The Dallas Mavericks and Audacy named 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM) the franchise's flagship radio station under a multiyear partnership announced Thursday, moving the club onto one of North Texas' two full-time sports stations for the first time.
Audacy and the Mavericks said the agreement puts games in front of more than nine million potential listeners across North Texas, with additional distribution through the Texas State Network. Broadcasts will also stream on the Audacy app, The Fan's website and SiriusXM, where Audacy channels were recently added.
Gina Miller, the Mavericks' chief communications officer, said the partnership is meant to give fans more ways to follow the team beyond game nights while widening the club's Texas footprint. Gavin Spittle, Audacy Dallas' vice president of news, talk and sports, called the 100,000-watt signal a platform the company wants to grow with Mavericks programming.
A station change years in the making
The Fan had never been the Mavericks' flagship. Dallas Sports Journal, summarizing the club's radio history, traced earlier homes to WBAP in the 1980s, KLIF through much of the 1990s, ESPN 103.3 beginning in 2001-02 and KEGL (97.1 The Eagle) starting in 2021-22. Sports Business Journal reported that the five-year KEGL contract expired after last season.
Dallas Morning News reporting cited by Dallas Sports Journal had noted in mid-August that the Mavericks spent much of the offseason without a radio home while DFW's sports-radio map remained limited to The Ticket and The Fan. Thursday's announcement closes that gap and places the Mavericks alongside the Cowboys and Rangers as Audacy The Fan rights holders.
Chuck Cooperstein returns for his 22nd season as the radio play-by-play voice. Brian Dameris is back as analyst for all regular-season games, matching the pairing of recent seasons.
Four new weekly shows ride with the games
Beyond live calls, Audacy outlined a weekly slate:
