mike, if you think about decisions like that, like how
much of it is instinct, how much of it is
just learning from doing? Help us understand the the Mike
Francesa's secret sauce here.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
All right, listen. It was my job to plan the
show every day and that I would say, here's what
we're gonna open with, here's what the story today is,
here's where we're gonna go. Okay. Now, some days he
might have an idea, and I'm not saying we wouldn't
open with that, but most times that was my job, okay.
And we always had an idea. We always knew where
we were gonna go. But there were days where the
show was slow, where we say we need to turn
(23:48):
this over because it was flat, or I'd say come
not a commercial and say follow me. If I said
follow me, he could follow me. Unbelievably. He knew how
to play the clown. I knew how to reel them
out like a fishing rod. I would cast them out
and reel them in. I would cast them out and
reel them in. I would cast them out and make
(24:08):
them nuts and have them go crazy. I would let
them out, reel them in. That was my job.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
So Alex mentioned that, you know, now we find you
on a platform wherever, obviously very familiar with the podcasting platform.
How has that transition been for you?
Speaker 1 (24:24):
How?
Speaker 3 (24:25):
How is it the same, how is it different? And
how do you approach it?
Speaker 2 (24:28):
It's not any different. I don't approach it any differently,
except it's not Paul eccentric. It is top eccentric.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Right.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
So during football season, I love this. I will do
a Wednesday live show and this year they've now created
for me the Mike Francesc Channel on YouTube, so I
have my own channel now. Also, I've been doing a
lot of audio, but I'm going to do a lot
of video too, and I'll have a huge audience and
they'll listen to it. Some will stay up and watch it.
(24:59):
Others well brand it Monday morning as the taking the
train or wherever, or listening in their car. You know,
this is now very different from the old days because
now it's appointment radio. You can listen to anything anytime
you want, which is something you didn't have. You know,
in the old days, no one people would wait in
their car and tell me they changed their lunch hour
(25:21):
from twelve to one to one to two so that
they could hear the open of the show.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Hey, Mike, I love the fact that you have a
video element, and for someone who's heard you as much
as anyone. But Jason, let me bring you behind the
scenes a little bit on Mike and I's relationship.
Speaker 6 (25:37):
You know, when my partner and I Mark Laurie.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
We're pursuing the Mets, and thank goodness that Steve con
won that deal because we're very happy with the Timberloves.
Speaker 6 (25:45):
But as we were pursuing that, it was it was
a very long.
Speaker 5 (25:49):
Entiresome process, probably seven eight months along those and that
was around COVID. I would tick in with Mike all
the time because no one knows that fan base better
than Mike.
Speaker 6 (25:58):
Princessa period story, and when he was giving me this.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
Advice, I quickly found out, I'm like this guy, Mike
Prosessa could be an incredible asset to Mark and I
and I was going to offer from a huge job
with us with the Matt's huge I don't know if
it would have taken it, but I'm surprised, Mike that
more people in ownership management haven't approached you to dig
(26:24):
into your your rolodex, the way you think about sports,
connecting with the fan base, and your knowledge of sports.
Speaker 6 (26:30):
I know football, but baseballs, because what I heard your
most is what I know most.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
Anyone besides us that was kind of thinking about bringing
you into the front office, and that's something.
Speaker 6 (26:39):
You would consider.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
I have to tell you a couple of ownership groups
called me up about different things. One called me up
and asked me what the big that happened? Once? You
know that when you talked about that, I told you
about a couple of the ownership groups that I knew
were doing what because a couple of them had called me.
You actually know a couple of the other guys. Obviously
(27:00):
we don't need to say the names. But there were
a lot of people in on the met thing. But
you know, I like business, I like the stock market.
I like business. I've always managed my own affairs. I
haven't had an agent. I manage my own affairs. Once
in a while, I use Mike Levine, who runs CAAA.
