Just in time for spring training, WGN AM 720 has finalized an agreement to broadcast Chicago White Sox baseball, the Tribune Broadcasting news/talk station and the team announced today.
The three-year deal, which includes all 162 White Sox regular season and postseason games as well as select spring training games, begins February 23 with the opening of the 2018 Cactus League season. Announcers Ed Farmer and Darrin Jackson return to the radio booth.
The team lost its radio home on news/talk WLS AM 890, which dropped broadcast rights contracts with the White Sox and the Chicago Bulls as part of Cumulus Media’s reorganization from bankruptcy. The Bulls signed two weeks ago with Entercom sports/talk WSCR AM 670.
“What an honor it is to join the White Sox family,” Todd Manley, station manager and vice president of content at WGN, said in a statement. “Summer starts today on WGN Radio.”
Brooks Boyer, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the White Sox, said in a statement: “It’s a fantastic win for White Sox fans. We are thrilled to team up with an iconic media organization in Chicago, delivering the hustle and passion of White Sox games to WGN Radio listeners throughout the city and Midwest.”
The move marks the return of Major League Baseball to WGN, which ended its historic affiliation with the Chicago Cubs in 2014. Cubs broadcasts now air on The Score.
WGN also airs Chicago Blackhawks hockey under a deal that runs through the 2023-24 season.