610 Sports no longer home for KU radio broadcasts in Kansas City

Kansas City’s 610 Sports Radio will no longer be the home of Kansas men’s basketball and football games, the station announced on its website Tuesday. This ends a previous 18-year agreement between Entercom, which owns 610 Sports, and KU Athletics.

“We greatly appreciate all the years we had with them (at KU). They’re good people down there,” said Dave Alpert, vice president and general manager of Entercom Kansas City. “We certainly appreciate their desire to be on a station where they’re not going to be bumped by other sports.”

The main challenge, Alpert said, came in September and October when KU football would often conflict with Royals games. Because both KU and Royals broadcasts required multiple consecutive hours of airtime — including pregame and postgame shows — Entercom was forced to move KU some football broadcasts to KMBZ 980 AM.

“I certainly appreciate KU’s desire to have consistency on where their games air,” Alpert said. “They want to be on a station where they can be the center of focus.”

Alpert, who described the change as “an amicable parting of the ways,” said the radio station would continue to provide KU coverage. 610 Sports morning show personality Josh Klingler is retaining his role as the KU football team’s radio sideline reporter.

As of Tuesday, KU Athletics had yet to announce a new flagship station for its play-by-play broadcasts. KU assistant athletic director Jim Marchiony said the department had no comment Tuesday other than to say it expected to have a future announcement on the topic “very soon.”

This story was originally published July 25, 2017 at 6:53 PM with the headline "610 Sports no longer home for KU radio broadcasts in Kansas City."