With football season upon us, I wanted to help stations focus on some tips to have a successful fall book. Some are tried and true strategies and some are brand new based on changing technologies, listening habits and gambling.
Star Power
What kind of local current or former NFL stars are either hosts or regular guests on your station? Look around the country and the big names are everywhere. Former NFL players are hosting major market and national shows across the country. National hosts like Mike Golic of ESPN and Tiki Barber of CBS Sports Radio anchor their respective network’s drive time shows.
Major markets are big supporters of former NFL players. Take Philadelphia as a prime example. WIP/Philly has former Eagles Jon Ritchie and Ike Reese as regular daytime hosts. Not to be outdone, 97.5 The Fanatic/Philly has former Eagle Tra Thomas in Mornings and a weekly show with legendary QB Ron Jaworski. It’s much the same across the country Boomer Esiason and Bart Scott at WFAN in NY, John Jurkovic at ESPN 1000/Chicago, Sean Salisbury at Sports Talk 790/Houston, Keyshawn Johnson/ESPN LA, Derrick Mason at The Game/Nashville, Hugh Douglas at The Game/Atlanta. The list goes on and on. It shows the importance of football and the fall book in sports radio.
Reporting
Radio reporters covering their local NFL team is essential. Not just for sound, but for stories and information. Despite a million ways for your listeners to get their sports information, a well sourced beat reporter is worth their weight in gold for your station. Have regular benchmarks for your team reports and play up any breaking news live from the team’s facility.
Fantasy Football
While it seems like everyone you know has a fantasy football team, the game has changed. Now with the establishment of DraftKings and other daily fantasy sports sites, there is big money to be made every week of the season instead of waiting for the end of the season to find a league winner.
Betting
With sports betting being legalized in states across the country, sports betting talk is all the rage. Radio.com just made it a cornerstone of its new digital sports network with “You Better, You Bet!” This follows Matt Perrault’s Pushing the Odds and Brent Musburger’s VSIN. Now you can’t turn on sports radio or your regional sports network without hearing about a point spread or line. I’m not knocking this. It’s a huge area of continuing growth in sports media.
Conclusion:
You know your market, your team’s fans, your listeners better than I do. Take these tips and apply them to what you know. Hopefully your coverage can continue to evolve each year as things continue to change. Good luck and have a great Fall!
Matt Fishman is a former columnist for BSM. The current PD of ESPN Cleveland has a lengthy resume in sports radio programming. His career stops include SiriusXM, 670 The Score in Chicago, and 610 Sports in Kansas City. You can follow him on Twitter @FatMishman20 or you can email him at FishmanSolutions@gmail.com.
