1992: The "Tampa Bay" Giants Radio War

[smedge2006]

Strange as it seems, given the Rays' attendance issues, baseball in St. Petersburg was a cause celebre for local radio 20 years ago.

A group of investors led by Vince Naimoli had a deal to buy the team... with plans to move it to the then-empty Florida Suncoast Dome. Ultimately Major League Baseball refused to allow the sale, which led to a lawsuit and eventually to the Rays.

Tampa Bay media beat the drums for moving the Giants, while San Francisco media beat the drums to keep them. This led to some interesting "radio wars" between stations in different cities, and stations in the same city.

Each major news-talk station partnered with counterparts in the other town to cover both ends of the story. WFLA worked with KCBS and KGO. But WFLA agreed to an interesting "simulcast" between Jay Marvin and Pete Franklin on KNBR, the Giants flagship, which was evolving into an all-sports radio station. It basically turned into name calling between the two cities... with Franklin playing pre-produced bits about potential promotions at ball games in St. Pete, including "false teeth nights". Marvin started trying to get Franklin's goat by throwing out competing stations call letters... yelling "KGO! KGO!", while Franklin threw in a mention of another Tampa station that somehow didn't make it past the dump button on WFLA.

WFLA was also involved in another battle over the Giants, with a rival in the Tampa market. Cox Media, which owned a TV station in Oakland, agreed to join a local group that was trying to keep the Giants in California. Cox also owned AM 620 WSUN and 107.3 FM (then Warm). 620 WSUN had just converted from classic country to a talk format cobbled together with simulcasts from WIOD in Miami and WSB in Atlanta. WFLA wanted to bash Cox but didn't want to mention that there was a rival talker. So one night of Marvin's evening show was dedicated to trashing Warm and "that country station", which is how most people still knew 620 at that time. The news anchor also mentioned the "discovery" of Cox involvement, but hedged his description of WSUN as a "country and sometimes talk station." Perhaps to avoid outright falsehood.

At that moment, 620 was running a re-broadcast of that day's Neil Rogers show. At 10 p.m., WSUN went to a live simulcast of the Phil Hendrie show from WSB. The first call out of the chute was somebody from Tampa complaining about Cox trying to keep the ball club out of Florida. Hendrie started to respond when apparently the board op got a call from someone (a Cox executive?) telling him to stop.

The next day Neil Rogers delivered a classic monologue trashing WFLA and then owner Jacor, accusing them of being "agent provocateurs" who were trying to keep WSUN from getting traction.

Ah, for the days of radio wars...

 

[radiodork]

20/20 memories of those events from 20 years ago. I remember listening to Walt Belcher call in to Mason's show on Mix 96 to confirm that a deal was done and baseball was finally coming to the bay area. The whole morning crew sang a raucous version of "Centerfield" over the actual record. Two months later MLB mysteriously circled the wagons and kept the team in SF, then added an exclamation point with the Giants heisting Barry Bonds away from Pittsburgh.

Funny thing is if baseball came here in '93 I don't think the Lightning and Bucs would have had a chance to be as successful as they ultimately were at the turnstiles since everyone was dying for MLB to come here. Baseball would have had the upper hand... and they probably would have had a new stadium built somewhere by now.

As for radio wars, don't be surprised if one of the pro teams jumps to 98.7 next year. Say what you will about the talk lineup, they are a legitimate competitor to Clear Channel's group and can definitely get some bidding wars going.

 

[Studio20]

I can't help it...with at least four television stations, and far more fully staffed radio stations than we have today, Mix relied on a Newspaper Television Columnist from the areas second newspaper "to confirm a deal was done".

Yeah, about that, Walt....

There was no mystery. The team was not going to come here. MLB and the Giants owners simply used Tampa Bay...as they had done 35 years earlier to New York..and as Seattle and Chicago used the Tampa Bay area to get new stadiums, and better deals. With the increased revenue, the Giants obtained Bonds, his Cream and his Clear from the fiscally struggling Pirates. Funny how both Seattle and the ChiSox got new parks as well round that same time.

BTW, I thought when Senor Fidel Guillen and his Marlins got their new indoor digs, that no matter how bad the team was, South Floridians were such rabid baseball fans, that the park would be nearly filled every game.

