Learfield, KXLY & EWU agree on new agreement which will have games aired live through 2019-20 season on 700-AM ESPN & 105.3-FM
CHENEY, Wash. – Learfield’s Eagles Sports Properties, multimedia rights holder for Eastern Washington University Athletics, has reached a multi-year extension to continue radio broadcasts of EWU football and men’s basketball games on 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane area.
Learfield manages all broadcast aspects for the Eagles, and the company’s locally based team in Cheney is led by General Manager Tim Shustoff. The agreement with KXLY Broadcast Group will ensure Eagle games – featuring veteran broadcaster Larry Weir – will be aired through at least the 2019-20 school year.
All Eastern home and away football and men’s basketball games may be heard in the Spokane/Cheney area terrestrially and online at 700-AM ESPN, 105.3-FM. Games may also be heard online or via mobile through TuneIn.com
“We’re proud to continue our long-standing relationship with the KXLY group,” said Shustoff. “They represent a strong presence in the Inland Northwest and provide a premier platform for Eagle Sports Properties to share EWU Athletics broadcasts. We’re excited to welcome Larry and Paul back in preparation for a great season.”
Weir returns as the play-by-play announcer for both football and men’s basketball games, and Paul Sorensen will handle football analysis and color commentary. Weir and Sorensen will also host weekly coaches shows live from Northern Quest Casino and Resort on Mondays at 6 p.m. Pacific time throughout the season. The first show at NQ will take place Sept. 4, with a special Eagle Football preview show airing on Aug. 28 from Cheney.
More on the Learfield Eagle Sports Network . . .
Weir, selected as the State of Washington Sportscaster of the Year in both 2014 and 2015, will return for his 27th season as the voice of the Eagles in football, having broadcast all but one of EWU’s 311 games in that span. The only game he missed was a 2005 playoff game at Northern Iowa when he was broadcasting Eastern’s basketball games in Alaska. Weir has also spent 24 seasons calling men’s basketball action for the Eagles from 1991-2009 and again from 2012-17.
Sorensen is a former Washington State University football player who will be inducted into the Cougar Hall of Fame in 2017. He is his 15th year of handling analysis and color commentary for Eagle football, and previously was a long-time producer and rights holder of EWU broadcasts. He has been associated with the Eagles on radio since 1985. His son, Cody, played safety at Idaho State and then provided color for ISU’s radio broadcasts in 2016.
Producer Steve “The Wingman” Pry and the station’s technical staff also help with Eastern broadcasts. Weekly coaches shows feature EWU head football coach Aaron Best and men’s basketball head coach Shantay Legans.
More on Learfield’s Eagles Sports Properties . . .
An industry leader for more than four decades, Learfield has a deep presence in the college athletics landscape nationwide. In addition to Eastern Washington, the company manages the multimedia and sponsorship rights for nearly 130 collegiate institutions, conferences and arenas, and supports athletic departments at all competitive levels as title sponsor of the prestigious Learfield Directors’ Cup. Click here for more information on Learfield’s relationship with EWU.