St. John's games are now on ESPN New York radio. Here's how it happened.
John Minko, inset, can now be heard calling St. John's men's basketball games on ESPN New York radio. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke; Roger Rubin
If you live in the Greater New York Area – and particularly on Long Island – it’s a pretty good bet you spend plenty of time in traffic.
If you’re a St. John’s basketball fan and you have one of those gigs that has you on the road around 6 p.m., you might like to listen to one of the nearly dozen games remaining on the Red Storm’s schedule that tip off between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. For the last four years, the only way one could do that was to listen via a streaming service.
Not anymore. After inking a deal with ESPN New York, Red Storm fans will be able to tune in on their radios. The deal, struck early last month, scheduled 26 St. John’s games on 880 AM or 1050 AM (and also the ESPN New York streaming app).
“I was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Queens and now live on Long Island – sports talk radio has been a big part of everything here from the time when I was young and it's part of the DNA of the sports scene in New York,” St. John’s athletic director Ed Kull told Newsday. “Getting back on the radio was something I’d been thinking about since I took this job over a year ago. To me, it felt just really kind of bare and naked that we didn't have our games on radio, especially as a nationally ranked program.”
When the Storm was still a Big East draw, its games were carried on WFAN and then on ESPN New York. As they slipped in stature, they went through a number of radio station "homes" until the 2021-22 season when they ceased to be on the radio entirely.
But now play-by-play man John Minko and the rotating collection of analysts – Brandon Tierney, Vin Parise, Tarik Turner and Brian Mahoney – are back.
“The best thing about this is St. John’s is back on an all-sports radio station, which is really where they belong like all the other major teams in New York,” Minko told Newsday.
Kull had conversations with a number of outlets, especially the all-sports platforms of WFAN and ESPN New York. WFAN’s partnership with Rutgers and commitment to its football and men’s basketball programs was going to make it a a tough fit. ESPN New York – which has the Mets in its portfolio – dovetailed nicely with what Kull and St. John’s were looking for.
“We’re looking to keep our fan base engaged as well as grow it,” Kull said. “I'm also very much aware of who our fan base is and there’s an older demographic, too. There’s an older season ticket-holder base that still listens very strongly to terrestrial radio. So I'm trying to make sure I'm listening to what our fans want and need here.”
It was a conversation at a Mets game that Kull had with longtime St. John’s and Mets radio engineer-producer Chris Majkowski that put talks with ESPN New York on track. His encouragement led to conversations with ESPN New York executive Pete Doherty, who also happened to be a St. John’s alumnus. Things came together from there.
“We feel both very happy and very fortunate to be with ESPN New York,” Kull said. “Now many of our games are on 880 [AM], just like the Mets, and we feel it’s a great partnership.”
“It’s incredibly positive to have St. John’s basketball on the air at ESPN New York,” said Emily Dillinger, executive vice president of ESPN New York partner Good Karma Brands. “We’re committed to serving local sports fans, and being the home for teams that matter in our community is a big part of who we are. St. John’s has a passionate following, and we’re proud to provide a platform that brings their games and stories closer to New York listeners.”
The St. John’s radio broadcasts include a pre-game show and a post-game interview with the broadcasters and a member of the Storm's coaching staff.
“Maybe we're getting to a point where everything is going to be streaming, but I don't think we're there yet,” Minko said. “It is important for the Yankees and the Mets to be on what I call 'regular radio' and this is just another example of what [Storm coach] Rick Pitino has done to make the program more relevant. There’s a market for it . . because people are in their cars.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
