After Brendan Tobin graduated from Barry University in Florida, he really didn’t have any aspirations to have an on-air role when he began his career in radio. So, when he joined 790 The Ticket in Miami, he did some updates, but he embarked on an 11-year run as a producer that would ultimately lead to becoming a host.
His success as a producer led him to being co-host of “Tobin & Leroy”, initially on The Ticket, and now heard from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 560 WQAM.
“It’s everything to me,” said Tobin about his time as a producer. “I loved editing, I loved making montages and I loved putting bits together and I loved putting a rundown together. You just know the best way to structure things. I still cut my own sound on a nightly basis to say what are we going to bring to the audience the next day.”
Tobin has enjoyed his run being teamed with former All-Pro running back Leroy Hoard who played a huge role in Tobin being hired to be the co-host of the show. When the opening came up back during The Ticket days, the station tried out news anchors and others at the radio station.
And then came Tobin’s chance.
“I’m really grateful for Leroy because he had a bit of a choice as to who he ultimately wanted to be his partner,” said Tobin. “I was producing mornings, and I really wanted my shot to host. Something about us just clicked and he really backed me and I’m forever grateful to the guy.”
And these have been good times to be a sports radio host in South Florida.
The Florida Panthers won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history back in June while the Miami Heat went to the NBA Finals in 2023. And the Miami Dolphins have been a big NFL story with the emergence of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
There’s been a lot of good things to talk about.
“The show has been unbelievably fun,” said Tobin who also hosts “Tapped Out” on the Audacy-owned BetQL Network.
“There’s not a day we don’t go home laughing and having a good time. It’s been a fun few years because there’s been a lot of meat on the bone as far as things to talk about.”
And Tobin gets to talk about those things every weekday with Hoard as the duo has created some special chemistry over the years. They have come to know each other very well and they have learned how to push each other’s buttons.
And the listeners have been eating it up.
“I know how to send him off the rails and he knows how to call out my hypocrisy or fraudulence on certain takes and the audience just loves that,” said Tobin. “They love that we get after each other so much that they really probably think that on certain days we hate each other’s guts.”
That, as Tobin points out, could not be further from the truth.
“Our families are friends. We spend the holidays together. We’ve gone on trips together. We really enjoy each other’s company.”
There was a time when Audacy owned two all-sports radio stations in South Florida, The Ticket and WQAM, but that ended in 2022 when The Ticket went off the air and was replaced by Spanish-language conservative talk.
Tobin & Leroy were the last show on The Ticket before the format flip. There was an interesting dynamic when they hosted the morning show on The Ticket because they were in the same building as WQAM.
In fact, they had an up-close view of the ‘competition’ from their studio.
“We’re doing morning drive and we could see through the glass and see Joe and we’re talking with Joe between breaks,” said Tobin. “It was odd but fun.”
While Tobin grew up in Florida listening to WQAM, it was 790 The Ticket where he aspired to land when he began his career.
So, for him, while it was sad to see the station come to an end, ending up on WQAM was something special as well.
“(The Ticket) was the station I wanted to work on,” said Tobin. “To get your foot in the door there and work for so many years there and see it come to an end was definitely hard but then it was a cool opportunity to work for this grand legacy station that has so much heritage and fun to it.”
And when it comes to heritage and legacy, South Florida sports radio has certainly left an indelible mark on the industry with a number of hosts who have gone on to work nationally. That list includes the likes of Joy Taylor, Amber Wilson, Jorge Sedano, Dan Le Batard and Jon ‘Stugotz’ Weiner.
Tobin takes a lot of pride in what his home market has been able to produce.
“It’s awesome to see,” said Tobin. “I can’t say it’s surprising because getting a chance to work with a lot of these people, you can see the talent. They’ve all been either really fun to work with or big influences on us.”
Tobin & Hoard have done a good job of generating ratings and establishing listener loyalty and a big part of that comes from those who were born and raised in South Florida and root for the local teams. It’s no secret how transient of a market South Florida is with so many people who have transplanted from places like New York, Boston and Philadelphia.
While you might think that adds a responsibility to South Florida radio shows to pay attention to out of market teams, that’s not something that Tobin subscribes to.
“Everybody who comes down here, to me, is looked upon as a nuisance,” said Tobin who has zero interest in catering to the out-of-towners who have invaded South Florida over the years.
“There is no cow-towing to them,” said Tobin. “I could not give a rat’s ass about any Knicks fan who is listening to my show or any Yankees fan because they’re going to probably listen because they’ll probably hate my guts with all the slander that I hit their teams with.”
And with that is a big reason why Brendan Tobin has been able to be a success in South Florida at both The Ticket and WQAM.
He is South Florida through and through.
Peter Schwartz writes weekly sports radio features for Barrett Media. He has been involved in New York sports media for over three decades, and has worked for notable brands such as WFAN, CBS Sports Radio, WCBS 880, ESPN New York, and FOX News Radio. Peter has also served as play by play announcer for the New Yok Riptide, New York Dragons, New York Hitmen, Varsity Media and the Long Island Sports Network. You can find him on Twitter @SchwartzSports or email him at DragonsRadio@aol.com.
