This week after four shows on Phoenix’s Fox Sports 910, afternoon host Dan Sileo was canned. A short tenure indeed, but it’s the nature of what happened that is especially troubling. According to The Athletic, the Arizona Coyotes (it’s an NHL Hockey team, btw) vehemently objected to the hiring of Sileo by their new flagship station. The team even took the very unusual move of commenting publicly on what it thought and what it did:
“When we became aware that Fox Sports 910 had hired Dan Sileo, we immediately reached out to the station’s management to express our deep concern regarding Mr. Sileo’s abhorrent comments,” the team told The Athletic. “Our promotion of inclusivity is deeply rooted into the fabric of who we are as an organization and we have no tolerance for racism, sexism, anti-Semitism or any other discriminatory behavior.”
The Athletic
Boom. Show was gone. Sileo scrubbed from the station website. It’s like the show had never existed. Nothing from PD Aaron Trimmer who said, “Sileo’s unparalleled passion and enthusiasm for Sports Talk make him the perfect host for afternoon drive on FOX Sports 910. We’re thrilled to have one of the country’s best hosts join our market-leading program lineup,” when Sileo was originally hired in late August.
Obviously Trimmer wasn’t THAT thrilled with Sileo as he caved to the pressure of the lowly Coyotes. For those who are not big hockey fans, the team is a complete non-factor in the NHL. The last time they made the playoffs was 2012 and the team has been riddled with ownership and stadium instability.
So all of this may be an extreme example, but it made me think of the influence that sports teams have with their flagships. I have heard stories through the years about teams exerting influence behind the scenes either in support of or against certain talent. In looking at this issue I spoke to two influential sports radio programmers. Mike Thomas, Brand Manager of the Boston sports radio juggernaut 98.5 The Sports Hub (and National Spoken Word and Podcast Brand Manager for Beasley Media Group) and John Mamola, PD of 95.3 WDAE in Tampa. The Sports Hub is the flagship for The Patriots, Bruins and Celtics while WDAE is the flagship station for the Tampa Bay Rays and USF.
Matt Fishman: What is the station’s obligation to the team when it comes to hiring talent?
John Mamola: I wouldn’t say there’s any obligations necessarily to a franchise, or at least there shouldn’t be. I’m a believer that stations and franchises should always have great working relationships where the station realizes the organization has a job to do, as does the franchise realizing the station has a job to do as performers/entertainers.
I would say the best approach for any station should be hiring the best talent to entertain and build a great working relationship with every franchise in their home market whether or not the franchise is officially tied to the station or not.
Mike Thomas: We keep them in the loop if we are going to make changes to the prime lineup. Otherwise, we have control of who is on the station in a talk show capacity. We have never been in a situation where we thought, “we should get the team(s) to approve this person”. The only exception is with our play-by-play teams. When we hired a new play-by-play person, we conducted the search, narrowed it down and went to the team with our finalists. Our play-by-play guys are employees of the station, but the team was involved in our final pick. I will add this, if you are about to hire someone that you feel could send your PBP partners over the edge…maybe you shouldn’t hire that person?
Matt: How much control of your overall product do you turnover to a major play-by-play partner?
John: The team controls what the team has the rights to control as stated in the contracts with the station. There is always going to be give and take on certain things, but as long as each party works together and builds an understanding of each other and what their goals are….you find a happy medium and harmony with your partnership.
Mike: ZERO! The only time they get sensitive is when we make it personal. Being critical of the play or the players is never a problem with our partners.
Matt: Does a team have more control if that team is a station’s only play-by-play property?
John: There is a luxury to being the lone team on a sports station as you’ll be the lone play by play property on the sports station. However, I think the word “control” should only be used with stations where they own a piece of the radio station from an owner standpoint.
In our building in Tampa Bay, we are blessed to have each of the three professional sports franchises in house as well as our local division one school. Our number one goal is to ensure that every franchise is well taken care of in season and out.
Mike: I don’t think so. I think the same partnership rules apply if you have one team or four teams.
Each market, team and scenario is different–I get that. Live, local sports play-by-play is, in many cases, the most important programming on many sports radio stations across the country. With the growth of podcasts and other audio choices, live play-by-play is even more important to a station’s ratings and revenue. With that in mind, while I believe the Phoenix situation to be an outlier, it is a cautionary tale for station programmers to keep an eye on going forward.
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.
