The University of Minnesota announced 3/9 that starting with the 2011-12 seasons Gopher football, men’s hockey, and both men’s and women’s basketball will no longer be broadcast on CBS Radio’s WCCO-AM. Instead, the three-year deal has football moving to Clear Channel’s KFAN-AM (simulcast on its KTLK-FM). Both basketball and men’s hockey will shift to Hubbard Broadcasting’s KSTP-AM.
“Moving our sports coverage to these stations positions Gopher athletics to harness the combined power of the Twin Cities’ two all-sports formatted radio stations,” said athletics director Joel Maturi, “and is a strategic step in our effort to combine great radio coverage for Gopher fans with the very best promotional opportunities.”
In addition, related football programming, including the weekly coach’s show with Jerry Kill and a one-hour weekly show dedicated to Gopher athletics will be moving to KFAN.
WCCO-AM recently lost the radio rights for the Minnesota Twins, leaving the station with only the play-by-play rights of the Minnesota Wild NHL hockey team.
Gopher Sports Properties is a property of Learfield Sports, which manages the multimedia rights for University of Minnesota Athletics and 40 affiliate-strong Golden Gopher Radio Network. Learfield represents over 50 colleges across 31 states.
