NAB Show: Craig Carton Talks Gambling, Radio And Responsibility.

Craig Carton once found himself placing a bet on a dog race in Tijuana at three o’clock in the morning. He didn’t know anything about the dogs. In fact, he wasn’t even sure they existed. But for the WFAN-AM/FM New York (660/101.9) personality, the wager illustrates just how far his gambling addiction had taken him.

“I can’t tell you that the dogs even exist, but that’s the disease,” Carton recalled during a discussion at NAB Show New York on Wednesday (Oct. 21). “That’s what I’m trying to make sure other people don’t experience because it’s not fun.”

Carton’s gambling addiction ultimately cost him his freedom, sending him to prison before he returned to radio and television. Now a responsible gaming ambassador for FanDuel, he’s using his broadcasting platform to warn others about the dangers of compulsive gambling, even as sports betting has become an increasingly prominent advertising category for radio and podcasting.

That relationship between sports media and gambling was among the issues explored during the NAB discussion, which paired Carton with FanDuel President Christian Genetski and CNN’s Clare Duffy. The conversation highlighted both the opportunities created by legalized sports wagering and the questions surrounding an industry whose advertising has become a familiar presence across sports programming.

For Carton, the mission is personal. He recalled making a pledge to himself when he was given the opportunity to return to broadcasting after serving his prison sentence. “If I ever got back on the radio, I would use my story and the platform I’d be given to try to help people to avoid going down the same path I went down,” he said.

That commitment eventually led to a partnership with FanDuel in 2021, giving Carton an opportunity to speak publicly about problem gambling while working with one of the country’s largest sports betting companies.

The arrangement also reflects a broader reality for sports media. Gambling companies have become important advertisers. Their marketing has also helped make sports wagering a routine part of the sports conversation, something FanDuel acknowledges brings additional responsibilities.

Carton, however, pushed back against the idea that gambling advertising is necessarily the primary reason young people become interested in wagering. He suggested some parents may be introducing their children to betting themselves, sometimes as a way to bond while watching sports. He said many of the people he now encounters who are struggling with gambling problems are young men. Rather than simply blaming sportsbooks or their advertising, Carton argued that parents need to have more direct conversations with their children about gambling and the difficulty of winning. “Instead of blaming the sports books, I think it really starts at the home,” he said.

The discussion also offered some insight into how sports betting activity parallels with their advertising strategy. Genetski said the typical FanDuel customer is most active during football season, particularly around NFL and college games, with additional interest surrounding major events such as March Madness and the Masters. “If you track sort of the arc of sports fandom and look at media ratings and those sorts of things, it’s a pretty similar picture,” he said.

While FanDuel says most customers gamble recreationally, Genetski acknowledged that a small percentage develop compulsive behavior. The company is increasingly using technology to identify those customers before their problems escalate. FanDuel is also working with other major gambling operators on launching a shared clearinghouse that would allow companies to identify customers suspended because of problem gambling.

For Carton, such measures represent progress from the days when his own gambling problems spiraled out of control. He recalled that after voluntarily excluding himself from online gambling in New Jersey, he received a marketing letter from a casino acknowledging his decision while inviting him to gamble in person. He said the experience illustrates why stronger safeguards and cooperation among operators are needed.

With broadcasting now closely connected to sports betting companies, Carton’s message offered a reminder that the relationship carries responsibilities beyond selling wagers. He said the goal isn’t to discourage everyone from gambling, but to make sure those who cross the line recognize the danger before it’s too late.

“I can speak to gambling from both sides of it,” Carton said. “I, for the majority of my life, did it responsibly and recreationally — but it also cost me everything, including my freedom.”