After a two-year absence, broadcasts of University of Oklahoma football and men’s basketball games are returning to the radio airwaves in Ardmore. Sooner fans will also get women’s basketball games too.
KVSO-AM 1240 and Sooner Sports Properties have reached a three-year agreement to bring an extensive number of OU broadcasts to the Ardmore area beginning with the 2008-09 school year.
The agreement includes broadcasts of Sooner football games, men’s basketball games, women’s basketball games, the Bob Stoops call-in show and the daily update, Sooner Sports Today.
“We’re excited about the new partnership with KVSO,” said OU Athletics Director Joe Castiglione, Vwho is also ice President for Sports Programs at the university. “Ardmore has long been important to the University of Oklahoma and we are delighted to have a radio presence there. Not only have we been blessed with a number of outstanding student-athletes from Ardmore, but a number of tremendously loyal OU fans reside there as well. We certainly will do everything in our power to reach out to Ardmore and make it possible for the residents there to follow the Sooners closely.”
“We’re very proud to bring the Sooners back to Southern Oklahoma,” said Michael Baer, General Manager at the Southern Oklahoma Radio Center. “We’re right here on the Red River and we feel it is important that the games are carried here.”
The Sooner Radio Network is comprised of more than 40 affiliates in four states. Bob Barry, Sr., is the play-by-play voice for football and men’s basketball, and the host of Stoops’ call-in show. Merv Johnson is the analyst for football, while Mike Houck serves in the same capacity for basketball. Brian Brinkley is the announcer for women’s basketball.
Sooner Sports Properties is a property of Learfield Sports, OU’s exclusive multimedia rights holder. Learfield Sports manages multimedia rights for nearly 50 collegiate institutions and associations. In addition to Oklahoma, other partner schools include North Carolina, Memphis, Alabama, Texas A&M, Missouri, Penn State, Indiana, Iowa State, Wisconsin, Stanford, Kansas State and Colorado.
The company also secures marketing partnerships for the Black Coaches & Administrators (BCA) and provides exclusive sports programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the country. Additionally, Team Services, LLC, a Learfield Sports company, specializes in venue naming rights, marketing research and sales consultation. Dallas-based Learfield Sports is an operating unit of Jefferson City, Mo.-based Learfield Communications, Inc.
