Pete Asch:
Welcome to the library of the New York Stock Exchange for a special episode of Inside the ICE House, Intercontinental Exchanges podcast. I'm your host, Pete Asch. I'm excited to be joined by Mike Francesa, the mind and voice behind Mike's On, a new digital platform that will go live on Friday, August 24th at 1:00 PM. He's here today to ring the opening bell and highlight the launch with his partner, CAA sports and Entercom. That is NYIC ticker symbol ETM. For someone who grew up in the broadcast range of New York city. Mike Francesa's voice is the sound of sports. A 2018 national radio hall of fame inductee, he's been a staple on television and radio since the early 1980s. Mike is best known as the host of WFANs afternoon drive slot, the first 19 years as co-host of Mike and the Mad Dog, and, since 2008 on Mike's On. Welcome to the show, Mike.
Mike Francesa:
Thank you, my pleasure
Pete Asch:
Did a little research, it's been about 16 years since you broadcast right outside this building, in front of the facade. It's your first time back since then?
Mike Francesa:
I think I've been back as a visitor. Dick Grasso was a big supporter, the tomorrow's children's fund, and WFAN. When it was Imus in the morning and Mike and the Mad Dog in the afternoon, which it was for 18 years, consecutively, we were here a lot. We did shows here. We did charity events here. We did our Radiothon here. We rang the bell, Dog and I. We were here with Dick Grasso on numerous occasions. We were here a lot. I haven't been here in recent years, so it's changed a lot. It's nice to be back.
Pete Asch:
It's certainly changed a lot and really sport's landscape has changed a lot in that time.
Mike Francesa:
Enormously. It continues to change and I think all of us, who have been fortunate enough to be a part of it for all these years, know you have to change with it. There's no way around that. that's part of what I'm doing now. Part of what brought me back, when I left had some ideas, I had a lot of offers, but I really had an idea in my head that I wanted to start this content vehicle that had certain qualities to it. That's where Mike's On came from. I didn't want to do a podcast, not that there's anything against them and everyone's doing them, and I think they're going to be around for a very, very long time. I think the economics of the podcast has to change a little bit, but I think it will. I think it'll find its own level, but I want to do something a little different. I think I've done that with the app I've created.
Pete Asch:
Fantastic. Yeah. There was a lot of rumors, especially with your appearance on Bill Simmons, the ringer, that podcast was direction. One of the things I wanted to know is, you already are doing 15 hours live radio. You're redoing the two football shows on the weekends, now adding all this, how do you prepare to create all this content?
Mike Francesa:
I'm a content machine. That's just me. I have a lot of stuff in my head. I live it. I don't have to prepare. I think if you had to prepare the way I work, it would be very difficult. I watch everything. I don't have anybody prepare me. No one prepares notes for me, my producers do different things. They book guests, they do a lot of logistical thing. They do not prepare information for me, never questions, never information of any kind. That's all my job. I go in there prepared, and I never go in there with notes. I go in there and I'm ready to go.
Pete Asch:
When you move to this platform, what will people be able to access besides the radio show?
Mike Francesa:
Well, first off, it's built around a couple of things. The Sunday show, which I've done for 30 years, which has been a top rated show, will only be available on the app. The audio, obviously, is there every day on my regular show from 3:00 to 6:30, but the video of that show will only be available on the app. A college football show that we'll do each week will only be available on the app. Then I've created some other categories, like the Francesa 50, which I think is going to be very exciting. I want to be able to be on before, sometimes at halftime, if it's a football game, and after what I consider to be the top 50 events of the year. Whether they're the final four, a playoff game, a world series game, whatever it may be in any sport. What I deem the top events, I want to be able to be on before and after those events.
Mike Francesa:
I think that kind of immediacy is something that I've always wanted to have. I think it's the next generation of where we're headed in sports in terms of what we're delivering. I think that's the most important part of this, is the immediacy. I can go on at 7:00 in the morning. I can go on at 2:00 in the morning. I can go on within one minute of a breaking story anywhere, anytime. That kind of immediacy, I think, will change things. That's really one of the things that I think will be most special about the app I've created.
