Bart Scott “can’t wait.”
Scott officially signed with ESPN to co-host a new local mid-afternoon radio show on 98.7 FM and appear regularly on its TV morning show, “Get Up!,” The Post has learned.
ESPN plans to have Scott start his radio show with Alan Hahn on Jan. 2, according to sources. He is expected on TV soon after the new year, as well.
Scott’s anticipated start date is significant. It has been known he is leaving WFAN. However, FAN’s parent company, Entercom, has tried to prevent him from starting with ESPN on time. At points, it looked as if Scott may not begin the new full-time radio portion of his job until a month or two later, but now that is not the case.
It is unclear if WFAN or Entercom has any contractual right to try to prevent him from starting Jan. 2. Contracts sometime have clauses that prevent competition right away, but they have to be executed correctly to be enforced.
It is unknown if Entercom will try to take up a legal issue with Scott. Entercom and ESPN declined comment.
A month ago, The Post reported Scott’s plan to leave WFAN for ESPN. After the story appeared, WFAN offered Scott more money to stay, but he declined.
WFAN has left Scott on the air, even after it knew he was going to its rival.
Originally, FAN had hoped to team Scott, Maggie Gray with a third person as its replacements for Mike Francesa.
FAN is planning to have Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts form the new afternoon team, though nothing is yet official. Marc Malusis is the favorite to team with Gray in mid-day. John Jastremski has also been a candidate.
After The Post reported Thursday of Jastremski’s concerns about being a “second fiddle” on any show, he essentially confirmed the entire story in an appearance with “Boomer & Gio” on Friday.
Starting Jan. 2, Scott and Hahn are expected to do a week and a half of shows before ceding a week to the program they are replacing in New York: Stephen A. Smith will do a final week of his national radio program beginning Jan. 13 and will be on 98.7 FM. Scott and Hahn will be good to go from Jan. 20 onward.
