Don La Greca will hit the 25-year mark at ESPN New York after signing a multi-year contract extension with the station.<\/p>\n
The longtime afternoon host agreed to a new deal that keeps him co-hosting with Alan Hahn<\/a> and Peter Rosenberg<\/a>, according to Newsday\u2019s Anthony Rieber<\/a>. La Greca was the first voice heard when ESPN New York<\/a> launched in 2001, and the extension ensures he\u2019ll continue anchoring afternoons as the station faces renewed competition from WFAN<\/a>.<\/p>\n That competition now includes Craig Carton, who returned to WFAN on Monday<\/a> after the station cut Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata<\/a> to make room. La Greca made headlines in December when he called the move \u201ca horrible mistake<\/a>\u201d on the air.<\/p>\n He told Newsday his comments weren\u2019t about Carton personally, but about two talented hosts losing their jobs in a radio landscape that has changed dramatically since he and Michael Kay<\/a> used to battle Mike Francesa<\/a> for ratings dominance.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was on with Michael, we wanted to beat Francesa,\u201d La Greca said. \u201cThat was our sole purpose in life, was to beat Mike Francesa. But who is it to beat now? It\u2019s Carton now. Five minutes ago, it was Evan [Roberts] and Tiki [Barber]. Who knows who it\u2019s going to be in a couple of minutes?\u201d<\/p>\n Measuring success looks different in 2026. ESPN New York no longer subscribes to Nielsen ratings, and the station broadcasts on 880 AM \u2014 a frequency owned by WFAN\u2019s parent company<\/a>, Audacy. For someone as competitive as La Greca, the absence of a traditional benchmark hasn\u2019t been easy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t do the ratings anymore because we\u2019re just going about things differently,\u201d La Greca told Newsday. \u201cThe world\u2019s changing right now. So the way we keep score is changing.\u201d<\/p>\n The 57-year-old spent 22 years co-hosting The Michael Kay Show before Kay moved to solo middays<\/a> 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<\/a> has been strange after working with Kay for more than two decades, but he\u2019s comfortable with Hahn and Rosenberg since he\u2019s known both for years and still works with the same production team.<\/p>\n