Report: WFAN's Mike Francesa, Fox Sports1 ThisClose To Deal

Mike Francesa

Mike Francesa, whose 12-year simulcast run on the YES Network ended on Super Bowl Sunday, soon will bring his WFAN radio show to Fox Sports 1, a radio industry source with knowledge of the agreement told Newsday Sunday.

Terms of the contract could not be determined, nor could a starting date. But Francesa said on the air last week that an official announcement could come early this week, and that he could be back on TV in time for the NCAA men's basketball tournament in March.

MSG widely had been considered the most logical candidate for Francesa's show after making a bid for it five years ago that YES matched. But FS1 entered the bidding, presumably in an effort to increase the fledgling cable sports network's visibility. That was one factor behind CBS Sports Network adding WFAN's morning show featuring Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton last month -- even though both FS1 and CBSSN are national television channels and the WFAN shows are New York-oriented.