This comes from WEEI in Boston. Its radio stations from Boston to Central and Western Massachusetts and Rhode Island will be the home of Sunday and Monday Night Football broadcasts via Westwood One Radio. Through this contract, WEEI will also be able to carry all of the NFL postseason games all the way to the Super Bowl. For the first time, the home markets for the Conference Championships and Super Bowl will not be blacked out from the national radio broadcasts. Previously, the home markets were blacked out, however, Westwood One was able to get that lifted in this new contract that begins with the 2011-12 season.
So if the Patriots reached the Super Bowl, Boston would be able to hear Kevin Harlan and Boomer Esiason call Super Bowl XLVI on WEEI as well as on flagship station 98.5 The Sports Hub.
Here’s the press release from WEEI and Entercom.
WEEI Sports Radio Network Announces Sunday and Monday Night Football Extension
WEEI will remain the exclusive home of NFL Network programming
July 19, 2011 (Boston) WEEI announced today that it will maintain its agreement with Westwood One to carry Sunday and Monday night football which includes the playoffs and the Super Bowl. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
WEEI 850 AM, WEEI 103.7 FM, WVEI 1440 AM and WVEI FM 105.5 FM will again air the full slate of games offered by the network. The regular season is scheduled to begin on Thursday, September 8th when the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers host the New Orleans Saints.
The 2011 season is also the first year the NFL broadcast blackout restriction has been lifted in home markets for the conference championship games and the Super Bowl. Because of this change, WEEI will be allowed to air the national radio feed of those two games if the Patriots were to advance that far in the postseason. The broadcast would air on WEEI 850 AM in Boston, WEEI 103.7 FM in Providence, WVEI 1440 AM in Worcester and WVEI 105.5 FM in Springfield.
Jason Wolfe, VP of Programming for WEEI said, “The success of the Patriots in the last decade has made the NFL incredibly popular in New England and especially in Boston, and I’m excited to again, be able to offer the national games to our listeners. And since the league has modified the postseason broadcast rules starting this season, it’ll be a real thrill for Patriot fans to be able to hear Boomer Esiason on the call of the Super Bowl, should the team get there. He’s the best analyst in the business.”
That’s it.
