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Chris Russo: MLB is “Fooling Around” by Putting Games Exclusively on Apple TV+

“The angry old man call up the radio station, ‘get off my lawn,’ all ticked off that he can’t see Scherzer’s first start because god help him, he doesn’t know how to figure out Apple TV.”

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Add Chris Russo to the growing mob of angry fans ticked off at Max Scherzer’s New York Mets debut streaming exclusively on Apple TV+, rather than broadcasting on SNY.

“I guarantee you right now if you put on local radio station WFAN, that’s their whole show,” said Russo on his SiriusXM show, Mad Dog Unleashed (via Awful Announcing).

“Their whole show today is listening to the angry old man call up the radio station, ‘get off my lawn,’ all ticked off that he can’t see Scherzer’s first start because god help him, he doesn’t know how to figure out Apple TV. And he isn’t the only one.”

That’s similar to the take WFAN’s Craig Carton and Evan Roberts had on the matter, asserting that older fans will have no patience for seeking out Apple TV+ and playing it on their digital media device, smartphone, or tablet.

“That’s baseball fooling around. I tell you, that’s dangerous,” Russo added. “We’re going to work our rear ends off to find the football games on Thursday night. We’re gonna work hard for those games. We’ll find ’em. It’s NFL football. We bet ’em. Plus, the local game in your market’s gonna be on over-the-air channels anyway. The Mets game is not over-the-air.”

Russo is right in that fans will seek out a standalone NFL game, even if their favorite team isn’t involved, likely because of betting. Or just because an NFL game feels like an event. Each team plays 17 games, the regular season lasts 18 weeks.

Baseball obviously goes much longer with number of games and length of season. But the relationship is more intimate with fans. Major League Baseball has become a regional sport. Fans will watch their team, but not necessarily a national broadcast involving clubs they don’t follow every day. And now, some of those games are being taken away for the streaming deals with Apple TV+ and Peacock.

The everyday nature of baseball means fans — Mets or otherwise — will soon get over not seeing Max Scherzer’s debut on their regional sports network or MLB.TV. But the opening games of the season have a football, event-type feel to them because we’ve gone the entire offseason without seeing our teams. With little else to focus on until the MLB season begins, we’ll obsess on something like not being able to watch “our team” the way to which we’re accustomed.

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John Kincade Celebrates 700th Show at 97.5 The Fanatic

“In radio, if you could find a show that’s faced more adversity in 700 shows, I’d like to buy them a beer.

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A photo of John Kincade
Courtesy: John Kincade

97.5 The Fanatic host John Kincade reached a milestone for his show on Tuesday – show number 700.

Kincade has been on the air at the Philadelphia station since 2020. He made sure to show love to everyone involved with the show for all they’ve done.

“Congratulations to the entire crew,” he said.

The road to 700 for Kincade in Philly hasn’t always been an easy one. One thing John has been dealing with has been a colon cancer diagnosis back in the spring that led to a brief time away from the show.

Still, Kincade was thankful for the listeners who’ve continued to tune in and get the show to this point.

“In radio, if you could find a show that’s faced more adversity in 700 shows, I’d like to buy them a beer. That is what I would say to you,” Kincade added. “We appreciate all of you being a part of us for 700 shows, and we hope you’re gonna be with us for the next 700.”

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Paul Allen: I Don’t Know What We’ll Do if Taylor Swift Says Yes to Announcing With Us

Allen offered to let Swift announce a portion of the upcoming Vikings/Chiefs game with him on KFAN.

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Paul Allen
Courtesy: Dan Myers

It’s been a few days since VP of programming for iHeart Twin Cities Greg Swedberg attempted to get Taylor Swift’s attention ahead of Sunday’s Chiefs/Vikings game in Minneapolis. But Swedberg’s offer for Swift to come to the KFAN FM 100.3 broadcast booth and potentially do some play-by-play with Paul Allen still stands.

Swedberg was a guest with Paul Allen on Tuesday. Allen, the radio voice of the Vikings, asked Swedberg what exactly the plan was for Swift if she happened to see him and say hello.

“I thought she could come in and give you a break on play-by-play,” Swedberg joked.

“That’d be sweet! That’d be great!” Allen responded.

Swedberg has known Taylor Swift since she was a teenager just breaking through on the country music scene. While he said he wouldn’t consider them close friends, they know each other as associates.

Allen asked what would happen if she did show up. She usually rolls pretty deep with security and the like, so the situation in the broadcast booth could be crazy. But Swedberg did say he realizes Swift likely isn’t going to come say hello or anything on Sunday. He acknowledged that it’s possible Taylor doesn’t even show up in Minnesota at all. He just wishes some people would let people enjoy things.

“It’s a bit. Pretty much everything we do here is a bit to a certain extent,” he said. “But, I wouldn’t rule it out. It’s possible.”

“We would make room, wouldn’t we?” Allen asked.

Paul asked Greg the possibility that Swift and Travis Kelce’s family could be situated in a suite near the broadcast booth. Swedberg said if that’s the case, it would make it hard for her to ignore stopping in to say hi.

“If she wants to come in, it’s a quick trip from that booth – I’ve made that little trip myself – into your booth,” Swedberg said.

“It’s an extreme longshot, but hey, you know somebody for 17 years you take a shot,” he added. “And she’s very conscious of PR, and it would be a great scene!”

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Greg Hill: NFL, Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift All Working Together for Publicity Stunt

“I don’t think Taylor Swift needs the publicity.”

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(Photo: WEEI)

Are Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, and the NFL in cahoots to drive publicity for each other? That’s what WEEI morning host Greg Hill believes.

During The Greg Hill Show Tuesday, the Boston-based host led a discussion about whether or not Swift was more popular than the NFL. Co-host Courtney Cox argued that it’s undeniable she is more famous than the NFL on the global stage. Meanwhile, colleague Jermaine Wiggins argued the pop start isn’t even the most popular artist in America.

“The reason this came up is because of the massive fraud, charade that is being pulled on America by all of them,” Hill said. “And that’s Kelce, that’s her, and that’s the NFL. Who is it benefiting the most? I think Courtney is right. I don’t think Taylor Swift needs the publicity.”

Producer Chris Curtis claimed 2.5 million people in Brazil watched Super Bowl LVII, while only 2 million attempted to get tickets for Swift’s shows in the country. Cox argued that was an apples-to-oranges comparison.

Hill maintained the alleged relationship between Swift and Kelce is simply a ploy by the NFL to seek out a new potential fan base with Swift’s massive following.

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