Congratulations to the Buffalo Bills, Good Karma Brands, and ESPN New York. With the announcement that ESPN New York will now be a Buffalo Bills Radio Network affiliate, I couldn’t be happier as a former sports radio programmer. The walls of exclusivity in New York City have finally been broken. More importantly, an NFL team and a sports radio station has recognized that the listener should be the priority.
It goes without question that sports media rights are the most valuable property in media today. They drive viewership and advertising revenue on television. For radio, they generate additional cume, strengthen branding, and create new advertising opportunities. Teams want to own as much real estate as they can, but controlling the conversation is even more important. They don’t just want to be heard on Sundays. They want fans talking about them throughout the week.
Now, there’s been a long-standing rule in the NFL when it comes to radio networks. According to Article X of the NFL bylaws, no NFL team was permitted to broadcast a game into the home territory of another team, specifically within a 75-mile radius of that team’s stadium. If you search the distance between Buffalo and New York City, though, the gap is more than 350 miles.
There are some exceptions in sports radio. The Las Vegas Raiders once called Los Angeles home, as well as Oakland for many years. The team’s radio network does still have a lone sports radio affiliate in Los Angeles. The black and silver also has a small AM outlet in the bay area on a spanish music format. Remember, the Raiders once owned real estate in both markets. Also, there are Baltimore Ravens games heard in metro Washington D.C. sports radio station, despite the 40 miles in between the two markets.
However, the Buffalo Bills have never before had a footprint in New York City. This addition is in a completely stratosphere because of the sports radio brand they’re partnering with. The two markets aren’t exactly next-door neighbors because of their distance, but the teams, in essence, are. In fact, division rivals with one New York City team.
It’s no secret that sports fandom is no longer as localized as it once was. For generations, people grew up, lived, and rarely left the markets they called home. Today, people are far more mobile, moving from one state to another for work, family, or new opportunities. With that comes greater demand for access to the teams fans still call their own. While people may leave their hometowns, their sports allegiances rarely leave them.
While television continues to make fans jump through more hoops to watch their favorite teams, radio has an opportunity to become more accessible than ever.
That’s why you see New York Yankees radio affiliates in New Mexico. You see the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network partnering with Compass Media Networks to place affiliates in several other NFL markets. It may not be Brad Sham on the call, but it’s Cowboys football broadcasts available in Houston. Want to listen to Lakers games in Hawaii? There’s a local radio option for that.
People are more on the go than ever before, and the demand for access has never been greater. NFL football remains America’s most popular sport, with fan loyalty running deep and rarely changing.
That’s why the Buffalo Bills, Good Karma Brands, and ESPN New York becoming partners is a change that sports radio needs more examples of in more markets around the country.
Adding Value To Radio
We talk all the time about how sports radio stations need to think outside the box. They need to find more ways to attract listeners to both the radio and their streaming platforms. Roughly nine million people live in New York City. Not all of them are Giants or Jets fans. They’re also not all part of Bills Mafia.
What this move does provide is access and choice, two things sports radio stations around the country should be striving to deliver. Sports radio is no longer confined to the radio dial. Consumers expect brands to be available online, on demand, through video, podcasts, apps, and social media.
What better way to provide access than by offering more choices? That adds value to your sports radio brand, invites more cume to the station, and offers something your competitors don’t.
The era of exclusivity has steadily eroded for years. Sports media personalities are a perfect example. How often do you see talent working for networks, hosting radio shows, while also owning media companies that distribute their content elsewhere? Success today isn’t about doing one thing. It’s about being everywhere people want to consume your content.
The Buffalo Bills are no different. They want a share of the audience in New York City because there are fans there. Of course, their NFL counterparts, the Giants and Jets, may not love it, but this is exactly how teams should rethink the value of their radio properties.
Bills President of Business Operations Pete Guelli told The Buffalo News that the added West Palm Beach market also announced was part of the expansion. Why? He pointed out that Florida has “the largest concentration of Bills fans outside of New York.” He even went on to say that the Bills aren’t finished adding affiliates.
There’s no good reason any franchise should be prevented from offering its product to sports radio brands willing to invest in carrying it.
The Listener First
Sports radio spends a lot of time talking about serving the audience, but too often the industry’s business decisions make it harder for fans to access the teams they love. Television rights continue to splinter games across broadcast networks, cable channels, streaming services, and subscription platforms, asking consumers to pay more while receiving less convenience. Radio has an opportunity to move in the opposite direction. That’s what happened here.
That’s why Good Karma Brands, the Buffalo Bills, and ESPN New York deserve credit. Instead of protecting severely outdated territorial boundaries, they recognized a simple reality: the listener comes first. More stations should take notice.
Fans don’t stop supporting their favorite teams because they move 300 miles away, and they shouldn’t lose easy access because of rules written for a different era. If sports radio wants to remain relevant while other platforms become increasingly fragmented, the answer isn’t creating more barriers. It’s creating more opportunities for people to listen.
This deal does exactly that, and hopefully it’s the first of many that put the fan—not market exclusivity—at the center of the conversation.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
How exactly have they changed sports media? As you point out in your article the Cowboys have been doing this for years. They even had an NYC affiliate (WBBR) a number of years ago.