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Hasseltine Feels At Home In Memphis

Jason Barrett

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Eric Hasseltine, the radio voice of the Memphis Grizzlies since 2005, has made a solid start in becoming Cal Ripken-like in the realm of NBA play-by-play broadcasters.

“He’s never missed a Memphis Grizzlies game,” said Chris Wallace, General Manager of the NBA franchise that opens its 2015-16 regular season Wednesday night, October 28 against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers at FedExForum.

Wallace introduced Hasseltine for a lunchtime speech to members of the Memphis Rotary Club.

The broadcaster has a long way to go working the microphone to top Ripken’s record of most consecutive baseball games played (2,632), but Hasseltine  quickly offered a play-by-play of his Grizzlies game days that helps explain his regular attendance on the job.

“Think about this: you wake up at a five-star hotel,” Hasseltine said. “You get on a bus. You bring coffee for an All-Star power forward, one for a back-up point guard, one for yourself. You sit in a seat that costs somebody $800 in a small market, $2,000 in a big market. That’s where you’re going to work for the night, and that’s the life I live every day,” the radio man said. “And every day I look at myself and say, how in the hell did you get here?”

The 43-year-old father of two grew up in Walnut Creek, California, and broke into sports radio at the University of California, Davis as a play-by-play broadcaster for the school’s football and basketball teams on station KDVS.

“Every day I wake up here as a native Californian–but now someone who considers himself a Memphian–I realize just how lucky I am,” Hasseltine said.

In order to pay his bills, Hasseltine worked as a bartender and parking valet and spent summers dealing blackjack and serving as a jet-ski instructor in Lake Tahoe.

After college, the aspiring broadcaster found an opportunity to do sideline and play-by-play coverage of the Oakland Raiders games on station KHTK in Sacramento.

A sports broadcasting website offered him his first glimpse of an opportunity to do sports radio in his new hometown.

“Where is Memphis?,” Hasseltine said he wondered as he sent examples of his on-air work to the home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Turns out that Hasseltine’s broadcasting career took a dramatic turn on September 11, 2001. A Memphis broadcasting manager called him and offered an opportunity to move to Sports 56, WHBQ.

“That year I got to know a guy named Don Poier, “ Hasseltine said. Poier was the Memphis Grizzlies’ original play-by-play man.

Hasseltine was hired to do pre and postgame shows for the Grizzlies while also hosting his own broadcast as he does every weekday from 2 to 4 p.m. on 92.9 ESPN Memphis.

To read the rest of this article visit Action News 5 where it was originally published

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USL, SiriusXM Renew Agreement

“SiriusXM has been a great partner the last three years and extending this relationship on the men’s side was an easy choice.”

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The United Soccer League (USL) and SiriusXM have inked a new agreement that extends its media rights deal through 2025. The deal ensures SiriusXM will be the audio home of USL Championship games, including the USL Championship Final, USL Super League inaugural Final, the USL League One Final and USL League Two Final. SiriusXM subscribers can listen to games on channel No. 157 and on the SiriusXM app.

“At the USL, we want to ensure that our games are available to our fans wherever they want to experience them,” Court Jeske, USL chief commercial officer, said in a statement. “SiriusXM has been a great partner the last three years and extending this relationship on the men’s side was an easy choice. We are also incredibly proud that they will offer coverage of the USL Super League, our new women’s professional league, with the inaugural season beginning in August of 2024.”

The SiriusXM FC channel has been the broadcast home of the USL Championship since 2020, and also airs a USL Game of the Week for consumers in the United States and Canada. Additional future coverage will include games from the 2024-2025 USL Super League season. Moreover, USL All-Access will resume with hosts Mike Watts and Devon Kerr, offering listeners new perspectives on the league, and a broad view of highlights and storylines.

“The USL has a terrific and dedicated fanbase across the country and we’re pleased to deliver those fans both the action on the pitch and a show dedicated to their league,” said Eric Spitz, SiriusXM vice president of sports programming, in a statement. “We’re excited to not only renew our agreement with the USL for multiple years, but also expand our coverage and be the exclusive audio home of the USL Championship Final, League One Final, League Two Final and the new USL Super League Final.” 

Watts has been the play-by-play announcer for the USL Championship since 2015, and he continues to work on Westwood One’s college football game of the week and serves as a backup public address announcer at Madison Square Garden. Furthermore, he called eight domestic and international finals in 2021, including the U.S. Men’s National Team victories in the Concacaf Nations League and Concacaf Gold Cup.

Kerr serves as an analyst for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and contributes to FOX Sports as well. He has been the lead analyst for the USL Championship since 2018, and works in a similar role for the NCAA Men’s College Cup on ESPN and Concacaf events. Aside from his work with Apple TV and FOX Sports, Kerr has appeared on platforms for ESPN, EA Sports, the NCAA and MLS.

Broadcasts started Wednesday night, but the next game airing on SiriusXM FC will be a matchup between the San Diego Loyal and Sacramento Republic at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST. Games have been announced through July 3, and additional matchups will be announced at a later date.

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Audacy Names Lee Davis SVP of Sports Monetization Overseeing New Sales Team

“Through our best-in-class sports audio portfolio, powered by over 150 flagship team partnerships, iconic local broadcast brands, award-winning podcasts and sports betting content, Audacy is uniquely positioned to capitalize on a new sales strategy in this arena.”

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Audacy is has a newly organized sports sales team. Lee Davis will be its leader. He has been named the company’s SVP of Sports Monetization.

The team will oversee “sales and execution, managing the entire client lifecycle” for Audacy’s sports properties. They will provide solutions for both on-air and digital platforms and work on both local and national properties.

“No medium delivers more value for sports than Audio. People are spending more time than ever with broadcast Radio, streaming and podcasts, and the demand for compelling sports content across these channels is growing exponentially,” Brian Benedik, Audacy’s Chief Revenue Officer, said in a press release. “Through our best-in-class sports audio portfolio, powered by over 150 flagship team partnerships, iconic local broadcast brands, award-winning podcasts and sports betting content, Audacy is uniquely positioned to capitalize on a new sales strategy in this arena.”

Lee Davis worked with WFAN from 1990 until 2005. He returned to Audacy in 2018 to over see the company’s Traffic, Weather, Information and News (TWIN) offering.

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Jay Williams: My ESPN Contract is Up in 3 Months

“It feels like media cannibalizing media right now, and I get how that game is played. But sometimes that game gets boring to me, dawg.”

Jordan Bondurant

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AP/Shutterstock

ESPN NBA analyst and ESPN Radio host Jay Williams may not be at The Worldwide Leader for too much longer.

Talking to Chicago Bulls guard Patrick Beverley on his Barstool Sports podcast, Williams revealed how much more time he has on his current deal with the network.

“My contract is up in three months, man,” Williams said on The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone.

Beverley seemed kind of surprised at how soon Williams could become a free agent. Jay joined ESPN in a full-time capacity in 2008. He’s hosted ESPN Radio’s weekday morning show alongside Keyshawn Johnson and Max Kellerman since 2021. The show featured Zubin Mehenti for a year prior to that.

Williams implied that he’s looking to change things up away from the routine he’s got at the network.

“It feels like media cannibalizing media right now, and I get how that game is played,” Williams said. “But sometimes that game gets boring to me, dawg.”

Jay added that he’s intrigued by the laid-back nature of the podcast that Beverley has going. He said if he could have an ideal situation, that’s what he would strive for.

“Everybody can just be themselves authentically and not feel like you have to give a take on something,” he said. “Not everything requires some kind of polarizing POV.”

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