Michael Kay’s ESPN radio future up in the air with contract running out

Could Michael Kay be saying “See Ya!” to his ESPN New York radio show? 

The future of “The Michael Kay Show” is up in the air while ESPN and Kay negotiate a new deal, with his existing one ending in the middle of next month, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported Wednesday.

Kay has hosted the program since 2002 and has turned it into a staple of sports talk radio in New York City for the better part of two decades. 

ESPN is said to have a desire to keep Kay with the station and in the drive-time slot — a time period generally considered to be between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the afternoon by the radio industry — however, there hasn’t been a “concrete offer” made to him, the report stated.

A number of scenarios could play out in terms of Kay’s time slot on ESPN New York, which abandoned its FM band on 98.7 FM earlier this year and moved to 880 AM, which had formerly been WCBS-AM. 

The possibility remains that Kay could stay on the air with a lighter workload and move to the 1-3 p.m. slot that would have him host solo while working from home, according to the report.

Whatever occurs with “The Michael Kay Show” won’t have any impact on his position as the TV voice of the Yankees, though there is a lack of clarity over whether the show would continue to be simulcast on YES Network.

Any potential change with “The Michael Kay Show” would mean a ripple effect throughout ESPN New York’s lineup, which could include Don La Greca being pared with Alan Hahn in the afternoon slot if Kay moved to middays.

Bart Scott, a former Jets star, is currently on-air partner with Hahn in the noon-3 p.m. slot and Scott could find himself working with Dan Graca in the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. slot depending on other scheduling changes made, The Athletic reported. 

Any change with Kay would be the latest shakeup in the New York sports radio sphere after it was announced last week that Dave Sims would take over as the radio voice of the Yankees. 

Kay also made some headlines after he realized that he would not be calling the Yankees’ 2025 season opener against the Brewers because the game is being broadcast exclusively by ESPN. 

It ends an ironman streak that ran for 37 years where Kay worked a Yankees opening day, first as a sports writer and then in the broadcast booth.