By Brian “Newman” Rayl
The biggest sporting event in the United States is the Super Bowl. On January 28th, Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) announced that they would be providing in depth coverage of this event and would feature broadcasts of Super Bowl XLIV in 10 languages across 14 different channels. The Satellite Radio broadcaster provided live talk programming from South Florida throughout Super Bowl week starting February 1st, as well as the live coverage of the 2010 Pro Bowl on January 31st.
In February, once again it was off to Florida for live coverage of the Daytona 500. Sirius XM featured live race broadcasts plus in-car audio from a number of race teams. A special edition of “Tony Stewart Live” aired on February 11th. Listeners were treated to in-car audio from Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Juan Pablo Montoya.
With the NFL season over March was a time to start preparing for baseball, and there was no better place this year than Sirius XM. XM listeners were treated to the 2010 MLB Spring Training Tour starting March 5th, which featured interviews with managers, players, and team executives, such as Cal Ripken Jr., Jim Bowden, Kevin Kennedy, Casey Stern, Jim Doquette, Rob Dibble, and Jody McDonald, as well as several shows hosted by talk show host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo live from multiple Spring Training locations.
On April 19th, Sirius XM announced that it would offering live hole-by-hole coverage of the 2010 Master’s Tournament from Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia as the official Satellite Radio Partner of the PGA tour.
April was the time to start thinking about basketball, and once again Sirius XM was on the scene. On March 11th, Sirius XM announced that they would cover every shot from every game of the 2010 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Championship nationwide, including the Final Four and the National Championship game in Indianapolis. The coverage featured commentary from Duke coach Mike Kyzyzeqskis (aptly shortened to “Coach K”) as well as Mad Dog Chris Russo, Bill King, and Chris Childers.
As April closed out, it was time to switch back to focus on the NFL draft. Sirius XM radio covered every pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, with coverage that launched on Thursday, April 22nd featuring commentary by Gil Brandt, Pat Kirwan, Tim Ryan, Adam Schein, and Chris Mad Dog Russo.
With April’s showers out of the way, it was time to kick up the speed and Sirius XM did just that through live coverage of the legendary Indianapolis 500 as the official Satellite Radio Partner of the Indy Racing League on May 30th.
The month of June brought with it the excitement of professional soccer. Sirius XM Radio covered all 64 matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup from start to finish live from South Africa, featuring ESPN broadcasters JP Dellacamera and Tommy Smyth, as well as soccer legend Giorgio Chinaglia and Charlie Stillitano.
The U.S. Open Golf Championship was held from June 17th-20th from Pebble Beach, California and Sirius XM was there to provide the play-by-play for every drive, chip, and put, and every bogey, par, birdie, and eagle.
July kicked off a sporting tornado. Sirius XM announced comprehensive coverage of the 2010 MLB All-Star Week with shows hosted by Cal Ripken Jr., Billy Ripken, Rod Carew, Casey Stern, Jim Duquette, Grant Paulsen, Mike Ferrin, Jeff Nelson, Dave Sheinin, Jim Bowden, Jeff Erickson, Chris Liss, Steve Covino, and Rich Davis.
July was also the debut of the Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio, a 24/7 channel dedicated to Fantasy Sports. Daily fantasy programming covered a spectrum of sports and featured shows hosted by the pros, such as Maurice Jones-Drew, Steve Philips, Jeremy Roenick, Alex Miceli, and Dennis Scott, as well as analysis from fantasy experts RotoExperts.com, RotoWire.com, FantasyGuru.com, FanBall.com, and FantasyPros911.com. To compliment its new Fantasy Sports Radio channel, Sirius XM hosted a celebrity Fantasy Football Event in Times Square in New York. The celebrity Fantasy Football league held their draft live. Team owners for the league were Chris Mad Dog Russo, Maurice Jones-Drew, Steve Phillips, Jeremy Roenick, Gary Dell’Abate, Jay Thomas, John Hansen, Kyle Elfrink, Scott Engel, Chriss Liss, Rich Davis, and Scott Ferrall.
The British Open Championship was held July 15th-18th from The Old Course at St. Andrews. Sirius XM provided hole-by-hole coverage with Fred Albers and Matt Adams, with more than 45 hours of live coverage.
The end of July also launched the beginning for Sirius NFL Radio Training Camp Tour, featuring coverage of all 32 NFL team camps plus the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction ceremony.
August brought subscribers the 2010 PGA Championship, the season’s final major championship for the PGA from Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin, hosted by Gary Williams and Matt Adams alongside analysts John Maginnes, Dennis Paulson, Fred Albers, Doug Bell, and Michael Collins.
September 9th brought the kickoff to the NFL season, a Sirius XM PigSkin Pick ‘Em contest, and the introduction of a new channel dedicated entirely to College Sports hosted by former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, Eddie George, Eric Crouch, Jack Arute, Bill King, Paul Finebaum, and Chris Childers. Sirius XM also welcomed actor Jerry Ferrara, NFL Legend Joe Namath, and Steve Phillips to Sirius XM’s sports coverage.
As we move into the winter, cold weather brings thoughts of snow and ice, and what better way to celebrate than a little hockey! In October, Sirius XM launched a new show called Puck Daddy Radio. The show, co-hosted by Greg Wyshynski and Rob Pizzo, promised to be “irreverent and unpredictable,” featuring calls, tweets, and a ton of hockey goodness every day.
With all of this, the biggest sporting announcement for Sirius XM came only weeks ago when Sirius XM announced that they had extended the NFL contract through the 2015/2016 season and will provide every NFL game through Super Bowl 2016. The deal also brought with it the play-by-play rights to Sirius XM’s online feeds for the first time.
2010 was a great year for sporting fans with Sirius XM subscriptions and it doesn’t look like it is going to stop in 2011. Already, Sirius XM has announced a deal with Manchester United to make Sirius the official U.S. radio broadcaster of one of the most famous and widely followed football (soccer) sports franchises in all of the world, including live play-by-play over the radio and internet, including the Sirius XM app.
Read the rest of the series:
Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI): The Year In Review Part 1 – The Year Of Subscribers
Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI): The Year In Review Part 2 – The Year Of Debt Reduction/Refinancing
Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI): The Year In Review Part 3 – The Year Of Music
Disclosure: Long SIRI
Contact the author at Newman@SatelliteRadioPlayground.com
