Monday, April 1, 2013

Syracuse Radio: Chiefs Drop Radio For iNet

The Syracuse Chiefs (AAA) will broadcast all 144 of its games on the Internet only in 2013, breaking away from the tradition of baseball on the radio that seeps as deeply as pine tar on a bat.

Syracuse Chiefs general manager John Simone announced the creation of the Syracuse Chiefs Baseball Network as the team's new broadcast home. The Chiefs are believed to be the first team in Triple-A baseball to air its games solely on the Internet.

"We look at it as we have an opportunity to do something different and new,'' Simone said told the Syracuse Post-Standard. "This is something we're doing to reach more people. There is no signal problem (on the Internet), and then as technology continues to evolve, it's something that's moving fast. We just thought this is time to do it. Why not be the people who do things first?''

The network will be available on syracusechiefs.com and via one click on an app for iPhone, Android and other smart phones. The app, which is free, is expected to be available by the time the Chiefs open their season April 4 at Lehigh Valley.

Simone said the team has been considering this move for three years. He said the decision, which was approved by the team's board of directors, will save the team money, allow it to control and create new content and make it available to fans around the world.

For the past two seasons, the Chiefs have been carried by Cumulus-owned WSKO The Score AM-1260. Simone said the two sides tried to negotiate a deal for this season, but couldn't reach an agreement.

The general model in minor league sports is
that teams purchase air time from stations and then slot their games into those windows. The teams then try to recoup that investment by selling ads during the games and keeping that money themselves.

The Chiefs paid The Score $25,000 for air time last season. Simone said that's money than can now be put toward advertisements promoting the team across different media outlets. The Chiefs can also get better demographics of their listeners via the app and then, in turn, make more effective sales pitches to its potential sponsors.

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