Orlando radio host Dan Sileo suspended after Tampa Bay Bucs ownership threaten action against him and Clear Channel

By Banzay on 08:08

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Acid-tongued local sports radio host Dan Sileo has done something few in the media have been able to do in recent years: He elicited a response -- and an angry one -- from reclusive Tampa Bay Bucs ownership.

And as a result, Sileo has been suspended from his job as a morning sports radio host in Orlando and Tampa, according to the Tampa Tribune. In Orlando, his station, 740-AM, ran the nationally syndicated Steve Czaban Show on Friday morning,

Bucs co-chairman Joel Glazer, one of the sons of owner Malcolm Glazer, angrily denied a report by Sileo on Thursday that his family might consider selling the team because the Glazers have lost more than $400 million in Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme.

Joel Glazer, in what some are saying is an unprecedented move, came out with a public statement Thursday in which he blasted Sileo and threatened to take action against Clear Channel, which owns the stations where Sileo is heard.

"The report today by Dan Sileo about family and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is 100 percent false," Glazer said in his statement. "The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not, nor have they ever been for sale. In addition, our family or any of our related companies have never invested one penny with Bernie Madoff. The report is baseless, irresponsible and slanderous. This type of behavior by Mr. Sileo and his company Clear Channel will be dealt with in the appropriate manner."

I was listening to Sileo Thursday morning when he said his information was based on a friend who works for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The friend, Sileo said, told him the Glazers had lost $440 million with Madoff. Sileo also said in passing that Magic owner Rich DeVos was tied to Madoff.

Sileo's morning radio show is heard on both 740-AM in Orlando and on WDAE -- the most popular sports radio station in the Tampa Bay market.



Sileo could not be reached for comment, but on 740-AM's website, there is now a statement at the top of the page apologizing for Sileo's "factually incorrect" comments. The statement also says the station is making a "full retraction."

Full disclosure: Sileo is one of my guilty pleasures. Even though my critically acclaimed radio show is on a competing station, I like to listen to Sileo and hope his damning information about the Glazers was based on more than just what a friend told him. But I'm skeptical. Sileo has always been controversial and sometimes says outlandish things just to get a reaction. He's always been entertaining, but credibility has never been his strong suit.

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