WFAN legend with troubled prison history makes a broadcast return

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NEW YORK —The man who once faced 45 years in federal prison is about to take over prime real estate on New York sports radio shows on WFAN.

Craig Carton is finalizing a deal to return to WFAN for a third stint. The 56-year-old will anchor the afternoon drive slot beginning in January. This marks his latest comeback in a career defined by spectacular highs and devastating lows.

The Athletic first reported the news Tuesday. The move triggers a massive lineup shakeup at the flagship station for the New York Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets and Knicks.

Current afternoon WFAN hosts Evan Roberts and Tiki Barber will slide to middays. That pushes out Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata from their 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. slot. Overnight host Chris McMonigle is the leading candidate to join Carton in afternoons.

From federal prison to afternoon WFAN drive

Eight years ago, FBI agents arrested Carton at his Manhattan home. The charges stunned New York sports fans. Wire fraud. Securities fraud. Conspiracy. The popular morning host had allegedly run a Ponzi scheme to cover gambling debts.

Prosecutors said Carton and his partners told investors they had access to discounted concert tickets. The agreements were fake. The money went to pay off casinos and earlier investors.

“Carton and Wright thought they could get off easy by allegedly paying off their debts with other people’s money,” FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said at the time. “The truth is, the time will come when your luck runs out.”

A federal jury convicted the WFAN icon in November 2018. The judge sentenced him to 42 months in prison. He also owed nearly $5 million in restitution.

Carton reported to Lewisburg federal prison camp in June 2019. He served about 12 months before his release to home confinement in 2020. He completed his full sentence and probation by June 2024.

A decade of dominance with Boomer

Carton first arrived at WFAN in 2007. He joined former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason for the morning show. Within a year, Boomer and Carton topped the ratings among men ages 25 to 54. That ranking had eluded the station since 1993.

The duo dominated New York mornings for a decade. Their show earned multiple Marconi Award nominations. CBS Sports Network picked up the simulcast in 2014. Yankees fans tuned in daily for the hot takes and entertaining banter.

“The first six weeks of me and Craig, I was really struggling,” Esiason recalled in a recent interview. “I was trying to figure out what the hell Craig was doing. He never really sat me down and said, ‘Hey man, this whole thing is about entertainment and it’s an act.'”

Esiason added: “That’s what made it so fun for me working with him. Every day I had no idea what to expect. That’s why he is such a talented radio voice.”

The partnership ended abruptly on Sept. 6, 2017. Carton was not on the air that morning. Esiason broke the news to listeners himself.

“I am aware now why Craig was not here this morning,” Esiason said. “Unfortunately, he was arrested this morning. I’m taken aback and surprised by it, just like I’m sure everybody else is as well.”

The second act that shocked everyone

Most figured Carton’s radio career was finished. They were wrong.

Audacy executive Chris Oliviero brought Carton back to WFAN in October 2020. He paired him with Evan Roberts for afternoon drive. The show launched just four months after Carton’s prison release.

“I am grateful to Entercom for the chance to return home to WFAN,” Carton said at the time. “I have dreamt about this moment every minute of every day for the last three years.”

The ratings followed him back. Carton and Roberts quickly became the top-rated afternoon sports show in New York. He also launched a Saturday morning program about gambling addiction called “Hello, My Name Is Craig.”

Then Fox Sports came calling. Carton left WFAN in June 2023 for a national television deal. He hosted “The Carton Show” on FS1 before the network rebranded it as “Breakfast Ball” in 2024.

Fox pulls the plug on national TV venture

The television experiment lasted less than three years. FS1 canceled “Breakfast Ball” in July 2025 as part of a massive programming overhaul. Co-hosts Danny Parkins and Mark Schlereth were also let go.

Carton remained with Fox for a podcast. But speculation about a WFAN reunion started immediately.

“I’m not surprised because I made my name at WFAN,” Carton told Barrett Media in September. “The mornings with Boomer, and the two and a half years in afternoons with Evan. I’m not surprised that people who like me and enjoy what I do would immediately ask the question.”

He made clear he would welcome the conversation.

“I’m blessed to be a New York radio hall of famer,” Carton said. “I know I do it really well, and I enjoy doing it.”

Lineup casualties and what comes next

Not everyone will survive this WFAN shakeup. Tierney appears headed for the exit. Licata may stick around to fill the nighttime vacancy left by Keith McPherson’s recent departure.

Licata had publicly dismissed concerns about Carton taking his spot earlier this year.

“By the way, I’m not worried about Craigy coming back,” Licata said on air. “I told it to his face. This was years ago, whenever he came back the last time. You can come back all you want, you’re not taking my spot.”

That prediction aged poorly. WFAN declined to comment on the reported moves.

The January lineup will feature Esiason and Gregg Giannotti in mornings. Roberts and Barber take over middays. Carton anchors afternoons with a new partner.

For Yankees fans and New York sports listeners, the voice they remember from those dominant morning years is coming back to drive time. Whether this third inning ends better than the last remains to be seen.

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