‘Mike and the New Dog’: Sports Radio Icon Mike Francesa Emerges From Hiding To Promote Kentucky Derby Picks With a Puppy By His Side

Mike Francesa has been radio silent since leaving New York’s heritage sports station WFAN last July. Aside from a few interviews, and visits to SiriusXM with his old partner Christopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo, Francesa sightings have been sparse.

But this week, the man often referred to as The Sports Pope, has been more active on social media. In what seems to be a paid partnership with NYRA Bets, the horse racing pundit has picks and promos available ahead of the Kentucky Derby.

Mike & the New Dog pic.twitter.com/OQZ5w2Yzzn

— Mike Francesa (@MikeFrancesa) April 30, 2021

“You caught me planning for my new program, it’s gonna be called Mike and the New Dog,” Francesa jokes in the video, casually welcoming Twitter to his home.

Francesa spiced up his usually mundane horse racing videos by adding a few Easter Eggs that WFAN listeners will quickly notice. The Diet Coke sitting off to the side, and his “New Dog” reference, an ode to the Mike and the Mad Dog radio show that built Francesa’s folklore. And let’s not forget, this is all taking place on Twitter, Francesa’s only current media outlet and a place he previously promised you’d never catch him.

When I spoke to Francesa last year, he wouldn’t admit to being fully retired, but noted he was still under contract with WFAN’s parent company Audacy, which prevented him from signing anywhere else. After being a sports content creator for nearly four decades, it will be hard for Francesa to avoid being lured back in at some point.