Pete Asch:
Your radio show often goes into non sports topics. Will the platform also, will be breaking news on-?
Mike Francesa:
Yeah. It's funny. I will do business, which I do. I'm a big stock guy. I've appeared on CNBC plenty of times. I've co-hosted the halftime report with the guys. I know those guys. I actually interact with some of them. I'm very involved in business, which will be definitely a part of it in the mornings. The one thing about politics that I've found, especially in the age of Trump, is you divide half your audience by opening your mouth. That's tricky for what I do, because I'm not looking to send half my audience anywhere. I'm not sure how much politics I will do, especially in this age of divisiveness like I've never seen before. No matter which side you take, you're going to lose half your audience. I'm not looking to lose any part of my audience. I don't see myself going there. In terms of the other stuff we do culturally, movies, and business, and anything else that comes up. Yeah, it'll be fair game. It'll be easy to go into in depth because there's no controls in terms of time when we're on the app, we can be there as long as we want.
Pete Asch:
Is the app going to be just you or you have some content partners with you?
Mike Francesa:
I'm going to grow content partners. I have signed some contributors, my regular contributors of my NFL show, Peter Trager, Dr. Steve O'Brien, who does injuries from special surgery. They'll be back with me. I've signed some guys to work on college football. I will bring in guys in particular sports. I will specifically try to bring in people for things I don't do, like MMA, fantasy, wrestling. The things that the younger guys do that I don't do, I will bring the guys in. What I want to do is, and I've created it this way, I want to see how many people hit on each of my contributors. The ones that do well, will stock the shelves. The ones that don't, they'll go away.
Pete Asch:
Speaking of young people, you've often spoken about social media, young man's game, famously said on Katie Nolan's podcast. You've 20 years younger. You do it. Well, you've done it. You're on Twitter, you're on Instagram. I noticed this morning, you posted a picture of yourself in the NYC boardroom. Are you fully operational, now?
Mike Francesa:
I'm still Twitter on training wheels. I'm learning. I do send out tweets, now. I send out commentaries. I'm not yet fully versed on all the little tricks. I did send a photo this morning, but I had one of the kids send it for me. I still say I'm Twitter on training wheels. I've had a couple of lessons, but I do send out tweets, but I've only sent out a couple of hundred. These guys out there have sent out 80 and a 100,000. I got a long way to catch up, but it's reactionary. It's something I think you have to do, especially with what I've created, now. It's a hand-in-hand thing. You have to do it. The Twitter people have been great. I've gone to their offices a couple of times, they've been incredibly accommodating. It's been fun. It really has.
Pete Asch:
Yeah, enjoyed your live Q&A.
Mike Francesa:
Yeah, it was fun. It really was.
Pete Asch:
Along that lines, one of the big things about you is this community. You've been on WFAN since 1987, is Twitter the way to interact with you? How will you make sure to bring that community into the digital platform with you?
Mike Francesa:
The way I look at it is, they all interact. I went back to broadcast radio because I thought it was the best way to promote the app, was over the air and to reach my audience. I expect a lot of these people to be people who are my core audience who want more. Not everybody, some people don't want to pay anything for what they get, which I understand, I'll still be on three and a half hours every day for free. If you want something extra, if you want the thing that we'll do late at night, or what we might do on Sunday, or do on the weekends, and the other contributors, I want to bring some young voices into it. I want to give some new guys a chance to be heard. Now, if they're not good, they're not going to be on, but I'll give them a chance to get on and see if they can connect.
Mike Francesa:
I think that's the key as any young broadcaster, you have to connect. I think it's even harder now to do, because you need to break through all the vast amount of voices you hear out there. I think, what we do allows us a personal connection, the most important thing about radio is people feel connected to the host. When you've been lucky enough to have a very successful run, like I've had, you have a very big audience that is very loyal and very connected. I think that's what I have on a daily basis. I think they're already there. You just tap into it. I'm very lucky enough to be a brand and to have a very strong, loyal core audience. Otherwise, I don't think I would've ventured this way.
