A three-decade relationship came to an end Thursday. The NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs have signed a new multiyear deal with Entercom’s WDAF-FM to become the new flagship station of the Chiefs Radio Network and home of the Chiefs, beginning next season.
Cumulus’s KCFX-FM had been the home base for Chiefs games and the team and Cumulus had been partnering for the last 30 years. Here’s what both companies had to say about this change.
Cumulus Market Manager Donna Baker told her staff” “Our 30-year partnership with 101 The Fox and the Chiefs has a long history of which we are very proud. We love our team, the leadership, and the fans. As I shared with you, we negotiated in good faith with the team to continue our partnership, but ultimately chose to step away from negotiations as what was proposed was beyond unreasonable. Accordingly, we will not be renewing the broadcast rights starting with the 2020 season. KCFX will continue to deliver game day programming and fully support Chiefs Kingdom, including updates on all stations during the season as we do today.”
For Entercom, their radio stranglehold on sports franchises continues to grow. Entercom Kansas City Market Manager Dave Alpert said: “Entercom’s eight-station cluster of music, news, and sports talk stations hosted by Kansas City’s leading personalities align with vast digital and podcast opportunities, and will deliver the premium and comprehensive coverage Chiefs Kingdom desires seven days a week, all season long.”
Mitch Holthus will return for his 27th season to do the play-by-play.
