The time Rich built an MLB radio network with his own two hands. 

Tampa Bay Rays Radio Network KPI

• Build an MLB play-by-play broadcast.
• Build a multi-station network throughout the state of Florida.
• Drive revenue through corporate partners’ sponsorships and ticket sales. 

In 2005, MLB struck a deal with XM Radio to carry local baseball play-by-play broadcasts on satellite radio. At the same time, the Devil Rays radio rights came up for bid. Many radio broadcasters were suspicious of the XM deal and what it would mean for local flagships. Tampa Bay brought their rights in-house for the first time in the team’s history. I was hired soon after as the director of Radio Operations to build and manage the new Rays Radio Network. When I showed up in February of ’05, I was handed a piece of paper with seven existing sponsor names and had 10 days to get the first spring training game on the air.

I wrote the broadcast format, created the imaging, and got the spring training games on the air. I managed our engineers’ crewing, home and road, and broadcast equipment. I pioneered using VOIP with Comrex for baseball broadcasts that are now industry standard in all professional sports; I also began working with sales reps to build sales packages and began going on calls with existing sponsors and new partners. We began introducing our broadcast team to sponsors and executives throughout the Bay Area.

After my first season, I began working on selling network affiliations to build our radio network. I partnered with Skyview Networks in Arizona to uplink our games on satellite radio and to provide receivers and desktops to automate and play the games locally. I used my experience as a local program director to connect with local stations. Managers must understand their KPI and sell the features and benefits of carrying our games. I also understood their objections and was able to help overcome them. I worked with our local affiliates to identify their needs from a ticketing and hospitality standpoint. We even offered them opportunities to bring vital local sponsors to the ballpark for batting practice visits.

I invented watch parties that brought in millions of dollars in revenue from sponsors while with the Rays and developed loads of new content that we could use to build revenue for the club. We used our radio network and broadcasts to drive ticket sales and fans. Excitement to the once morbid club that saw us go from the outhouse to the penthouse in just three years.

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