June 23, 2008

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Lycoming College has granted ESPN Radio 1050 (WLYC) athletic radio broadcasting rights for the 2008-09 academic year. This new partnership will dramatically expand coverage of Warrior athletics, broadcasting contests for many of the College’s 17 NCAA Division III teams.

ESPN Radio 1050 will carry all of the College’s football and men’s basketball games as well as a majority of the women’s basketball contests. Programming will include pre- and post-game shows as well as weekly in-depth feature segments on Lycoming’s coaches and student-athletes. In addition, the station will broadcast select competitions involving men’s and women’s lacrosse, soccer and swimming as well as softball, volleyball and wrestling.  

All of the ESPN Radio 1050 broadcasts will be streamed online through the College’s athletics Web site (www.lycoming.edu/athletics), which will allow Lycoming students, parents, alumni, the Williamsport community and other fans to follow the Warriors from anywhere in the nation.

“Lycoming College is extremely pleased with the expanded exposure ESPN Radio 1050 will provide our athletic programs,” said Jerry Rashid, director of college relations. “The station’s local coverage combined with ESPN’s national programming will be an excellent platform from which to promote Warrior athletics. ESPN Radio 1050 is situated to help us build upon the solid foundation created through the years from the outstanding support and quality coverage provided by WRAK.”

ESPN Radio 1050 is led by sports director Todd Bartley. He has broadcast more than 750 college and high school athletic events during his radio career, which includes positions in Ohio and North Carolina. This past year, Bartley worked with Lycoming in broadcasting the Warrior Tailgate Show, Warrior Hardwood Report and most of the women’s basketball games. ESPN Radio 1050 is also broadcasting all of the 2008 games of the Williamsport Crosscutters, an affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.

“ESPN Radio 1050 is ecstatic about the opportunity to cover Lycoming College athletics,” said Bartley. “We take this new responsibility very seriously and plan to build upon the high-level of quality broadcasts previously established by WRAK. With this move, our local ownership group reemphasizes its commitment to coverage of local sports at the college, high school and professional levels.”

ESPN Radio is the country's largest sports radio network, providing more than 9,000 hours of talk and event content annually to 750 stations nationwide, including the top 100 markets.