Born in Gary, Indiana, just over a half-hour from Chicago, KFAN host Dan Barreiro always had an interest in radio. Growing up, he listened to WIND AM, a Chicago talk radio station that had a variety of different shows at night that covered topics such as politics and pop culture. There was also that one-hour show that was all about sports and that was the one that really caught his attention.
“I was the geeky kid who listened to talk radio,” said Barreiro. “I was the geeky kid who listened to that stuff pretty much every night. I always enjoyed it. I always had it in my blood.”
While radio was in his blood, Dan Barreiro began his career in sports as a newspaper writer getting his start in Louisville before moving on to Atlanta, Dallas and then the Minneapolis Star Tribune. In 1992, he crossed over to sports radio when he joined KFAN 100.3 FM. Today, he is still going strong over 30 years later, still holding down afternoon drive from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
There was once a feeling by those in the newspaper business that sports radio was taboo and there shouldn’t be a crossover. Dan Barreiro, who left the Star Tribute in 2004, says the complete about-face by sports writers over three-decades has been one of the biggest changes in the sports radio industry.
“When I started doing (radio), it was almost like you had to apologize,” said Barreiro. “There was a feeling of that they felt threatened by the whole thing and don’t ever mention in any column that you do this other job. Over the years, it’s evolved into almost the opposite where there’s sort of this acceptance of the crossover and that one might actually enhance the other.”
When WFAN in New York went on the air in 1988, as the world’s first all-sports radio station, there was instant animosity from the print media because sports fans no longer had to wait to read the newspaper the next day to get their sports news. Breaking news would be announced almost immediately during a talk show by either the host or the update anchors.
But while the animosity between print and electronic media continued to gain traction, it became apparent to sports radio management that the best way to gain credibility was to hire those who already had the credibility among the sports leagues, teams and players.
Because he was already covering the local teams like the Vikings and Twins, Dan Barreiro proved to be a great hire by KFAN.
“For me, being grounded in being around the teams and covering the teams, the suspicion that maybe the teams themselves might have had, was lessened a little bit by the fact that ok he’s already been doing this and he’s just kind of doing this now in another form,” said Barreiro.
“You already have, if you’re doing it right, decent knowledge of the marketplace and that was created by being in the paper four days a week and sometimes more than that in column form, as I was, and I think it just makes it easier to make the transition.”
Barreiro was the antithesis of the typical sports writer years ago. He actually respected sports radio and called it, as long as it was done correctly, an “art form.” There were so many sports writers who looked down on sports radio, especially if the content was not good.
But while Barreiro acknowledged that not everyone did it well, he was always willing to give it a chance and subsequently made a career of it.
“I always felt that there was substance if you did it right and it was a legitimate form of communication,” said Barreiro.
Known in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as “The Big Ticket” because of the high ratings that he has attained over the years, Barreiro has been able to come up with the right formula to keep the audience interested and engaged. He’s developed an approach that has worked and he has the ratings to prove it.
Barreiro tries to stay away from talking about the same story over and over again.
He’s also mixed in some non-sports topics to keep things fresh.
“Sports is always going to be our base, especially the Vikings, but we do a little of everything,” said Barreiro. “We do politics, we do pop culture, we do goofy stuff and sometimes really serious stuff but you hope over the years that the audience has enough faith in you that they start believing you have enough credibility on the basis of the guests you put on and what you say that they’ll accept the idea that this sports station or this sports guy is talking about other things.”
Barreiro has been at this for a long time and he has loyal listeners who have been along for the ride. Somone who may have been a teenager when Barreiro hit the KFAN airwaves may now be married with children, so sports may not be the only thing on his or her mind.
So, taking some time to talk about what else, besides sports, is going on in the world can go a long way to keeping the audience tuned in.
“They’re not bothered if we spend a day talking about what’s going on in the schools these days,” said Barreiro. “Because those topics, as you get a little bit older, can be a lot more relatable to people even if you’re looking for the bread-and-butter sports stuff most of the time.”
In any business, especially in radio, it’s hard to have long-lasting staying power without the support of management. In Barreiro’s case, he’s had that with Program Director Chad Abbott and iHeart Minneapolis Vice President of Programming Gregg Swedberg.
Even with the way that the sports radio industry has grown and changed, they’ve let Barreiro do his thing and say what he needs to say.
“Chad and Gregg allowed me to be what I wanted to be,” said Barreiro. “In over 31 years, I have never had anything but big-time support. There are certain lines that obviously you can’t cross ethically speaking, but beyond that, there have been some tough moments where people have been mad and teams have been mad and they have been great about sending the message that we allow our hosts to do what they do.”
Dan Barreiro has also been blessed with two outstanding producers at KFAN in Joe Anderson and Justin Gaard.
“I need a second voice to play off me,” said Barreiro. “To go three decades with two as good as these two fellows, and to only have two in all that time, has been no small part of our run.”
While Dan Barreiro has enjoyed an outstanding career, both in print and radio, he also appreciates that there are many young people who aspire to get into sports radio. So, when he is asked about what it takes to get into the business and what the key is to be a success, Barreiro has no problem sharing some of the things that he has learned over the years.
“The best advice I can give is, as I understand the business, just diversify as much as you can,” said Barreiro. “To me, I say do as many different things as you can and don’t be afraid to go to smaller stations.”
Dan Barreiro, who turns 69 years old later this month and recently signed a new long-term contract, is still very much on top of his game. For those who think that he may be nearing the end of the line…think again.
While he’s thought about when he might want to retire, he’s not quite ready to step away from the microphone just yet.
“I’m not ready to stop yet,” said Barreiro. “I have my days where I look at the text line and I go ‘Oh my God do I really want to accept this abuse?’ But there’s too many other days where I still enjoy the work and I still like coming to work. The cliché is ‘you’re better off leaving before they catch up with you and before people get tired of you.’ I have every intent to keep going here because, most days, it’s still fresh to me and still fun to me. It just doesn’t feel like work to me.”
And as long as that is the case, Dan Barreiro will continue to be a voice that Minneapolis area sports fans have loved and appreciated for more than three decades.
