While Dan Le Batard vs Stephen A. Smith has been a welcome addition to the sports media circuit in recent months, next up might be Dan Le Batard vs his own Jon “Stugotz” Weiner.
Stugotz has played Le Batard’s wacky and bumbling sidekick for decades. But he lived out a lifelong dream this week by filling in for Boomer Esiason and getting to host a drive-time show on WFAN. During his first show alongside Gregg Giannotti Thursday morning, Stugotz put WFAN on blast for missing out on opportunities to hire him, claiming he’s capable of bringing $5 million in advertising to New York’s vaunted sports radio station.
“For him to go up there and promise advertising that he can’t get Meadowlark Media…where is that money, Stugotz?” Le Batard asked after playing audio of Stugotz claiming he can bring $5 million to WFAN. “We could use it as a company that keeps hiring people, that you own a piece of. Like, what are you doing?!”
“Or we can stop hiring people,” Stugotz responded on WFAN Friday morning. “There are days I walk in there and I’m not certain what everyone’s name is.”
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz is well-stocked, featuring a large cast of regular contributors and its crowded shipping container. But Meadowlark Media has also continuously looked to add talent and podcasts to its platform.
“Dan knows when we left ESPN and we started Meadowlark Media, he knows I was the only salesperson we had,” Stugotz said as he took aim at Le Batard’s ribbing. “So I did all the billing, a lot of billing, at a very difficult time in my life may I add, my mom had just passed away. I put at least three to four million dollars on that station. It wasn’t even a station, we weren’t even a radio show. We had no plans! It was just a podcast.”
Because of his background as a vice president and general manager of a market radio station, Stugotz touted still having connections to top advertisers and believes he undersold his selling ability by pledging $5 million to WFAN.
“I love Dan, we have a great relationship…I just hate when he does that, what he did yesterday,” Stugotz said with an ‘enough is enough’ tone.
“It drives me crazy and he knows I hate it. He knows that I can’t stand when he does it, yet he does it anyway,” Stugotz continued, speaking specifically to Le Batard criticizing him for pledging $5 million to WFAN. “He knows I can deliver on it so I hate when he tried to make me look bad for no reason.
“Listen, I have given you carte blanche, man. You’ve taken my head off with a sledgehammer on a daily basis for 20 years. And what do I do? I wake up the next day, I come back and I get more. With a smile on my face. Let me have a couple of days with Gio on WFAN. I’m coming back home on Monday, honey!”
Stugotz may be coming home on Monday, but he’s bringing with him a list of grievances for his work spouse that were unearthed by his long-awaited drive-time appearance on WFAN.
[WFAN]
