Mike Francesa Gambling
Posted By admin On 31/07/22Mike Francesa will return to his old Sunday morning time slot on WFAN, part of a sweeping change in weekend scheduling for the station as it grapples with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. He would make secret late-night gambling trips to Atlantic City via helicopter, only leaving because he had to get back in time to go on the air. Mike Francesa too: Carton’s nasty rivalry.
Wednesday’s arrest of WFAN host Craig Carton on fraud charges over an alleged multi-million dollar ticket-resale scam has a ton of bizarre elements. Here’s a look at some of them:
Carton is in trouble with both the FBI and the SEC. Much of the coverage of this has focused on the securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy charges against Carton and Michael Wright that were announced Wednesday by the FBI and federal prosecutors. Those charges are extensive, and include acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim saying Carton and Wright “deceived investors and raised millions of dollars through misrepresentation and outright lies.” That criminal case is what led to Carton’s appearance in court Wednesday. But there’s also a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit that was filed Wednesday against Carton and another man, Joseph Meli. Bloomberg has more on that:
Mike Francesa Gambling Game
On Wednesday, Carton, 48, was also sued for fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which said that Carton and another man, Joseph Meli, raised more than $5 million from investors in a Ponzi scheme claiming access to tickets for resale. Meli wasn’t named in the criminal complaint filed Wednesday but is charged in a separate criminal case.
Wright listed running to Costa Rica and changing their names as an option in an e-mail to Carton. The idea of outlaws escaping to a foreign country is an old one, and even a parodied one. But Wright brought it up to Carton in a e-mail as a possible way to escape debts, as per the Department of Justice release:
In the fall of 2016, CARTON, WRIGHT, and CC-1 exchanged emails and text messages regarding their existing debts. On September 5, 2016, for example, WRIGHT emailed CARTON and CC-1, “for the sake of our conversation tomorrow,” and outlined “the debt past due and due next week.” WRIGHT listed several apparent creditors, to whom he, CC-1, and/or CARTON were personally indebted for over a million dollars. WRIGHT listed eight possible options for repaying the debt, including “Run to Costa Rica, change name, and start life all over again – may not be an option.” CARTON responded to WRIGHT and CC-1, stating “don’t forget I have $1m coming tomorrow from ticket investor[.] will need to be discussed how to handle.” On September 7, 2016, CARTON emailed WRIGHT and CC-1, referenced a potential investor (“Investor-1”) in an upcoming holiday concert tour, and suggested “borrow[ing] against projected profits” on that investment.
Wright is the COO of a strip club company: Who exactly is Carton in business with here? Well, as per Bloomberg, Wright is the chief operating officer of S Group NYC, which operates the Sapphire strip clubs in Manhattan. He was quoted in a 2011 New York Timespiece on the origins of “making it rain”:
“It’s kind of a Jersey strip club thing that they would promote in order to generate more money,” said Michael Wright, the chief operating officer for Sapphire, an upscale 10,000-square-foot club near the . A club manager “would take 50 to 100 dollars out of their own kitty to rain on the dancers, to incite other customers to loosen up their wallets.”
Of course, one can imagine what the feminist author Andrea Dworkin would have said about women being treated like tarpaulins at Yankee Stadium. Even the dancers themselves seem divided, Mr. Wright said.
“The upscale entertainer looks at it like a little bit of an insult: ‘Don’t throw money at me,’ ” he said. Everyone else? “They’ll take the money.”
Carton showed up in court wearing cargo shorts and a “Go places” t-shirt:
Craig Carton awaiting court appearance: Cargo shorts, sandals and t-shirt that says, 'Go places.'
— John Riley (@jriley8832) September 6, 2017
No word on if he wore socks with sandals. Or if “Go places” includes Costa Rica.
Carton left court hiding his head in a hoodie, pushed reporters:
Carton leaves court, hoodied, amid mob of photogs & shouting journos pic.twitter.com/IktmLsiynS
— John Riley (@jriley8832) September 6, 2017
Craig Carton @cc660 pushed reporters and photographers out of his way as he left federal court on securities fraud charges pic.twitter.com/9ddOLt4JOj
— Myles Miller (@MylesMill) September 6, 2017
That first photo looks like he’s walking to a boxing ring.
Mike Francesa says don’t ask questions about Carton, caller parodies Carton anyway: Francesa, the long-time WFAN afternoon host, has frequently tradedinsultsback and forth with Boomer and Carton, prompting lots ofTwittermemes about his reaction today. On the air, Francesa only said that he wouldn’t be commenting thanks to the station wanting their statement to stand alone, though, and he asked callers not to ask about Carton. Of course, one disregarded that, and even brought an on-point Carton parody:
Craig Carton always said to his callers 'My man, pots and pans!' A guy just called Mike Francesa to say 'My man, pots and scams!' ? pic.twitter.com/35bLgeUENs
— Ƒormerly Ƒunhouse (@BackAftaThis) September 6, 2017
Carton’s last tweets are…trying to sell sneakers?