If I have a big deal, like bringing Mike Levine,
who's a friend of mine, to do it. But otherwise
(27:22):
I do it myself. I did my last four or
five FAAN contracts with myself and Milk Commerson. I did
it myself with Lessman invest and with Melcomerson, myself. No agent. Wow.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
All right, So as we start to wrap up here, Mike,
I got to ask you, what do you think is
the most compelling sports story in New York?
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Right now? You know it better than anyone like, what's.
Speaker 3 (27:44):
The story that just either like needs to be told
more or has really just gripped your attention?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
All right, we have actually right now in New York
a very juicy time. So we have. If I if
you had asked me this eighteen months ago, I would
have said nothing. But now I will give you three. Okay, okay.
Number one, without any question is Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. Now,
(28:12):
Aaron Rodgers is from Mars Okay. As a person, He's
from Mars Okay or Jupiter. I'm not sure which one.
But let me say this, in all my years of
watching football, he might be the most talented quarterback I've
ever seen. I didn't say the winning is. I didn't
say the clutches. I said the most talented. And he
is the most accurate pastor I've ever seen. I think
(28:34):
he has a lot left. I think the Jets if
he and the left tackle stay healthy and the coach
doesn't screw it up, and I think the coach is
a real detriment, I believe they could have a great season,
and I'm talking about a super season.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Number two, the Knicks are fascinating. For so long, the
Knicks rivaled the Mets and the Jets. All three of
them could screw up a one car funeral. Okay, they've
all He's been able to do that, and now they
have done nothing wrong and they are on the verge.
They got very lucky with Brunson because listen, I've always
(29:11):
been a Villanova guy, and I loved the Villanova teams.
I loved Brunson. I thought he could play in the league.
I thought he could be a starter in the league.
I never thought he could be anything like this in
the league. Ever, no one did. Now they have a
team that is on the verge of being a championship contender,
and they have made no wrong moves. They are one
(29:31):
move away, and then the third one is tied into
both teams. It's the future of Soto. I'm telling you,
I don't see how writing him a six hundred million
dollars check, and I don't see him taking a dollar
less than five point fifty And would judge there, how
do you give him two hundred and fifty million less
(29:52):
than Soto? And Soto there and the Mets flurking. I
think the Sodo thing is going to be fascinating, absolutely fascinating.
The missive overachieved. Just the fact that they're playing important
games is better than anybody thought. The Yankees are not
that good because to be honest, I've been a five
hundred team since June first, and I don't think they're
(30:13):
gonna make the World Series. And then the sobo thing
is gonna be fascinating, absolutely fascinating, because I think Hal
has a budget more than he has a design on
another championship, Mike.
Speaker 5 (30:26):
And that to your point, just to add insult to injury,
the representative of US.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
You know, he's gonna start his five hundred million dollars.
Speaker 5 (30:37):
Oh man, he's looking down a townty deal for seven
hundred million, and he's gonna.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Say hey, and the pressure and the pressure from the
Play Association is going to be enormous.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Massive, absolutely absolutely Well Mike, you have been incredibly gracious
with your time.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
We really really appreciate it. Thank you so much, Thank.
Speaker 6 (30:55):
You, Thank you the best. Thank you, buddy, Thank you.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and me Jason Kelly.
This episode was made by Stacey Wong, Annamazarakus, Lizzie Phillip,
and Victor Eveez. Our theme music was made by Blake Maples.
Our executive producers are Kelly Laferrier, Ashley Honig, and Brendan Newnham.
Sage Bauman is the head of Bloomberg Podcasts. Additional support
(31:25):
from Rachel Scaramzzino and Elena Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Thanks for listening to the deal.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
If you have a minute, please subscribe, rate, and review
our show. It'll help other listeners find us. And remember,
if you're a Bloomberg subscriber, you can listen to all
of our episodes absolutely ad free on Apple Podcasts. All
you need to do is find the Bloomberg channel and
connect your Bloomberg account.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
I'm Jason Kelly. See you next week.
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