I have not attended a Cleveland Indians game since the 1990's because their flagship station

[WCGreen]

airs Beck and Limbaugh.

If you live in a Major League market, write the teams and tell them you can no longer support the team if they choose to associate with radio stations that air the racist and anti-American crap that comes from the likes of Beck and Limbaugh...

We can get their attention now because of the down turn in the economy.

[obliviously]

1. Your serious arn't you.

[WCGreen]

3. Like a heart attack...

Sports team are always holding cities hostage to get them to pony up for stadiums and arenas.

they threaten to leave the city, hold fans hostage until they get what they want.

It's time to give them a taste of their own medicine.

All these billionaire owners want to do is socialize the cost of running their teams while keeping the profits private, very private.

[sasquatch]

2. I don't think any MLB team has a choice because of media deregulation

After Clinton's telecommunication deregulation act Clear Channel has bought up all of the radio stations, MLB teams have no choice over who carries their team's games. That is unless the owners of the Indians want to construct a shortwave tower on top of Jacobs Field, I think they're shit out of luck.

[WCGreen]

4. WKNR is not a Clear Channel station....

They don't have to be on WWWE.

[sasquatch]

28. But what's their broadcasting range and frequency

If WKNR can't be heard at a great distance outside of the city it's not an option for the Indians. You see as much as I hate 700 WLW in Cincinnati their broadcast range allows them to send a signal throughout all of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky and a bunch of other states in the union.

[Zavulon]

5. I'd boycott the station, not the team.

Teams have no input whatsoever on who carries their games. That'd be like saying you wouldn't come to my house because my landlord voted for McStain. The sentiment is understandable, the logic is lacking.

[WCGreen]

6. They sign lucrative contracts with the radio stations to carry the games...

The stations pay for the program.

It's the same as hiring a Disc Jockey or a syndicated show. The stations pay.

[kevinbgoode]

7. Doesn't someone have to contract with the station to carry the games?

It seems to me there is some type of agreement, and money exchanged.

[WCGreen]

8. The stations pay to air the games...

[Zavulon]

11. Money is exchanged. The team itself simply has no say in the matter. (NT)

[WCGreen]

14. Bull shit, the stations sign contracts with the teams...

It's like hiring a DJ...

The Games are owned by the team. they have all the say in who airs their games.

[Zavulon]

16. "Bull shit?"

The contracts are reviewed and awarded by MLB. We had a big brouhaha in the DC area around 2004 and 2005 when the Nationals were on their way and Angelos wanted to switch stations. MLB told him to shut the fuck up.

[WCGreen]

18. MLB has a contract with Fox Sports and ESPN...

The teams are free to negotiate on their own...

Where do you think teams get their revenue from, tickets and hot dog sales....

From Cable, broadcast and radio...

[WCGreen]

19. Here is a recent story fromBoston that explains what I am talking about...

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/04/13/red_sox_radio_deal_likely_to_top_12m/

Sox radio pact may top $12m per year
Bidding war bucks league trend, reflects team's market power
By Sasha Talcott, Globe Staff | April 13, 2006

The multimillion-dollar bidding war to secure radio rights to Red Sox baseball is virtually certain to pump more money into the team at a time when stations in other cities are refusing to increase payments for play-by-play broadcasts.

The battle between Boston's dominant sports station, WEEI-AM, and the owner of radio station WBOS-FM over which will walk away with the right to air Sox games once again demonstrates the enormous marketing power of the team. WEEI's contract with the team expires this year, and the Sox have taken bids from radio stations for several months, but they have no deal yet.

In their new contract, the terms of which are still being worked out, the Sox are likely to earn at least $12 million a year -- nearly as much as the $13 million paid annually to the Atlanta Braves, and more than the New York Yankees' current $10 million deal, though that is expiring this year. (The information about the Sox's negotiations was described to the Globe by executives briefed on the situation; the trade publication Sports Business Journal has published details of radio deals in other cities.)

[DainBramaged]

24. Bull Shit, cousin of Bull Durham

:rofl:

[michreject]

27. The league controls broadcast rights

Not the teams.

[seeviewonder]

9. I am a Cardinals fan and their flagship (550 KTRS) airs the right wing stuff.

Luckily, though, I am able to access their online radio which doesn't feature the crazies. What is the Tribe's flagship station?

[WCGreen]

12. WTAM a 50,000 watt station...

[tuckessee]

15. 1100 WTAM.

I wish the Cards were still on KMOX. I could get that at night. KTRS is as strong as a mouse's fart. No reception on it until I get to Owensboro.

[seeviewonder]

17. I'm in central Illinois

and I can barely get signal from 550. I've listened to 1400 out of Champaign before but that's only because its near me. I live in Danville, IL which is only about 40 minutes from there.

[kevinbgoode]

20. Hi, seevie....:-) Fellow Illinoisan.....but I'm in Macomb

I'll wave from the far west of the state over to the far east...:). If you haven't heard of Macomb, we're about 80 miles west/southwest of Peoria, 85 miles south of the Quad Cities, 66 miles (by highway) east/northeast of Quincy, and 100 miles from my hometown, Bloomington.

[seeviewonder]

22. I've definitely heard of Macomb!

One of my former roommates at Eastern Illinois got his first bachelor's degree from Western Illinois. He was from Quincy originally. Are you a Cubs or Cards fan?

[kevinbgoode]

26. hahaha...don't trap me!

I used to live in Des Plaines and went to a lot of Cubs games...my partner was a huge Cubbies fan. But I've always liked the San Francisco Giants...:-).

Now FOOTBALL...well, sorry...South Carolina all the way! Er...well, and da Bears.

[seeviewonder]

32. I'm a diehard Buckeye!!!

But have to disagree with you on the whole Bears thing. I've been a Packers fan my whole life.

[Doctor_J]

25. When I was a kid in the 60's in Chicago

I could get at night on my transistor the Cubs & Sox of course, and also the Braves, Cardinals, usually the Twins & Tigers, and on the good nights, the Indians & Reds. TOo bad so many of them have gone to weaker stations (because the big blow torches have switched to hate radio)

[tuckessee]

10. What other big AM stations are in Cleveland?

1100 is a blow-torch. Comes in clear as a bell at night in Nashville. The Tribe sure gets a lot more listeners being on a powerhouse like WTAM.

Aren't they owned by 700 WLW out of Cincy?

[WCGreen]

13. Clear Channel owns WTAM

[kevinbgoode]

21. I found a list of radio stations in Ohio that broadcast their game

. . .if it might be helpful...:

http://www.tribewatch.com/broadcasts.html

[MADem]

23. That's silly. The team doesn't make that call. The Front Office inks that deal.

You're never going to live a life of total purity. Don't listen to the shows you don't like.

[sasquatch]

29. Exactly

[Egalitariat]

30. How's that working so far?

[WCGreen]

31. SoI guess it's okay to boycott products sold at a store that has

nothing to do with with the advertising but to boycot a baseball team the chooses the station they associate with is futile...

I guess you don't care that Brady Quinn and Joe Thompson were out shilling for McCain and Palin?

[Egalitariat]

33. I don't care which athletes, actors, or musicians support certain politicians.

If the sporting event is fun to watch, I'll go. If the movie is interesting, I'll watch it. If the tunes are good, I'll buy them. I care as much about which politicians they support as they care about mine. Which is absolutely zero.

[cherokeeprogressive]

34. I'm a baseball fan who couldn't give a FUCK about which radio station carries my team's games.

I don't listen to baseball on the radio in the first place. Every Dodger game is on TV.