Local sports radio station 105.7 The Fan is giving the UMBC Retrievers an on-air victory lap tomorrow morning.
The Baltimore-based FM radio outlet tweeted last night that it’s letting locals relive the big win at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Pumped to announce @1057TheFan will celebrate @UMBCAthletics historic victory over UVA by replaying the entire game Thursday at 10am. Re-live The Retrievers making history on your exclusive home for The Sweet 16 and the Final Four, 1057 The Fan @UMBC_MBB
— 105.7 The Fan (@1057TheFan) March 20, 2018
The Fan’s sports programming director, Chuck Sapienza, said on a phone call that 105.7 had already been partnering with national radio network Westwood One to stream the entire tournament (along with sister station CBS Sports Radio 1300). However, they’ve been broadcasting the games “kind of the way TV used to do it,” when stations would switch from game to game, he said.
Westwood reached out to partner stations asking if they wanted to re-run any specific games in full, and he jumped at the chance to take UMBC’s unforgettable Friday night win over 1-seeded University of Virginia.
“It’ll just give people the opportunity who didn’t hear the radio [on Friday] to relive a historic moment in the NCAA Tournament, and it gives UMBC fans a primetime slot that they wouldn’t receive,” he said.
After becoming the first-ever 16-seeded team to knock off an opponent in March Madness history last weekend, UMBC nearly pulled off a second unbelievable upset against Kansas State University on Sunday. But a tenacious game against the Wildcats, which included strong showings from senior guards K.J. Maura and Jairus Lyles, ended with a push from Kansas State in the final minute, ending the game at 50-43.
UMBC has since been counting the spoils since becoming a national sensation, selling so much merchandise at the campus bookstore that they’ve run out, and logging tens of millions in advertising reach.
One sports marketing professional who helped broker an ad deal between the school and The Greene Turtle earlier this year told the Baltimore Business Journal he expects UMBC will finally be able to sign a well-paying branding contract for its new $85 million athletic arena. In a perfect world, it would be the “We Rate Dogs” Twitter account that expressed interest, though there are probably more lucrative partnerships out there.
