Sports radio (orsports talk radio) is aradio format devoted entirely todiscussion andbroadcasting ofsporting events. A widespread programminggenre that has a narrow audience appeal,[1] sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by bothhosts andcallers. Many sports talk stations also carryplay-by-play (live commentary) of local sports teams as part of their regular programming.
In 1955, WHN New York launched the first regular sports talk program featuring a broadcaster/journalist roundtable that aired before and afterBrooklyn Dodgers games.[2] By the early 1960s, sports talk content, ranging from individual commentary to roundtable discussions, began appearing in major US markets, initially tied to play-by-play broadcasts but gradually developing unique styles and characters. Art Rust Jr. launched New York’s first interactive call-in show (WMCA) in 1960 to limited initial success.[3] Nonetheless, the interactive format spread in the 1960s withBill Mazer, launching the first successful show in March 1964 atWNBC (AM) in New York.[4] Soon after WNBC launched its program, in 1965Seton Hall University's radio station,WSOU, startedHall Line, a call-in sports radio talk show focusing on the team'sbasketball program. Having celebrated its 50th anniversary on air during the 2015–2016 season,Hall Line, which broadcasts to central and northern New Jersey as well as all five boroughs of New York, is the oldest and longest running sports talk call-in show in the NY-NJ Metropolitan area, and is believed to be the oldest in the nation.[5]
Enterprise Radio Network became the first national all-sports network, operating out of Avon, Connecticut, from New Year's Day 1981 through late September of that year before going out of business. ER had two channels, one for talk and a second for updates and play-by-play. ER's talk lineup included current New York Yankees voiceJohn Sterling, New York Mets radio hostEd Coleman and former big-league pitcherBill Denehy.
Emmis Broadcasting'sWFAN in New York in 1987 is considered to be the first all-sports radio station, with Philadelphia's WIP a close second. However, that designation is imprecise according to research byRowan University media scholar Emil Steiner since both stations relied on non-sports content during their initial years in order to survive: It wasn't until WFAN hiredDon Imus—a shock jock "who by all accounts despised sports," that the station became financially viable.[6] The prevailing narrative across news coverage was that sports talk radio works when it focuses on entertainment first and information second. This was the model espoused by WIP’s manager of programming Tom Bigby: "'If you do sports talk, it won’t survive,' Bigby says. 'If you do sports entertainment, the possibilities are endless.'" Following The success of the WIP and WFAN in the early 1990s, with hit programs such asMike and the Mad Dog, drove other stations in United States to try the all-sports talk format.[7] By 1991 there were around 20 stations broadcasting across the country and by 2000 there were over 600. While only one other radio show besidesMike and the Mad Dog attended the1990 Super Bowl, about 100 attended the2004 Super Bowl'sradio row.[8]
Sports talk is available in local,network andsyndicated forms, is available in multiple languages, and is carried in multiple forms on both major North Americansatellite radio networks. In the United States, most sports talk-formatted radio stations air syndicated programming fromESPN Radio,SportsMap,Sports Byline USA,Fox Sports Radio,Infinity Sports Network, orNBC Sports Radio, while in theSpanish language,ESPN Deportes Radio is the largest current network. In contrast, Canadian sports talk stations may carry a national brand (such asTSN Radio orSportsnet Radio) but carry mostly local programming, with American-based shows filling in gaps. Compared to other formats, interactive "talkback" sports radio poses difficulties forInternet radio, since as a live format it is difficult to automate; most prominent sports leagues also place their radio broadcasts behind apaywall or provide their broadcasts directly to the consumer, depriving standalone Internet stations of potential programming. Pre-recorded sports talk programs (usually interview-centered) can be syndicated aspodcasts with relative ease, and sports teams have also launched their own online digital networks with sports talk centered around their own properties.
As with most other radio formats, sports radio usesdayparting. ESPN Radio, for instance, insisted that its affiliates carryMike and Mike in the Morning during morningdrive time to provide as much national clearance as possible; in contrast, it carries less prominent programming in the afternoon drive to accommodate local sports talk, as well as in the evening (for its first two decades, rolling score updates aired under the banner ofGameNight) to allow stations to break away for local sporting events. Somewhat unusually for radio, the late-night and overnight hosts have more prominence on a sports talk network, due to a near-complete lack of local preemption.
Sports radio stations typically depend on drawing an audience that fits advertiser-friendlykey demographics, particularly young men with the disposable income to invest in sports fandom, since the format does not have the broad appeal to reach acritical mass in the general public. Prominent sports radio stations typically get their greatest listenership from live play-by-play of localmajor professional sports league orcollege sports franchises; less prominent stations (especially on the AM dial) may not have this option because of poorer (or for daytime-only stations, non-existent) nighttime signals and smaller budgets for rights fees.
Following the 2018 repeal of the United States'Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, a variant of the format focusing uponsports betting began to emerge. In August 2019, SportsMap (then SB Nation Radio) andVegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN) launched the BetR Network with affiliates in Las Vegas and Atlantic City at launch,[9][10] while Philadelphia'sWDAS flipped to a sports format featuring local programs involving sports betting.[9] BroadcasterAudacy began to deploy its BetQL Network to more of its stations in June 2021 (using the on-air brandThe Bet), alongside an expansion of their daily schedule.[11] Stations with such formats may still affiliate with a mainstream sports radio network to fill the remainder of their schedule, with the aforementioned WDAS otherwise carrying Fox Sports Radio (as well asPhiladelphia Union soccer),[12][9] BetR including programming from co-owner SportsMap on its lineup,[9][10] and BetQL being often carried alongside CBS Sports Radio on its owned-and-operated stations.[11]
In 2009, Detroit's "97.1 The Ticket"WXYT-FM, thanks to the surprising time slot dominance of shows likeValenti andFoster, in addition to holding the play-by-play rights for theDetroit Tigers,Detroit Red Wings,Detroit Lions and theDetroit Pistons, became the United States' only sports talk radio station to be the highest rated station in their market, according toPortable People Meter rankings. The station relocated to the FM dial in October 2007 after existing on the AM dial for seven years prior, replacing aFree FM "hot talk" station, WKRK. This ratings success has led to WXYT-FM billing itself as the country's best sports station.
