SportsMap is a
sports radio
Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...
network
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
that is distributed by Gow Media.
The SportsMap Radio Network supplies its
network affiliate
In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...
s with a 24-hour schedule of sports programming, including call-in shows and sports updates. Over its history, through cross-branding agreements, the SportsMap Radio Network has gone by the names
SB Nation
''SB Nation'' (an abbreviation for their full name ''SportsBlogs Nation'') is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Bleszinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2005. The blog from which the network ...
Radio,
Yahoo! Sports
Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from STATS, Inc. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. Bef ...
Radio,
Sporting News
The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
Radio, and One-on-One Sports.
History
SEN (1991–1993)
Originally, the network was called the Sports Entertainment Network and was headquartered in
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. Founded in 1991, it was the third all-sports radio network in the United States. The prior two networks were
Enterprise Sports Network
Enterprise Radio Network was an all-sports radio network which operated briefly in 1981. It featured sports newscasts twice an hour, and sports talk during the evening and overnight.
Creation and programming
Enterprise Radio was created by Scott R ...
which existed briefly in the late '70s and early 1980s, and RTV Sports which operated out of
Mashpee, Massachusetts
Mashpee ( wam, Mâseepee) is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, on Cape Cod. The population was 15,060 as of 2020. The town is the site of the headquarters and most members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, one of two feder ...
(on
Cape Cod
Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...
) in 1987 and 1988 and was syndicated on 27 stations across the US. RTV's owner, Tom Star, abruptly shut it down and absconded with the assets and paychecks suddenly in the summer of 1988 without a word to the staff and talent.
One on One Sports (1993–2001)
In 1993, One on One Sports bought Sports Entertainment Network, moved it to
Northbrook, Illinois
Northbrook is a suburb of Chicago, located at the northern edge of Cook County, Illinois, United States, on the border of Lake County, Illinois, Lake County. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 35,222.
When incorpo ...
, and renamed it. One on One Sports was founded in 1991 and delivered closed-circuit broadcasts to spectators attending sporting events such as golf tournaments and auto races, utilizing custom radio receivers. They audio coupled play-by-play commentary with special programming for the listeners at the event. One on One Sports had sports updates every 20 minutes, that it called "One On One Sports Flash". SEN/One on One Sports was the nation's first 24/7 sports radio network; beating out SportsFan Radio Network, Prime Sports Radio (based in Dallas), and ESPN Radio (which was mainly nights and weekends through the late 1990s). One on One Sports' program clock mirrored WFAN's with "One on One Sports Flash" updates at :00, :20, & :40, past the hour. During its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, major market affiliates for One on One Sports included KTCK, Dallas/Ft. Worth; KILT, Houston; KDUS, Phoenix; KJR, Seattle; WQAM, Miami; WNST, Baltimore. Hosts & Sports Flash anchors from the One on One Sports-era included: Art Mehring, Bruce Jacobs, Scott "Football" Franzke, Papa Joe Chevalier, Bob Kemp, Jay Mariotti, Peter Brown, Kevin Wheeler, Scott Wetzel, Andy Masur, Rick Ballou, Arnie "Stinkin' Genius" Spanier, plus Bob Berger and Bruce Murray hosting the 6-hour long weekend scoreboard shows from 1-7p.m. ET (Berger and Murray were also the main fill-ins for the weekday daytime shows).
One on One eventually acquired several O&O
owned and operated
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
radio stations including 620 WJWR (now
WSNR
WSNR (620 AM) is a commercial radio station, licensed to Jersey City, New Jersey, and serving the New York metropolitan area. It airs a brokered time radio format. The station is co-owned by Gregory Davidzon and Sam Katsman, through licensee ...
) in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, 950 WIDB (now
WNTD
WNTD (950 AM) is a radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois. It is owned by Relevant Radio, Inc. Its has separate day-time (1,000 watts; non-directional) and night-time (5,000 watts; directional) transmitter locations. It is currently one of ...
) in Chicago, 1540 KCTD (now
KMPC
KMPC (1540 AM, "Radio Korea", 라디오코리아) is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by P&Y Broadcasting Corporation. Radio Korea is a division of the Radio Korea Media Group. The station airs Korean– ...
) in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and 1510 WNRB (now
WMEX) in
Boston, Massachusetts. Most of One on One's O&O stations were low-rated, but they had high-profile local hosts including
Brian Kilmeade
Brian Kilmeade (born May 7, 1964) is an American television and radio presenter and political commentator for Fox News. On weekdays he co-hosts the morning show, ''Fox & Friends'', and he hosts the Fox News Radio program ''The Brian Kilmeade Sho ...