Pete Asch:
Let's get into the business, a little bit. You sign with CAA sports and now you've partnered with Entercom, which is now the parent company of WAFN. How did that relationship develop?
Mike Francesa:
It's funny, I went out, socially, with Mike Levine. I'd never had an agent. I had an agent very early in my career, in the last 20 years of my career I've represented myself. That's a long story, but I've done that. Not many people do it in broadcasting, but I did. I like doing it. I wasn't looking for representation. I went out, socially, with Mike Levine who runs, CAA sports, I told him my idea. Well, he said, "Would you present that idea to my company?" I said, "Yeah," they love the idea and asked, how about if we partner with you?" I said, "Sounds good." I thought I could gain some things from them in terms of their contacts and certain things, especially in terms of technology, which I really needed to pick the right people to build the app. I didn't have any expertise at all in that area, still don't.
Mike Francesa:
That was important. Then they said, well, "We need you to be with us as far as us representing you since we're going to be partners." I said, "That makes sense." We developed that relationship as a side relationship. Not that I'm going to do that many different things as a couple of things coming up, but not that much. This is pretty much going to be it. CAA and our partners, what I told CA was I didn't want them to go out and spend a ton of money on promotion and advertising. I thought the best way to do it was for me to go back on regular broadcast radio. I brought that idea to the radio business. I didn't think I would go back to FAN. Entercom contacted me, David Field, who owns the company, contacted me and said, "If you're coming back to radio, you have to come back to us."
Mike Francesa:
I said, "It's a little awkward. You just started a show." He said, "No, we can make it work." I wanted to go back. Part of the relationship is I'm allowed to promote my app anytime, for as long as I want, while I'm on the air. We cut that into the deal, actually we created a monetary figure that we can use to justify that. That's a big part of why I came back and I will heavily promote the app while I'm on WFAN. I have the right to do that. It's contractually. That led to Entercom partnering with us as a third, and minority partner, along with CAA and myself. That's where Entercom came from.
Pete Asch:
Fantastic and permission to promote here. Where can people find the app? Where should they be checking it out?
Mike Francesa:
Mikeson.com, Google Play, iTunes, it's available starting at midnight tonight. Tomorrow, we will be live from Barre with our six o'clock summer ending show. The video will be live on the app on mikeson.com so they can purchase it mikeson.com, Google Play, iTunes starting midnight, tonight.
Pete Asch:
Fantastic. I grew up listening to you. I couldn't have you on without doing at least a couple questions. First time interviewer, longtime listener. Then we'll do a quick speed round and then-
Mike Francesa:
First Time, Long Time is the company that owns the app. My portion of it's owned by First Time, Long Time, LLC.
Pete Asch:
Fantastic. I'll ask the questions and then we'll hang up and you'll go ring the bell. What is the most memorable event that you broke while on air or reported live, as it developed?
Mike Francesa:
Bart Giamatti was on vacation and was up in Edgartown. I was doing a show I wasn't yet on regularly, but I was sitting in for Pete Franklin in the afternoon drive. Mike and Mad Dog hadn't yet started. I hadn't yet been given an afternoon drive and we heard some rumblings. I sent a kid into the City Hall and he broke on the air that Bart Giamatti had died. He was the first one to do it. He got the, actually the paperwork, and delivered it on the air. That was probably the wildest story. Other than that would be the things you would remember, Magic Johnson and his announcement, of course, 9/11 and being on that day, I was on that whole day by myself. Charles McCord joined me, everybody else at the station couldn't get there. I was on until 11:00 that night. That was obviously an incredibly memorable day. When sports moves out of the way and the real world intervenes, those are the days you kind of remember.
Pete Asch:
You're a big Mickey Mantle fan?
Mike Francesa:
Huge.
Pete Asch:
Who's on the sports Mount Rushmore with him?
