WBZ-FM officially inked a multiyear deal to "be the new radio home of the Celtics" beginning with the '13-14 season, according to Chad Finn of the BOSTON GLOBE. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Celtics President Rich Gotham said, "There will also be a lot of cross-pollination over the other CBS Radio stations, some synergy with Comcast Sports Net New England (the television home of the Celtics) since a lot of the same personalities appear on both." The Celtics had "been on Entercom-owned stations" since '05-06, but "parted ways" with WEEI-FM in August. WBZ "now has rights deals with three of the four major Boston sports franchises: the Celtics, Patriots, and Bruins." When the Celtics and Bruins play "on the same night, the former will move" to WZLX-FM, another "highly rated CBS Radio-owned station in the market." There will be a "minimum of 19 times this season that the Bruins and Celtics play on the same day or night within a three-hour start-time window, and three more times when the Bruins and Patriots conflict in the regular season" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/27).
WELCOME TO THE TEAM: In Texas, Lance Lahnert reported the Celtics have hired KAMR-NBC sports reporter Emily Austen to be the team's "web reporter." Austen's entire duties have not been defined, but she said that she "will host a 30-minute live pregame show on Boston home game days, which includes interviewing Celtics players" (AMARILLO GLOBE-NEWS, 9/25).
