• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, September 11, 2013

The Bronx Bombers are landing at a new radio roost, with Wednesday’s announcement that the New York Yankees have signed a 10-year deal with CBS Radio -- moving them from their current home, WCBS 880 AM, to WFAN-FM 101.9, effective next year. Yankees games will also be simulcast on WFAN-AM 660.

Under the terms of the deal -- rumored to be worth around $150 million for the Yankees over 10 years -- both WFAN stations will carry all regular-season and postseason games, pregame and postgame shows, as well as broadcasts of certain spring training games. CBS Radio also acquired Spanish-language broadcast rights for these events.

According to the New York Daily News, final contract negotiations hinged on CBS also agreeing to broadcast soccer games played by the New York City Football Club, a Major League Soccer franchise owned by the Yankees.

The NYDN also notes that the move means the rival New York Mets, who previously called WFAN their home, now have to find another broadcast radio outlet, with Clear Channel’s WOR AM mentioned as a possible destination.

It’s also unclear whether the move to WFAN includes longtime Yankees commentators John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman, whose dramatic (if sometimes inaccurate) play-by-play and brassy color commentary have become a fixture of Yankees broadcasts.

Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner stated: “Having the Yankees on WFAN-AM/FM provides listeners in the New York metropolitan area and beyond with superior broadcast quality and vast territorial signal strength.”

WFAN is already the flagship broadcast home for other pro tri-state area sports teams, including the New York Giants, New Jersey Devils and Brooklyn Nets.

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