Craig Carton’s time at Fox Sports appears to be nearing its expiration date.
In the wake of a sweeping programming overhaul that included the cancellation of three shows and the exit of Joy Taylor, Carton’s national run is faltering. After leaving his high-profile afternoon drive slot at WFAN to launch The Carton Show on FS1, the program eventually rebranded as Breakfast Ball alongside Danny Parkins and Mark Schlereth. Neither iteration gained meaningful traction, and neither did Carton, at least not in the national conversation.
So it’s no surprise that a familiar door might be creaking back open.
According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, a reunion with WFAN is “not out of the question.”
The station has continued to dominate New York’s ratings landscape with Tiki Barber sliding into Carton’s old chair beside Evan Roberts. But one key figure still linking Carton to WFAN is Chris Oliviero, the Audacy executive who spearheaded Carton’s initial comeback after his prison sentence. Oliviero remains a powerful voice in WFAN’s future, and if anyone could greenlight a second-second act, it’s him.
Carton hasn’t been invisible since leaving Carton & Roberts. Earlier this year, he launched a show on FanDuel TV centered on gambling addiction recovery, a cause he’s spoken about with increasing transparency. He even dipped into Yankees radio last August, filling in for a few games during the team’s search for John Sterling’s successor. That job ultimately went to Dave Sims, who recently clashed with Boomer Esiason, Carton’s former co-host, before the arrest that reshaped his career.
That arrest came in 2017, when Carton was charged and later convicted of orchestrating a Ponzi-style ticketing scam. He resigned from WFAN shortly after being taken into custody by the FBI. Upon his release from federal prison, Carton returned to WFAN in a surprising — and successful — comeback, joining Roberts in afternoon drive and reclaiming a ratings lead before bolting for FS1.
Even after that move, Carton kept one foot in the building. His Saturday morning program, Hello, My Name is Craig, which airs weekly at 9:30 a.m. ET on WFAN, remains a personal outlet, focused on gambling addiction and recovery, a subject Carton now embraces with the same candor he once used to bulldoze guests.
Where Carton might fit in today’s WFAN lineup is unclear. The station boasts a stable weekday rotation with established pairings, and adding Carton back into the mix would necessitate significant reshuffling. But this is a guy who’s come back from worse, and if there’s one thing WFAN knows better than any other sports station in America, it’s how to spin controversy into ratings.
And if Carton’s national appeal didn’t translate? That only makes him a better fit for home.