About that, as well....

 

[badjef]

I remember seeing that TV picture in the field at, then, Thunderdome, and the "agreement in principle" for the purchase and subsequent move to St. Petersburg starting the next season. 970 carried the Giants' P-B-P for the remainder of the season. As a result, WFLA was a hands down favorite to pick up the upstart Devil Rays a few years later.

It was summer, maybe, August 1992 or 1993.

I LOVE that stadium!!!!

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!

 

[tampalistener]

I can't help it...with at least four television stations, and far more fully staffed radio stations than we have today, Mix relied on a Newspaper Television Columnist from the areas second newspaper "to confirm a deal was done".

At the time, Walt was a regular on Mix, so he was the logical person for the station to go to as a representative of the Tampa Tribune, which broke the story about the deal. Walt wasn't covering the story; he was simply sharing what the Tribune reported. From that perspective, it makes sense.

Also remember that, in 1992, the newspapers still were the reporting leaders in this market -- more resources, more clout -- and the Tribune was ahead of every other news organization on this story. And although the deal eventually was nixed by Major League Baseball, the reporting at the time was accurate and a deal had been made.

 

[Mike_Hennessy]

I can't help it...with at least four television stations, and far more fully staffed radio stations than we have today, Mix relied on a Newspaper Television Columnist from the areas second newspaper "to confirm a deal was done".

Yeah, about that, Walt....

There was no mystery. The team was not going to come here. MLB and the Giants owners simply used Tampa Bay...as they had done 35 years earlier to New York..and as Seattle and Chicago used the Tampa Bay area to get new stadiums, and better deals. With the increased revenue, the Giants obtained Bonds, his Cream and his Clear from the fiscally struggling Pirates. Funny how both Seattle and the ChiSox got new parks as well round that same time.

BTW, I thought when Senor Fidel Guillen and his Marlins got their new indoor digs, that no matter how bad the team was, South Floridians were such rabid baseball fans, that the park would be nearly filled every game.

About that, as well....

Miami/South Florida "fans" are the worst. Even when the University of Miami was dominating college football like no team in history, they couldn't sell out anyone except Florida and Florida State, maybe a few other marquee games. Total front runners with very short attention spans.

 

[radiodork]

I can't help it...with at least four television stations, and far more fully staffed radio stations than we have today, Mix relied on a Newspaper Television Columnist from the areas second newspaper "to confirm a deal was done".

Ummm... the testament to radio in my story is that I, THE LISTENER, found out about the news from a local guest from a local paper on a live and local morning show. This was pre-internet, pre-mobile apps, pre-I'll get my news where I want when I want. I heard it that moment, that way, and that's how I remember it. I'm sorry my personal experience doesn't live up to your standards.

It doesn't matter how it was "no secret" this was happening. This is how I, THE LISTENER, found out that after 13 or 14 other teams had their eyes fixed on this market only to magically work out their new stadium deals back home THIS TIME it just might happen (and ultimately it didn't).

 

[Studio20]

And let's clarify "the deal". The ownership group agreed "in principle" to sell the team to Vince:

1) IF San Francisco failed to sweeten/match the deal for a new stadium,
2) IF Major League Baseball approved the move,
3) IF St. Petersburg complied with all the demands from Vince

I have pretty much the same deal each Wednesday and Saturday nights with the Florida Lottery...

 

[marchaze]

I had a little something to do with the Walt Belcher thing and some explanation is called for.

I was working the phones for Mason that day. We got a tip from someone inside the Tampa Tribune. A typesetter, I think. He would not give his name but he told us the Trib was preparing a special edition announcing the purchase of the Giants.

We would not air the call or the information without confirmation. Walt Belcher was a regular contributor to our show. We called him off the air and asked if he knew anything about it. He didn't. He did, however log into the Tribune computer network and read us verbatim the story by Joe Henderson. He was willing to go live with us and confirm.

Walt allowed us to break that story by giving us information that the Trib had not yet published. He could have been fired for it.

While I am reliving radio and baseball history, I can also mention that Mix ( with my help) had the story of the awarding of the Rays first too. I told everyone at the station that the franchise would be awarded on March 9th. The final day of the baseball meetings. I knew that if baseball was NOT going to award the franchise they would give the prospective owners a "heads up" so they could leave town before the announcement. I called Vince Naimoli's secretary every day of those meetings. The headline on the 8th was that it was possible expansion would be put on hold. Once again I made a call and was told Vince was still there and had no plans on returning early.

