The New York Islanders will not be sending their radio play-by-play announcers to most road games, becoming the first professional sports franchise in the New York metropolitan area to make this move. The organization, which utilizes college radio station WRHU-FM at Hofstra University as its flagship home, had announcing duo Chris King and Greg Picker call games remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic from its radio studios. Entering the 2023-24 season, the team opted to keep its current broadcasting arrangement, which disseminates games to ESPN New York and WRCN-FM. Neil Best of Newsday was first with the report on this decision.
The radio announcers are employed by the team themselves, but they have historically traveled to road games separately, assuming an extra cost. Conversely, MSG Networks announcers Brendan Burke and Butch Goring are employed by the Madison Square Garden Network itself, and they are expected to continue traveling to road games. The Toronto Maple Leafs received backlash for its decision to keep its radio broadcasters remote last season, but ultimately reinstated them at road games in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
While King and Picker will still travel to local games – such as those against the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers – most of their road work will be done remotely. Saturday night’s broadcast of the Islanders’ matchup against the Buffalo Sabres will mark the return of these remote presentations, something that the team had not done since the COVID-19 pandemic. In a 2021 interview with Barrett Sports Media, King spoke about the challenges associated with calling games off a monitor and how it is difficult to replicate the in-arena atmosphere.
“You are limited to what the [television] director shows you, as opposed to being at the event,” King said. “In hockey, things happen away from the puck all the time, and I need to look there to see what plays are being set up, especially late in close games.”
King has been calling Islanders games on radio since 1998 and is also on the broadcast for Long Island Ducks baseball. He has been joined by Picker since 2015 after the team utilized a rotation of college students to serve as color commentators. The team has yet to divulge its future radio plans after Good Karma Brands revealed that it will decline renewal of its lease on 98.7 FM, moving ESPN New York to 1050 AM and other digital platforms.
