Sports Radio News
Gregg Giannotti: ‘We’re On The Verge Of Another Malace At The Palace’
“Gregg Giannotti pointed out several instances across multiple sports over the last few years of bad fan behavior and wondered why more people in the media don’t try to figure out why this is happening.”

Published
2 years agoon
By
BSM Staff
Media both in New York and across the country chastised Yankee fans over the weekend after fans at Yankee Stadium threw garbage at members of the Cleveland Guardians. On Monday morning, Gregg Giannotti said that it was part of a disturbing trend and he doesn’t know how many others in the media are connecting the dots and willing to sound the alarm.
“Not to sound like some sort of alarmist,” the WFAN morning man said Monday, “but I swear, we’re on the verge of another Malace at the Palace it feels like.”
Gio and co-host Jerry Recco, who was filling in for Boomer Esiason, recapped the scene from Saturday inside of Yankee Stadium, which included fans taunting an injured player and throwing bottles. Cleveland’s Myles Straw scaled the outfield wall as part of a verbal altercation with some fans.
“I was watching the Yankee pregame, yesterday and I don’t want to knock anyone that’s on there, but Meredith Marakovits and Jack Curry are talking,” Gio said. “There are stern words about what happened, and I feel like they were trying to go out of their way to make sure they weren’t taking the company line with the Yankees and their fans and the situation of ‘this is despicable and we’ve gotta make sure this never happens again.’ And I was thinking to myself ‘okay.’ We heard a lot of this too. ‘We’ve gotta make sure this never happens again.’ Well, how are we gonna do that?”
Gregg Giannotti pointed out several instances across multiple sports over the last few years of bad fan behavior and wondered why more people in the media don’t try to figure out why this is happening.
Recco said it is tough to make sense of why fans behave like that. He suggested that arenas and stadiums with facial recognition technology should be using it to share the faces of anyone caught being inappropriately aggressive towards players with every other team and venue. The goal should be to ban them from attending events forever.
“To me, if you find anyone who through anything, they are banned from every stadium in Major League Baseball. And if you want to go further, you find out and you get on the line with the other commissioners, and you ban them from every arena.”
Sports Radio News
Greg Papa: ‘These Are Rough Times’ After KNBR Cuts
“Murph, I’ve known forever, going back to the A’s days. These are rough times. Things change.”

Published
9 hours agoon
November 30, 2023By
BSM Staff
Late Wednesday, it was unveiled that KNBR had undergone a series of cost-cutting measures that eliminated the jobs of morning co-host Paul McCaffrey and evening host F.P. Santangelo. KNBR midday host Greg Papa reflected on the changes Thursday morning.
To open Papa and Lund, Greg Papa took the opportunity to address the elephant in the room.
“With Murph and Mac, and Pauly, I’ve been on with them every Friday since I started working with the Niners in 2019, and we hardly ever talked football,” Papa said. “It was always about other things and coming to the studio and getting to know them. Murph, I’ve known forever, going back to the A’s days. These are rough times. Things change. Look at what’s going on with the RSNs in the country. Certainly, terrestrial radio is feeling the brunt of it for a number of factors.”
John Lund agreed, calling McCaffrey “one of my favorites”.
Fill-in host Deiter Kurtenbach hosted the morning show Thursday in place of Brian Murphy. Papa joked that the fill-in host needed a better understanding of radio if he’s going to have the job full-time.
“For Deiter, if you’re going to be on in the morning, you gotta get on the clock better. We can’t start at 10:08 AM. You get a false start right away.”
It is unclear what Murphy’s role with KNBR will be going forward. The station has removed him from its website, and he has yet to comment publicly about his future. Kurtenbach said this morning he would host the morning timeslot for the remainder of the week.
Sports Radio News
NASCAR President ‘Can’t Overstate’ Importance of New TV Deal
“Everyone talks about getting younger and we’re no different…We have, but we have to keep going…”

Published
10 hours agoon
November 30, 2023By
BSM Staff
Yesterday, NASCAR announced a new television deal with 10 races split between new partners Amazon Prime Video and TNT. NASCAR President Steve Phelps says you can’t overstate the importance of new partnerships.
In an interview with Sports Business Journal, Phelps admitted the agreements with TNT — and it’s Max streaming service — and Amazon Prime Video are focused on reaching a younger audience.
“I don’t think you can overstate how important it is,” Phelps said. “Everyone talks about getting younger and we’re no different. Have we had success over the last three years getting younger and more diverse? We have, but we have to keep going and we have to meet those potential fans where they are, whether that’s our Netflix show that’s going to come out early next year or what’s going to happen with here.
“Amazon is going to do some different content-related things going into 2025 and … our expectation is Warner Bros. Discovery is going to plug us into Bleacher Report, House of Highlights, and other channels that will start to promote NASCAR. Because, honestly, we haven’t had a lot of that. Now they’re a partner and see us as a partner and there’s going to be a mandate to promoting NASCAR, and that to me is really important and it speaks to the changing landscape of where media consumption is going specifically.”
Phelps continued by saying it was “one of the most important, if not the most important” contracts of his career, noting that the new deal was about more than just money.
“It was critical – even past dollars. Are they important? Of course, but it’s really about having these distribution outlets that are just incredible. The reach these five companies have is incredible.”
Sports Radio News
SiriusXM and MLB Sign Extension Through 2028
“We’re very proud to continue Baseball’s rich history of reaching fans through their radios.”

Published
11 hours agoon
November 30, 2023By
BSM Staff
SiriusXM and Major League Baseball have announced an extension of their partnership that goes through the 2028 MLB season.
Every MLB game will remain available to SiriusXM subscribers on their car radios and in the SiriusXM app. The new deal also ensures that MLB Network Radio will continue through the 2028 season.
“We’re very proud to continue Baseball’s rich history of reaching fans through their radios. Today, we’re delivering those fans the sounds of the game through SiriusXM’s state-of-the-art platforms in the car and on the SiriusXM app,” said SiriusXM President and Chief Content Officer Scott Greenstein.
“Being able to hear their team’s announcers is important to fans, and no matter where you are listening from across North America, you’ll get access to every team’s broadcast for every game on SiriusXM. Couple this with the best daily talk and analysis of the game on the MLB Network Radio channel and SiriusXM is a must-have for baseball fans, and will be for years to come.”
The new agreement continues the relationship between SiriusXM and MLB that dates back to the 2005 season.
“The collection of MLB game presentations and content that has developed through our extended relationship with SiriusXM has been a powerful asset in making our game more accessible to fans wherever they are,” said MLB Executive Vice President of Media & Business Development Kenny Gersh.
“The sounds of Baseball are an important part of our story and we’re proud to continue to work with SiriusXM as they advance and grow the MLB streaming experience for fans on their platforms.”