We booked "Ferg's weeks in advance for that day. The franchise was awraded the next morning and our radio station celebration made several national news broadcasts.

Thanks for letting me relive some good times in the old radio wars.

 

[Studio20]

Will be interesting to see where the radio rights go for not only the Rays but the Bucs now that there is an FM sports talker in town. I wonder of the Rays Rights will come down to if and when there is a stadium constructed a little more central to the population base.

 

[tampalistener]

And let's clarify "the deal". The ownership group agreed "in principle" to sell the team to Vince:

1) IF San Francisco failed to sweeten/match the deal for a new stadium,
2) IF Major League Baseball approved the move,
3) IF St. Petersburg complied with all the demands from Vince

I have pretty much the same deal each Wednesday and Saturday nights with the Florida Lottery...

None of that changes the fact that a deal was indeed reached. And it was closer to reality than any previous brush with baseball ... White Sox, Twins, Mariners, et al. Just because it Major League Baseball didn't approve it doesn't change the fact that there was ink on paper. That made it news. The luxury of retrospection doesn't make it any less newsworthy.

Now, about your lottery chances ...

 

[Mike_Hennessy]

Jacor outbid everyone for the original radio rights and probably knew they were going to lose their corporate shirts on the deal. However, they believed that a baseball team would be a huge prestige item and that was how they did business in those days. As far as TV rights are concerned, if I understand correctly Naimoli basically mortgaged the TV rights to pay for the ill-fated "hit show" thus leaving the current ownership with a laughably bad deal considering that (for all they bellyaching and kvetching over in house attendance) the ratings have been very strong in recent years. I think the TV deal expires in 2017. It will be interesting to see if Sternberg puts the rights up for bids or tries to follow the current pattern of setting up his own TV network.

My own story about the Giants was tracking down then National League President Bill White, I think in Chicago, while I was staffing the weekend newsroom at 970. He was registered in a hotel under his own name and the switchboard put me through to his room and I got him on the horn. Once I identified myself it turned into a very short (albeit polite) conversation. White declined to speak about the Giants in any way, shape or form and wouldn't let me record his "no comments". However, I did have the (very slight) satisfaction of saying on that White refused to comment when we contacted him.

Just to finish the story, I was at the press conference when the Mayor St. Petersburg announced that the city had been stiffed. As I signed off my report and threw it back to Al Gardner and Tedd Webb I said that baseball's last word to St. Petersburg turned out to be two words. Perhaps the best line of my entire career...

 

[badjef]

Jacor outbid everyone for the original radio rights and probably knew they were going to lose their corporate shirts on the deal. However, they believed that a baseball team would be a huge prestige item and that was how they did business in those days. As far as TV rights are concerned, if I understand correctly Naimoli basically mortgaged the TV rights to pay for the ill-fated "hit show" thus leaving the current ownership with a laughably bad deal considering that (for all they bellyaching and kvetching over in house attendance) the ratings have been very strong in recent years. I think the TV deal expires in 2017. It will be interesting to see if Sternberg puts the rights up for bids or tries to follow the current pattern of setting up his own TV network.

My own story about the Giants was tracking down then National League President Bill White, I think in Chicago, while I was staffing the weekend newsroom at 970. He was registered in a hotel under his own name and the switchboard put me through to his room and I got him on the horn. Once I identified myself it turned into a very short (albeit polite) conversation. White declined to speak about the Giants in any way, shape or form and wouldn't let me record his "no comments". However, I did have the (very slight) satisfaction of saying on that White refused to comment when we contacted him.

Just to finish the story, I was at the press conference when the Mayor St. Petersburg announced that the city had been stiffed. As I signed off my report and threw it back to Al Gardner and Tedd Webb I said that baseball's last word to St. Petersburg turned out to be two words. Perhaps the best line of my entire career...

AMTB started in January (3rd or 4th) 1994 and so that was still "Gardner & Co."

But, I guess that was 1993.

Thanks for the recall. This is like a "Where were you when...?"

Anybody, else?

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!