THE NEW BUNS AND FINESSE LOW TOP SOCCER STYLE KICKShttps://t.co/PudmHnWgGA
— Craig Carton (@cc660) September 5, 2017
SIDE VIEW OF THE BUNS AND FINNESE KICKS pic.twitter.com/OMAGpRYihZ
— Craig Carton (@cc660) September 5, 2017
I guess that’s one way to try and repay gambling debts. And if LaVar Ball can design and sell shoes, maybe Carton can too.
The latest
Later in the fall of 2016, CARTON began negotiating with a hedge fund (the “Hedge Fund”) regarding a transaction in which the Hedge Fund would extend CARTON capital to finance CARTON’s purchase of event tickets, which CARTON would then re-sell at a profit. In early December 2016, CC-1 texted CARTON and WRIGHT and discussed using the Hedge Fund’s capital “to repay debts,” and not for the purchase of tickets.
Mike Francesa Gambling Games
The next day, December 7, 2016, CARTON emailed the Hedge Fund five agreements between (i) CC-1 and a company controlled by CC-1 (the “CC-1 Entity”) and (ii) the Concert Promotion Company. In each of the purported agreements, the Concert Promotion Company agreed to sell the CC-1 Entity up $10 million worth of tickets to different concert tours. However, as alleged, these agreements were fraudulent and had not, in fact been entered into by the Concert Promotion Company.
The following day, the Hedge Fund and CARTON executed the revolving loan agreement (the “Revolving Loan Agreement”), under which the Hedge Fund agreed to provide CARTON with up to $10 million, for the purpose of funding investments in the purchase of tickets for events. The Revolving Loan Agreement provided, in sum and substance, that the proceeds of the loan would be used only to purchase tickets pursuant to agreements for the acquisition of tickets, including the agreements with the Concert Promotion Company and for limited business expenses. The Hedge Fund would receive a share of the profits from the resale of the tickets.
Carton’s fake company is accused of not paying rent: So, part of this may have stemmed from a lawsuit against Carton and one of the ticket-selling companies over unpaid rent, as per the New York Daily News:
A second lawsuit filed against Carton this past May accused him of skipping out on $114,116.13 in rent on a Soho business office leases under the name Advance — one of his bogus ticket-selling companies.
Carton claimed millions were wired to a “sports and entertainment company” in error, got them redirected to a different account: From the Justice Department release:
CARTON also induced the Hedge Fund to wire $2 million to the Sports and Entertainment Company, based purportedly on an agreement he had with the Sports and Entertainment Company (the “Sports and Entertainment Company Agreement”). The Sports and Entertainment Company Agreement purportedly gave an entity controlled by CARTON (the “CARTON Entity”) the right to purchase $2 million of tickets to concerts at one of the venues operated by the Sports and Entertainment Company. CARTON, among other things, sent the Hedge Fund a copy of the Sports and Entertainment Company Agreement that purportedly had been signed by the chief executive officer of the Sports and Entertainment Company. However, this agreement was fraudulent and had never been entered into by the Sports and Entertainment Company or signed by the chief executive officer.
On December 20, 2016, when the Hedge Fund wired the $2 million to the Sports and Entertainment Company, CARTON contacted the Sports and Entertainment Company and told them, in sum and substance, that the wire had been sent in error and should be sent to the bank account for an entity operated by CARTON and WRIGHT, for which WRIGHT is the signatory. After the money was rewired to that account, WRIGHT wired $966,000 to WRIGHT’s personal bank account and $700,000 to the CARTON Bank Account. CARTON then wired approximately $188,000 from the CARTON Bank Account, including at least $133,000 in wires to several casinos.
Carton supposedly did this to pay off millions in gambling debts: Bloomberg’s piece has a lot of interesting notes on the gambling front:
The radio jock and the strip club operator were worried about their mounting debts in 2016. Carton said he owed about $2.5 million and a casino had frozen his account, according to the SEC.
So, around Sept. 2 of that year, the co-conspirator suggested the three get together and agree on a plan “to clean up the debt,” according to a text message cited by investigators. Wright noted in a Sept. 5 email to Carton and the co-conspirator that “Run to Costa Rica, change name, and start life all over again — may not be an option.”
Instead, the group dipped into a ticket reselling venture they had brewing, for which they already got $1 million from an investor, according to the court filings. “I would vote to bring in $$$ today to wipe out the debt that’s due and to extend it to sell tickets,” Carton emailed Wright and the co-conspirator on Sept. 7.
Doug Gottlieb defended Carton, said he has a gambling addiction: Fox Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb had quite the take on this saga:
'I will go to my grave saying Craig Carton is a good human, but he had a seven-figure gambling debt. This is what addiction will do.'
— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) September 6, 2017
For now, Carton has been freed on a $500,000 bond backed by his New Jersey house (and not the governor’s mansion). And WFAN has confirmed he won’t be on the air Thursday; it seems highly unlikely he’ll be on their airwaves again, but that’s not official yet. We’ll see what happens next in this saga.
Two years after the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 was repealed, the sports media landscape has shifted heavily towards gambling. If you are driving, there is a good chance you will hear an advertisement on the radio or see a billboard paid for by a sportsbook. Same thing goes for watching television, especially sports.
Along with that, there has been an influx of new gambling content and media members focusing on that space. And, thanks to the internet, media members don’t need to rely on traditional TV to create and post content anymore. Twitter, Instagram and YouTube have changed the game.
Whether you are a fan of picks or just the gambling industry as a whole, here are six up and coming media members to follow on Twitter. I define up and coming, as someone who is not on a major television show talking about gambling. Full disclosure, I do not know any of the individuals listed in this piece. I just appreciate their grind.
I anticipate responses on Twitter saying that I’ve omitted someone interesting. Feel free to hit me up @docksquad33 for feedback.
Erin Kate Dolan
Dolan is currently the face of PointsBet for all digital sports betting content. At PointsBet, Erin creates and executes content plans. She previews & recaps national and international sporting events, discussing odds, futures markets, player props, promotions, bad beats, and more. She hosts digital segments with professional bettors and media personalities. She’s also featured weekly on VSiN.
Segment to watch: “Fade Rovell”, a promotion between PointsBet and The Action Network’s Darren Rovell. Erin runs point and PointsBet gives bettors crazy odds to do what the title of the show says, fade Rovell’s weekly picks. Anytime Rovell loses a pick, he has to do something over-the-top terrible. I think I’ve laughed and cringed while watching this segment, but it is entertaining nonetheless.
Follow Erin Dolan on Twitter @ErinKateDolan
Sam Panayotovich
Sam is currently a betting analyst for NBC Sports, Rotoworld and WGN Radio. He also hosts “Chicken Dinner”, a daily sports betting podcast, five times a week.
Segment to Watch: “Chicken Dinner”, a daily gambling show which was first started back in 2016 with Radio.com and 670 am host Joe Ostrowski. The podcast brings flair to the space and features various guests from the gambling landscape. Follow for the Bartender segment, you won’t be disappointed.
Follow Sam Panayotovich on Twitter @spshoot
Minty Bets
Minty is a Vegas born sports betting analyst, and her work can be found at Yahoo Sports, Gaming Today and Wager Talk. Minty is featured on Yahoo’s Mad Bets, posts her daily gambling picks on Twitter via fun videos, breaks down the NFL weekly at Wager Talk and talks ponies over at Gaming Today.
Segment to Watch: “The Mint”, a segment where Minty talks about a relevant gambling topic of the week. She gives you strong, knowledgeable takes on hot button gambling topics in a quick amount of time.
Follow Minty Bets on Twitter @MintyBets
Nick Kostos
Kostos is one of the most entertaining voices in sports betting media. In fact, he has coined the term wagertainment. He used to work for Sports Illustrated and now is the main host of “You Better, You Bet” on Radio.com (owned by Entercom). You can also hear him on the flagship New York-based sports radio station WFAN.
Segment to Watch: “You Better, You Bet” airs nationally 9am-1pm on Sundays and features various guests from all over the gambling industry. If you listen to this show, you will pick up some great betting knowledge, but more importantly, understand what wagertainment means. It’s a good thing, trust me.
Follow Nick Kostos on Twitter @TheKostos
Brandon Walker
Walker, who previously worked at SEC Country and MyBookie, has had a quick rise at Barstool Sports. Walker co-hosts Barstool’s daily gambling show “Walk The Line” with Matt Cahill aka Marty Mush. He also hosts “Picks Central” on Barstool Radio’s daily SiriusXM lineup. Walker also co-hosts “Unnecessary Roughness” with Kayce Smith.
Segment to Watch: “Walk The Line”, Walker and Cahill are an entertaining pairing. You can tell both love football and gambling, and play off of each other well in their own funny ways. There is a good chance you laugh at some point while listening to this show.
Mike Francesa Gambling News
Follow Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWalkerSEC
Megan Nunez
Megan is currently doing multiple shows for FanDuel including her weekly “Makin Money with Megan” and “The Hurry up”. She is also on 104.5 ESPN Baton Rouge with T-Bob Herbert and makes regular appearances on Fridays on Inside Access with Jason La Conforna and Ken Weinman on 105.7 the Fan in Baltimore. Megan also frequently guests on Sports Grid with Jared Smith and Ariel Epstien.
Segment to Watch: “Makin Money with Megan”, an entertaining picks show starring, you guessed it, Megan herself. It’s fun and quirky content built around her gambling picks.
Follow Megan Nunez on Twitter @MeganMakinMoney