Tampa Radio: WDAE Inks Flagship Deal With USF Sports

USF Athletics and IHeartMedia & Entertainment, Inc. will start a new partnership beginning in the 2019-20 season that will make WDAE  95.3 & 96.7 FM & 620 AM the home of USF football radio broadcasts and expand USF’s popular “Bulls Unlimited” digital radio offering to two channels on iHeartRadio.

“We are very excited to be partnering with one of the most widely listened to sports stations in the state to bring USF football games to our fans and expand our groundbreaking digital platform,” Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly said. “WDAE is synonymous with sports in the Bay area and we look forward to a tremendous partnership that will continue to expand the USF brand and help connect more fans with the excitement of our Bulls sports teams.”

The three-year agreement will begin this fall with WDAE airing USF football games live on three stations that simulcast the WDAE signal – 95.3 FM, 96.7 FM and 620 AM. All Bulls football games will be carried on the WDAE stations except when conflicts arise with Tampa Bay Rays baseball games. When Rays game conflicts exist, USF football games will air on WHNZ 1250 AM over the air and continue to be carried on the “Bulls Unlimited” iHeartRadio channel.

“We are thrilled to welcome USF to the iHeartMedia family,” Market President Chris Soechtig said. “Having a partnership with Tampa Bay’s home team on 95.3 WDAE further solidifies our commitment to deliver exceptional local sports coverage to our listeners. We are counting down the days to kick off!”   

As part of the new iHeartMedia agreement, USF will expand its popular digital radio outlet to two “Bulls Unlimited” channels, allowing much greater bandwidth and flexibility in carrying game broadcasts and other programming surrounding USF’s 19 sports teams. The “Bulls Unlimited” digital channel on iHeart Radio, which launched in 2017 as just the second digital radio channel in college athletics, will continue to carry all football games and will become the primary home of USF men’s and women’s basketball and baseball broadcasts. WDAE will carry broadcasts of some postseason contests involving USF basketball and baseball over the air.

WDAE will also broadcast the USF Football Radio Show on a weekly basis throughout the season as well as the last hour of the pregame show and a 30-minute postgame show during football game broadcasts. The first hour of the Bulls’ traditional two-hour football pregame show will air exclusively on “Bulls Unlimited.”

The two “Bulls Unlimited” stations on iHeart Radio will continue to carry 24/7 digital streaming of USF Athletics content, including live game broadcasts across several sports and coaches shows.