The impending debut of FS1's new gambling show has made for a busy past couple months for Fox Sports Exec VP/Content for FS1 CHARLIE DIXON, as he and his team have been tinkering with and testing every facet of the program's format to make sure it flows well on-screen for the viewers. By discussing the biggest sports news of the day through the lens of gambling, Dixon hopes the show becomes a must-watch for everyone ranging from Super Bowl prop bettors to Las Vegas high rollers. On the heels of FS1's fifth anniversary, Dixon spoke with THE DAILY about his daily dealings with some of the biggest TV personalities in sports.
5:58am: My wife JESSICA and I get up right before 6:00 every day. I haven’t set an alarm since the day my 7-year-old son SEAN was born because one of his favorite pastimes is around 5:58 to sprint into our bed, jump in between us and yell, "Don’t mind if I do." I’ll make breakfast for Sean and my 13-year-old daughter VERONICA and drive them to school. I always eat breakfast at home and will usually just do a little fruit with some toast -- just something to accompany my coffee. I’ll throw on “FIRST THINGS FIRST” to make sure CRIS CARTER and NICK WRIGHT in N.Y. aren’t doing anything that I’m going to have to deal with at 7:30.
7:15am: It’s about a 30-minute commute to the office. I listen to “UNDISPUTED” on the radio on the way. I’ve been in a weird phase where I’m really into true crime podcasts. I also listen to a lot of COUSIN SAL and BILL SIMMONS on The Ringer. Then I’ll obviously listen to guys like CLAY TRAVIS and TODD FUHRMAN. My one thing I have to listen to -- after I drop the kids off -- is HOWARD STERN just to get my laughs in. At the office I sit down with my assistant and go through my calendar.
8:00am: I call this my “talent time.” I’ll go down and visit all the guys like COLIN COWHERD, SKIP BAYLESS, SHANNON SHARPE and JASON WHITLOCK just to see how they’re doing, if they have any specific tough content questions they want to go over or if they have new angles, they can try it out on me. If there’s something that I saw in the rundown that I just want to be a little cautious with, I’ll ask the guys to walk me through their take and I’ll help when applicable.
Dixon always makes sure to set aside time for his wife and kids despite a hectic daily scheduleCHARLIE DIXON
10:00am: For the last few months, it’s been strictly development meetings during this time for our new gambling show called “LOCK IT IN.” It will debut Sept. 10 in the afternoons following “SPEAK FOR YOURSELF.” We outline daily the 15 things we have to accomplish in order to move the ball. It’s pretty cool -- we got Cousin Sal from “JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE” to come over and be a part of it. This is big for us on many fronts because it’s our first foray into gambling content as legalization happens around the country. The show’s very fun, it’s like the best blackjack table you could possibly walk into in Las Vegas.
12:00pm: I’ll usually meet with our originals team, which helped launch “MAGNIFY,” our documentary series. We’ll grab lunch at one of the restaurants here at the lot, usually Moe’s or News Café, and work in my office. We’ll watch pitches, sizzle reels or maybe sections of a documentary that we’re looking to add. That’s my time to shift the brain into full creative, long form mode from the studio shows.
1:00pm: I’ll bring in my executive editor, head of studio and head of originals for a 30-minute meeting just to go over everything that’s going on in their world. Once I aggregate that and prioritize what’s important for my boss MARK SILVERMAN to know, we’ll meet and I’ll walk him through where we are in pre-production on certain projects, development of the new show.
4:00pm: I’ll sit down with my assistant again and start itemizing what we need to do the next day. That’s almost the most important meeting I’ll have all day. Then I’ll go into the problem-solving part of my day when people who have tried to do their jobs but couldn’t get something done will come in one by one until we solve everything.
5:30pm: I’ll try to go and play tennis 2-3 times a week at the Griffin Club in L.A., which is right down the street from the office. One of the best things about moving back out here is my renewed love of the game because there’s not a lot of tennis in N.Y. Afterward I’ll rush home and get ready for dinner with the family. My wife is a great cook and there’s nothing she loves more than making a dinner and getting everyone around the table. Sometimes there’s entertaining in this business, but I try to keep that to just 1-2 days a week. We also always go out for family dinner on Sundays, but the only problem is that we let the kids decide and my daughter has been obsessed with the Cheesecake Factory lately.
8:30pm: Once the kids finish eating and go up to do their homework, my wife and I will finally be able to take a deep breath and hang out on the couch. I always try to walk her through the day that I had. Then she and I will devour whatever is on Netflix or any other platform like the DAVID LETTERMAN interview series. I used to think the algorithm Netflix used to determine suggestions of shows to watch was horrible, but whoever has changed that in the last two years deserves to own Netflix because they really have me pinned at this point.
10:30pm: After that it’s usually a crossword puzzle in bed as a way to turn the brain off. My wife is much better at it than I am, but I can fill in the sports clues. I’ll usually try to be asleep by 11:00.
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