The coverage of the NCAA Tournament Westwood One provides for radio stations is going digital this year. The company has reached a deal with Learfield to stream radio coverage of the event on Learfield’s Varsity Network app.
The Varsity Network app is the digital platform for all of Learfield’s college sports play-by-play properties. There are nearly 200 teams available on the app.
“We are thrilled to be able to provide these live championship streams of Westwood One’s broadcasts as part of The Varsity Network,” Rick Barakat, executive vice president and managing director for Learfield’s Media & Partnerships Group, said in a press release. “When we created this app, it was with the idea of providing fans with live and on-demand access to college content they cannot find anywhere else – and providing free audio to all NCAA Championships and every men’s March Madness game takes our content delivery for college sports fans to another level.”
For Learfield and Westwood One, this year’s college basketball tournament is the start of a multi-year partnership. Westwood One coverage of all NCAA championship events will stream on Varsity. That includes the Division I Men’s and Women’s College World Series, Division I Men’s and Women’s Frozen Four, and Division I Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Semifinals and Championships.
“Our radio broadcasts have been a staple of the NCAA Tournament for 40 years,” added Bruce Gilbert, Senior Vice President, Sports, Content and Audience, Cumulus Media | Westwood One, which has broadcast every NCAA Men’s Tournament since 1982. “We’re thrilled to give fans the ability to hear every exciting play of an event that annually captivates fans across the nation.”
