Kristian Dyer is reporting at Big Apple Soccer that the New York Red Bulls are finally getting English language radio coverage! Sort of.
The team is reported to be set to unveil two audio streams, one in English, one in Spanish of the Red Bulls match against the visiting San Jose Earthquakes.
Rumored to be on the English broadcast (on a rotating basis) are Jonathan Yardley, Ed Cohen, and Matt Harmon as play by play men, with former MetroStar and red Bull Steve Jolley picking up the analyst role.
The news is good for Red Bulls fans who have been clamoring for an English radio broadcast of matches for a while. It doesn't quite stack up with New York City FC's deal with WFAN 660, it is in some ways better.
As a fan who doesn't live in the local NY area, I don't get Red Bull games unless they are on nationally, and even then I don't get the Friday night/UniMas games due to my (lack of) choice of television providers. When the Red Bulls play in DC, I'm also blacked out despite not having the option of getting CSN-Washington..
This deal, while not on terrestrial radio, provides a wider range of coverage for Red Bulls fans, especially those away from Red Bull Arena. Those of us stuck in the dead zone between MLS Live and TV broadcast deals now have a chance to at least follow the game live without relying on social media. It may not be TV, but it's something.
The only down side is that for anyone out and about, you'll need to cut into part of your cell phone data plan to listen to this.Hopefully this works out well for the team and they can sell the package to a local station to carry over the air around New York.
You can write into the Once a Metro Mailbag (oamsoccer@gmail.com) and share your thoughts and questions about this or anything New York Red Bulls, New York Red Bulls II, or Sky Blue FC.