Philly Radio: Mike Missanelli Signs Podcast Deal

Longtime sports talk radio host Mike Missanelli has signed a deal with Chicago-based gaming and betting company Rush Street Interactive to serve as a podcaster and brand ambassador for its BetRivers Network, reports The Philly Business-Journal.

Starting with the first week of the NFL season, Missanelli will tape two weekly podcasts that will be carried on BetRivers Network, along with all major podcast platforms. He will also represent BetRivers on multiple shows within and outside the sportsbook's network and appear in commercials across several radio, TV and digital mediums.

Mike Missanelli

Missanelli's duties also include meet-and-greet appearances at select sporting events throughout Greater Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, Rush Street operates Rivers Casino on Delaware Avenue in Fishtown and its BetRivers.com online casino and sportsbook.

Missanelli abruptly left WPEN 97.5 The Fanatic on May 31 after serving as its afternoon drive host and ratings kingpin since joining the station in 2010. Missanelli, a former Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer who also has a law degree, had served two stints at rival SportsRadio 94 WIP-FM and wound up getting fired in 2008 due to an alleged altercation with an on-site producer. His afternoon drive show on The Fanatic took off and Missanelli usurped WIP in his time slot and fended off challengers such as the abrasive Josh Innes for almost a decade.

In a prepared statement, Missanelli said he is “raring to go" with the BetRivers Network.

"Joining the BetRivers team lets me share my love for Philadelphia sports in new ways and I really look forward to providing my insights to bettors at BetRivers here in my home state and in RSI markets throughout the country," he said.

Missanelli joins a stable of media personalities on the BetRivers Network of podcasts in its larger markets, including Mike Francesa in New York City, Dan "Danny Mac" McNeil in Chicago and Mark Madden in Pittsburgh. Francesa, like Missanelli, hosted a wildly popular afternoon drive sport talk show for New York’s WFAN, a sister station of Audacy’s WIP.

Rush Street is one of several casinos and sportsbooks that have been busy recruiting high-profile media personalities to produce content for them. FanDuel this week announced that Kay Adams, former host of the NFL Network's Good Morning Football, will debut on FanDuel TV with a weekday show called "Up and Adams."

For Missanelli, this marks his second post-Fanatic gig. Earlier this summer, JAKIB Media Partners announced he will join the digital platform's Philadelphia Eagles postgame show this season, beginning with the team's season opener against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Missanelli will join former Eagles star Seth Joyner, reporter Derrick Gunn and host Devan Kaney for the online show, which broadcasts live from Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City and airs on 6abc.com and YouTube.