WFAN's Craig Carton says his Sunday morning show on gambling addiction is 'saving lives'
Craig Carton as a co-host of the WFAN's morning show with Boomer Esiason in 2014. Credit: Newsday
You know how something really big is called “the Super Bowl of . . . ” ?
Like Paris Fashion Week is “the Super Bowl of fashion” ?
Well, for gamblers, Sunday’s Super Bowl is the Super Bowl of gambling. And for someone who has a gambling addiction, it can be the Super Bowl of temptation.
WFAN afternoon host Craig Carton knows all about this. The 57-year-old spent nearly a year in federal prison in 2019 and 2020 after he was convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges related to a gambling addiction.
Carton, who was arrested in 2017, was convicted in 2018 of fraudulently raising more than $5 million from investors by lying about ticket deals and using their money to repay massive gambling debts and former investors. In 2019, he was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison and ordered to make restitution of $4.8 million to victims of his fraud. He was released in June 2020 after serving just under one year of his sentence.
Since early 2021, Carton has helmed a 30-minute weekend morning program on WFAN called “Hello, My Name Is Craig.”
The show — which airs Sundays at 6:30 a.m. — candidly covers the subject of gambling addiction. It was carried on WFAN even between Carton’s second and third stints with the station (he left WFAN in 2023 and returned on Jan. 5).
“I would say for all the great success that I’ve been blessed to have, this 30 minutes once a week is the most important content I’ve ever done,” Carton told Newsday on Wednesday in a telephone interview. “I can tell you firsthand — not to be hyperbolic about it — we’re saving lives by letting people share their stories and by letting other people associate the stories they hear on the radio to people in their lives, or themselves.
“I get emails every day, letters every day, and I’ve been blessed to be put in position right now, counseling people every day of the week, 24/7. I think that’s probably the best part of the show — that I could give you a list of people, first names only, that are in a much better place today because of the show.”
The American Gaming Association recently estimated that Americans will legally wager a record $1.76 billion on Super Bowl LX between the Seahawks and Patriots.
“No single event brings fans together like the Super Bowl, and this record figure shows just how much Americans enjoy sports betting as part of the experience,” AGA president and CEO Bill Miller said in a news release. “By choosing legal, regulated sportsbooks, fans are having fun while supporting a safe and responsible market.”
Carton also has since 2021 been a “responsible gaming ambassador” for FanDuel. He understands that people might have had a jaundiced view about him being in these roles because of his past.
“I think at the very beginning, there was a lot of skepticism of me doing it,” Carton said. “But I think what’s really been great about this show is anyone that’s ever listened to it recognizes how important this very specific show is in this very specific time in our lives. Because every week I’m bringing another person from all different walks of life to the table, who are emotionally kind of baring their souls and telling people what it was like to go down that path and what it was like when the gambling addiction took over.”
Carton said his message is not that you should never legally gamble, especially on Super Bowl Sunday. But you have to recognize the signs if it starts to spiral.
“We’re not going to try to scare people into not gambling,” he said. “We recognize that the Super Bowl is a special day where a lot of people gamble for the first time. Some people gamble for the only time. So the show on Sunday is just going to be a reiteration of the possible dangers that you could face when you do start gambling legally, and the fact that there actually are some tools that have been created that you can use to make sure you don’t get out of control or get out of hand.”
Carton — who said he hasn’t placed a bet since June 30, 2018 — said Super Bowl Sunday and the gambling associated with it no longer is a difficult situation for him.
“At the beginning it was,” he said. “But I’ve gotten to a place now where I feel really comfortable in the reality that I don’t have the urge to gamble like I used to. I’m well aware — and it’s probably the most important thing — that if I even try to make a $1 wager, I know full well where that would go. I’m not going to take the risk ever again of losing my family, or my job, or my freedom, and all the things that I did live through, self-inflicted. So it’s a non-starter for me.
“Now, that being said, I’m surrounded by it because of my chosen profession, and I’m just really lucky that I’m in a place where no matter how many ads run or stories get told or people talking about wins and losses from the night before, thankfully, and by the grace of God, it has not impacted the fact that I don’t desire to do it anymore.”
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
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