Mike Francesa:
For me, you know what? He's by himself. I only had two idols. Since I was a kid, I've had them and I've never added another. JFK and Mickey Mantle. There's no one else there. I have no one else on that level. I've only had two. I am very passionate about both and they still are the only ones I've ever had. I've never put anybody else. I've had favorite players. Bernie Williams became a big favorite of mine, as a player. I've had other players that I liked in different sports, but nobody, nobody approaches Mickey Mantle. I tell you a player I like now to watch is, I like Andrew Luck, the quarterback of the Colts. I think he's an exciting player.
Pete Asch:
Is he coming all the way back this year?
Mike Francesa:
I hope so. I really do because I think he's a wonderful talent. I really enjoy watching him play.
Pete Asch:
Now, the very New York questions. Who wins the championship first, Mets, Jets, or Nicks?
Mike Francesa:
Jets.
Pete Asch:
Will I be alive to see it?
Mike Francesa:
Yes, you'll be still working.
Pete Asch:
Fantastic. You've been bullish on Sam Darnold, speaking of the Jets. Are we talking playoffs or are we talking 8-8?
Mike Francesa:
Not this year, not this year. They're $90 million under the cap. These rumors about Khalil Mack. First of all, I don't believe the Raiders would trade Khalil Mack, but if you could get Khalil Mack, and the Jets have the money to do it, you move heaven and earth to get Khalil Mack. He is a generational defender. He changes everything. I cannot believe the Raiders would actually trade him, but he is that good. They can pay him whatever he wants. He's worth over $20 million a year, as a defender. Very few players are. I would not give that money away to many people. He is that good.
Pete Asch:
You're up very early this morning, tweeting about that. I think about 5:00 AM.
Mike Francesa:
Yeah, absolutely right. I tweeted about Khalil Mack at five o'clock in the morning. You're absolutely right. Good. You're up early. That's very true.
Pete Asch:
Part of the job. How early in the show today you're going to get the first Teddy for Mack trade question?
Mike Francesa:
It's funny, there's so many teams, they've heard from almost half the league. Anybody who can afford him under the cap is trying to get him. He's that good. I do not believe the Raiders will trade him. I have to feel they'll get him back in the fold. He deserves to be paid. I don't know their contract situation right now. They have Carr under a lot of money. They might have a salary cap problem, this year. They might have to work with him. I cannot believe they would let a player like that, he is a generational defender. He is that good.
Mike Francesa:
I do not believe they will let him go. I do not think so, but you'll hear that very early. I heard most fascinating question yesterday, I don't know who authored it, but I think it's a fascinating one and I'll bring up today. If you want an NFL franchise, it clearly is something that's almost like solid gold. Is this the time to sell? The question then is, is the league of leagues, which is what the NFL has been, has it reached its Zenith? Are all the problems, the anthem, the problems with the player association, the injury things they're trying to overcome with these ridiculous rule changes, has the NFL peaked? I think it's a fascinating question right now. The answer is debatable.
Pete Asch:
If you had to guess, 20 years from now, is it still the league of leagues?
Mike Francesa:
It's still a very big part of America, but I believe it's starting to lose its grasp on the country.
Pete Asch:
Can't get that anywhere else. Thank you so much, Mike.
Mike Francesa:
My pleasure. Thank you.
Pete Asch:
Check him out on Mike's On, download the app, subscribe. We'll let you go down and open the markets.
Mike Francesa:
My honor. Thanks for having me and have a good day.
Pete Asch:
That's our conversation for this week. Our guest was Mike Francesa, the legendary sports radio host. If you like what you heard, rate us on iTunes so that others know where to find us. Got a comment or question you'd like one of our experts to tackle on a future show? Email us at [email protected] or tweet us @NYSE. Our show is produced by Theresa DeLuca and Keon with production assistance from Steven Portner and Ken Abel. I'm Pete Asch, your host, signing off from the library of the New York Stock Exchange. Thanks for listening. See you next time.
Speaker 3:
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