Sports USA Radio Network

• 1. Introduction

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  Sports USA Media put NFL and NCAA football games on more than 450 radio stations across the United States in 2018. That reach makes it the biggest independent network in American sports radio. Its specialty is live football, from top-tier college games in NCAA Division I-A to the NFL. Most listeners have never thought about who supplies the play-by-play they hear on a local dial. So how does an independent network earn a seat at football's biggest games? And who are the voices sitting behind its microphones?

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• 2. Sunday Doubleheaders

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  The year 2002 is when Sports USA first broadcast NFL games. Each Sunday of the regular season, the network carries two games. Over a full season, that adds up to 36 games. The rights are not bought from the league in one sweep. Sports USA negotiates arrangements with the individual home teams, one club at a time. Football was the whole story for the network until February 2021, when a much bigger broadcaster stepped back from another sport.

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• 3. Hockey Rights

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  In February 2021, NBC Sports was phasing out of both radio and hockey, and Sports USA reached a deal to take over its national radio rights to the National Hockey League. In its first season with those rights, the network aired two outdoor games and a selection of early round playoff games. It also carried every game of the Stanley Cup Semifinals and Finals. The Finals coverage works differently from the big championship broadcasts of other leagues. It is not exclusive, so stations tied to the radio networks of the teams playing in the Stanley Cup Finals may carry and stream their own coverage. Later in 2021, Sports USA renewed its hockey rights, and they now run through the 2024-25 season.

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• 4. Voices Behind the Microphone

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  Larry Kahn founded the network, and before that he broadcast football for the USC Trojans. He now sits among a long list of play-by-play announcers. John Ahlers is known for his work with the Anaheim Ducks. Bob Fitzgerald is an announcer for the Golden State Warriors. Eli Gold was once the voice of the Alabama Crimson Tide, though many listeners know him best from NASCAR.

  The analysts bring playing and coaching experience. Ron Rivera is a former head coach of the Washington Commanders and the Carolina Panthers. Brian Hayward was an NHL goaltender and is a color commentator for the Anaheim Ducks. Stephen Gostkowski holds the New England Patriots record as their all-time scoring leader. Charles Arbuckle played tight end for the Indianapolis Colts and later worked as a studio and game analyst at ESPN. Several of these names also appear in the network's audio beyond live games.

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• 5. Podcasts

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  Joe Morgan, a Hall of Famer with the Cincinnati Reds and a two-time World Series champion, hosted the weekly podcast Conversations with Joe Morgan. Morgan has since died. His guests included former president George H. W. Bush, along with Bill Russell, Bob Costas and Charles Barkley. Sports USA produced it as one of a variety of sports podcasts.

  Jake Plummer, a former Pro Bowl quarterback, hosted the weekly podcast Snakes Takes with Jake Plummer. Plummer played 10 seasons in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals and the Denver Broncos. Today he works as an NFL game analyst on the Sunday Doubleheader package. He is also a college football analyst on the Pac-12 Network.

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