On Thursday afternoon, The Fan Sports Radio made its Tampa Bay area debut on 98.7 FM, the former channel of adult-contemporary station Play 98.7.
Owned by CBS Radio, The Fan will provide Tampa sports fans with live and local sports news, broadcasts, and more all throughout the week. Several notable sports personalities in the area are already on board and will be host an assortment of sports talk shows throughout the day and night.
Former Lightning forward Chris Dingman is currently a co-host of Kirk and Dinger alongside Kirk McEwen, a long-time Baltimore sports radio figure; former Bucs defensive tackle Anthony "Booger" McFarland will join longstanding host Todd Wright for Todd and Booger; and famous Tampa Bay Times sport columnist Gary Shelton will host Gary and the Commish with Justin "Commish" Pawlowski, a Tampa sports radio personality. Former Rays pre- and post-game announcer Rich Herera will also have his own show on The Fan 98.7.
In addition, The Fan has inked a deal with the University of South Florida which will allow them to broadcast all of USF's football and men's basketball games live. Because of the FM station's stronger signal, Bulls games will now be able to reach more of the state and broaden the Bulls radio audience.
The Fan is the only FM sports station in Tampa. The competition, or other two active sports stations are 620 WDAE and ESPN 1040, both on the AM band.
