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Inside ESPN Radio’s NFL Sunday out-of-market national syndication deals

Tom Brady of the New England Patriots (Allen Kee/ESPN Images)
Tom Brady’s New England Patriots will be one of the teams featured in ESPN Radio’s new out-of-market Sunday afternoon syndication package. (Allen Kee/ESPN Images)

Yesterday, ESPN Radio announced new multi-year agreements with the New York Giants, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins for out-of-market, Sunday afternoon syndication rights beginning this fall. These new agreements mark the first time ESPN Radio will broadcast NFL game action nationally on its over-the-air terrestrial network. The teams will continue to broadcast in their home markets through their official local stations.

ESPN NFL analysts Herm Edwards, Bill Polian and Damien Woody will each work several of ESPN Radio’s national broadcasts. Additional commentators and the complete schedule will be announced soon.

Front Row spoke with Senior Vice President/General Manager Audio Play-By-Play & On-Air Talent Planning, Tim McCarthy about the new deal and what fans can expect this season.

How will this agreement with the NFL continue to serve sports fans, particularly ESPN’s radio listeners?
ESPN Radio will continue to serve sports fans by now providing NFL play-by-play to complement our coverage of MLB, NBA, BCS, World Cup and championship golf. The drama of play-by-play cannot be duplicated. We are excited to be entering the NFL game business.

When will the schedule and affiliate stations be announced?
Although we know many of the matchups, the final schedule of games and affiliate stations will be released soon. The schedule is also flexible due to the NFL “flexing” games after Week 10 of play.

Will any other programming be included?
In terms of other programming, we plan on Sundays to be a great mix of live play-by-play and NFL talk content.

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