During Thursday’s midday show hosted by Scott Zolak and Marc Bertrand, Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub announced a multi-year extension to continue serving as the flagship station of the New England Patriots. Now owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, The Sports Hub has held the rights to Patriots games since the station launched in 2009.
“For the past 10 seasons, 98.5 The Sports Hub has delivered the play-by-play description of every Patriots game to our fans on one of Boston’s most powerful radio signals,” said Patriots Vice President of Sales Murray Kohl. “Since partnering with 98.5, our flagship station has broadcast the Patriots’ run of 10 consecutive division titles, which has led to the Patriots appearing in seven consecutive conference championship games and four Super Bowls. We hope that success continues for years to come.”
The partnership will see former NFL quarterback and 98.5 midday host Scott Zolak continue as the broadcast’s color analyst alongside play-by-play announcer Bob Socci. Zolak’s midday co-host Marc Bertrand will also continue working on the broadcast as part of the pre and post-game coverage.
“The Patriots are a religion in New England,” said Beasley Media Group Boston Vice President and Market Manager, Mary Menna. “We are thrilled that our talented team of Bob Socci and former Patriots quarterback, Scott Zolak, will continue to broadcast the games to our fans and that 98.5 The Sports Hub and the Patriots will be partners for many, many years to come.”
Socci will enter his seventh season as the Patriots radio play-by-play voice while 2019 will be Zolak’s eighth year as the broadcast’s color analyst. Pregame coverage on The Sports Hub begins three hours before each game with Patriots Preview hosted by Bertrand and Chris Gasper from the Boston Globe. For the broadcast’s three hour postgame show, Bertrand is joined by Big Jim Murray who contributes to 98.5’s afternoon show, Felger & Mazz.
Specific terms of the multi-year partnership between Beasley’s Sports Hub and the New England Patriots were not announced.
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.