As Pinstripe Alley scribe Jesse Schindler wrote about earlier, the New York Yankees have now officially reached a multi-year broadcasting agreement with CBS Radio. They will be moving from WCBS 880 to WFAN-AM 660 and WFAN-FM 101.9 beginning next year.
Mike Francesa announced at 3 p.m. that the #Yankees have reached a multi-year agreement with @WFAN660/WFAN FM 101.9 beginning in 2014.
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) September 11, 2013
The announcement came via Mike Francesa, whose radio program airs televised on the YES Network. From 2014 onward, WFAN will broadcast all Yankees regular season & postseason games, Yankees pregame & postgame shows, and select Yankees spring training games. In addition to this, CBS Radio has also acquired the rights of the Spanish language Yankees broadcast.
Per WFAN.com,
"We are extremely excited to have reached an agreement with CBS RADIO," said Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner. "The paramount consideration was how our fans would best be able to hear our games. Having the Yankees on WFAN-AM/FM provides listeners in the New York metropolitan area and beyond with superior broadcast quality and vast territorial signal strength.".
"We are privileged to welcome the New York Yankees to WFAN," said Dan Mason, CBS RADIO President and CEO. "There is no bigger name in baseball than the Yankees, nor an organization so steeped in tradition. As the nation's premier sports radio station we look forward to capturing all the excitement surrounding the team, and bringing it to millions of fans for many years to come."
As someone who drives in and out of Manhattan to get to work, this is great news for myself and for all Yankees fans. WFAN-FM 101.9 will provide fans, like myself, the ability to drive through the city with an extremely clear signal while WFAN-AM 660 will allow fans just outside of the city with vast signal range.
The Yankees will now join the New York Giants, New Jersey Devils, and Brooklyn Nets, whose games are televised on the YES Network, on WFAN. It is unclear where the neighboring New York Mets will move their radio broadcasts to, as they have been on WFAN since the very beginning of the station.
It is also unclear what will become of Yankees radio announcers John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. The Yankees have the final say in who will be in their booth, so whether or not they continue to employ Sterling and Waldman is still up in the air.