(now of FOX News) hosting on WJWR,
Tony Bruno
Anthony Joseph Bruno (born June 13, 1952) is an American sports talk radio host. He has worked for national American sports broadcasters including ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Radio, Premiere, and Sporting News Radio.
Early life
His father served in b ...
on KCTD, and
Bill Simmons
William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American sports analyst, author, podcaster, and former sports writer who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website '' The Ringer''. Simmons first gained attention with ...
and
Sean McDonough
Sean McDonough (born May 13, 1962) is an American sportscaster, currently employed by ESPN and WEEI Red Sox Radio Network.
Early life
The son of ''Boston Globe'' sportswriter Will McDonough, McDonough graduated from the S. I. Newhouse School ...
on WNRB,
plus the flagship rights to the
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
on WNRB .
Sporting News Radio (2001–2011)
One On One Sports was bought by ''
The Sporting News
The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
'' magazine in 2000, and thus the network was renamed Sporting News Radio in early 2001. The only real change SNR made was in August 2005, when it received an updated program clock and music package.
In 2006, SNR owner
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which h ...
(best known as the co-founder of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
) sold SNR and ''The Sporting News''. The network and magazine went to
American City Business Journals
American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...
of
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, while the three remaining stations (KMPC, WWZN, and WSNR) were then re-sold to other companies.
In 2007, Sporting News Radio moved its network headquarters from
Northbrook, Illinois
Northbrook is a suburb of Chicago, located at the northern edge of Cook County, Illinois, United States, on the border of Lake County, Illinois, Lake County. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 35,222.
When incorpo ...
to
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
. In 2010, the network headquarters were relocated once again to
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, with the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' network flagship becoming 1560
KGOW
KGOW (1560 AM) is a Vietnamese language terrestrial full service radio station based in Houston, Texas, United States, owned by Gow Media, LLC. KGOW's programming schedule is leased to a third party group that utilizes the broadcast day to air ...
.
Yahoo! Sports Radio (2011–2016)
On August 1, 2011, Sporting News Radio re-branded as
Yahoo! Sports
Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from STATS, Inc. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. Bef ...
Radio as part of a marketing relationship with
Yahoo!
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...
. The partnership included the co-development of content for the network, and access to resources and personalities from Yahoo! Sports and its college sports website
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
. David Gow explained that with the partnership, GOW was "picking up one of the most recognizable brand names in the world. We're getting access to some of the best sports journalism in the country, and we get to link ourselves together in a way that will accelerate the growth of our digital business." No financial details of the relationship were announced, and GOW remained the sole operator of the network.
SB Nation Radio (2016–2020)
On July 18, 2016, Gow announced a partnership with
Vox Media
Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company based in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''SB Nation'' (a sports blog network founded in 2005 by ...
-owned sports blog network
SB Nation
''SB Nation'' (an abbreviation for their full name ''SportsBlogs Nation'') is a sports blogging network owned by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Tyler Bleszinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong in 2005. The blog from which the network ...
, with the network renamed SB Nation Radio on August 1, 2016, and collaborating with SB Nation's personalities and local sites to co-develop content for on-air and digital platforms (such as
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
s).
In November 10, 2017,
VSporto, a sports podcasting network, reached an agreement with SB Nation to provide different podcasts to fill-in airtime for Saturday overnight/Sunday morning slot (midnight-8:00 a.m. EST).
In August 2019, SB Nation Radio launched a spin-off service, The BetR Network, in partnership with
Vegas Stats & Information Network
Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN) is an American sports betting radio network and streaming television channel. Founded in 2017 by the family of sportscaster Brent Musburger, VSIN broadcasts from their studios at the South Point Casino on ...
; the network initially combines programming from SB Nation Radio with programming from VSiN, but there were plans for additional programs specific to the network (with the first, ''The Lombardi Line'' with
Michael Lombardi, airing on weekends). The network's launch stations were
WBSS in Atlantic City and
KBAD in Las Vegas.
SportsMap Radio Network (2020–)
On July 27, 2020, Gow Media dropped the SB Nation brand in favor of its own SportsMap brand, as it felt the network no longer benefited from cross-branding and had lost operational control in the process.
Personalities
Prominent personalities on SportsMap Radio Network as of 2022 include
Scott Ferrall
Scott Ferrall (born July 29, 1965) is an American sports talk radio personality who hosts two shows on the SportsGrid video streaming service, Scott Ferrall: Coast to Coast and In-Game Live.
Scott's father Thomas C. Ferrall was a former radio pe ...
, Jake Asman, Jeff Michael, Jason Page, Ronn Culver, Tony Desiere, Brian Schaible, Greg Frank, Gabe Morency, Carla Dawson, David Gow, Cole Thompson, Elissa Walker Campbell, and Marcus Gamble.
References
{{Sports networks in the United States
Sports radio networks in the United States
Radio stations established in 1991