Sources say that it "now appears that ESPN Radio-NY (heard only on 98.7 FM come next month) has shifted attention from the Yankees to the Mets," according to Phil Mushnick of the N.Y. POST. Both teams' radio deals "expire after this season." The sources said that the Mets "represent to ESPN 'a better value,' while the Yankees have interpreted ESPN's courtship as an opportunity to make another big ticket loser out of another radio partner." One source said, "Right now, it's 60-40 that ESPN will wind up with the Mets' deal instead of the Yanks'. The Yanks would go to FAN or stay on WCBS, but the station has to be willing to lose money or, at best, break even." The source added, "ESPN would be willing to lose money for a couple of years on a Yankee deal, but not a truckload, and the Yanks always want a truckload for everything" (N.Y. POST, 8/3).
IT'S TWINS! In Minneapolis, Sid Hartman writes "odds are strong" that KTWN-FM radio "will carry Twins broadcasts next year and beyond." Twins Owner the Pohlad family bought the station in '07 for $28M and "has been trying to sell" recently. Hubbard Broadcasting-owned KSTP-AM currently carries Twins games (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 8/3).
REUNITED: The Trail Blazers Thursday announced that they have "reached an agreement with Clear Channel to air all exhibition and regular season Blazers games, beginning with the 2012-13 NBA season." In Portland, Joe Freeman noted games "will be "simulcast on NewsRadio 1190 and 102.3 KEX, offering Blazers fans the ability to listen on AM and FM radio." In addition, the stations "will carry two more Blazers-related programs." KEX was the Blazers' radio home from '79-85 and again from '89-01. In recent seasons, Blazers games aired on KXTG-AM (OREGONLIVE.com, 8/2).
CAMPUS STATION: In Tampa, Joe Smith notes WHFS-FM Thursday "made its debut" as a sports radio station. Owned and operated by CBS Radio, "the station announced a multiyear partnership to be" the Univ. of South Florida's flagship station. The station "hopes to permeate a market that already includes sports station WDAE-AM 620 which has a dominant presence in the area" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 8/3)....In Nashville, Jeff Lockridge noted Vanderbilt Univ. "has entered into a five-year deal to have its football and men's basketball games broadcast on WLAC." The school said that the deal "comes after the sale of Vanderbilt's broadcast partner for the last two years, WRQQ 97.1-FM, which relinquished its broadcast rights when it changed formats." Women's basketball and baseball games will remain on WNSR-AM as "part of a contract that has two years left" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 8/2).
