Don La Greca signs multi-year extension with ESPN New York

Don La Greca will hit the 25-year mark at ESPN New York after signing a multi-year contract extension with the station.

The longtime afternoon host agreed to a new deal that keeps him co-hosting with Alan Hahn and Peter Rosenberg, according to Newsday’s Anthony Rieber. La Greca was the first voice heard when ESPN New York launched in 2001, and the extension ensures he’ll continue anchoring afternoons as the station faces renewed competition from WFAN.

That competition now includes Craig Carton, who returned to WFAN on Monday after the station cut Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata to make room. La Greca made headlines in December when he called the move “a horrible mistake” on the air.

He told Newsday his comments weren’t about Carton personally, but about two talented hosts losing their jobs in a radio landscape that has changed dramatically since he and Michael Kay used to battle Mike Francesa for ratings dominance.

“When I was on with Michael, we wanted to beat Francesa,” La Greca said. “That was our sole purpose in life, was to beat Mike Francesa. But who is it to beat now? It’s Carton now. Five minutes ago, it was Evan [Roberts] and Tiki [Barber]. Who knows who it’s going to be in a couple of minutes?”

Measuring success looks different in 2026. ESPN New York no longer subscribes to Nielsen ratings, and the station broadcasts on 880 AM — a frequency owned by WFAN’s parent company, Audacy. For someone as competitive as La Greca, the absence of a traditional benchmark hasn’t been easy.

“We don’t do the ratings anymore because we’re just going about things differently,” La Greca told Newsday. “The world’s changing right now. So the way we keep score is changing.”

The 57-year-old spent 22 years co-hosting The Michael Kay Show before Kay moved to solo middays in January 2025. The end of TMKS closed a defining chapter of New York sports radio, forcing La Greca into the rare position of reinventing himself after more than two decades in the same chair. La Greca told Newsday the adjustment has been strange after working with Kay for more than two decades, but he’s comfortable with Hahn and Rosenberg since he’s known both for years and still works with the same production team.

Away from radio, La Greca checked off a lifelong goal when MSG Networks tapped him to serve as the Devils’ television play-by-play voice. A Hawthorne, New Jersey native who grew up rooting for the team, he replaced Bill Spaulding in the booth heading into the 2025-26 season.

“When I was a kid, I dreamed of doing a show, doing play-by-play, and for me to be able to check as many boxes as I’ve checked, it is pretty amazing,” La Greca told Newsday. “This contract will take me through 25 years at ESPN, which is incredibly humbling.”