Michigan State Athletics commits to WJR for five more years, expands partnership
WJR 760 AM remains the Detroit flagship of the Spartan Media Network through the 2030-31 athletic year
Michigan State’s radio future in Detroit is settled through 2031 – and the Spartans are holding onto a 50,000-watt signal that can carry their broadcasts across much of the eastern half of North America after dark.
MSU has finalized a five-year extension that will keep WJR 760 AM as the Detroit flagship of the Spartan Media Network through the 2030-31 athletic year.
The expanded agreement will bring broadcasts of games and shows involving Michigan State women’s basketball and hockey to WJR. It also includes a digital broadcast of the Tailgate Show before home football games and specialty MSU alumni programming that will be developed later.
The deal was negotiated by Playfly Sports, the multimedia-rights company that operates MSU Sports Properties and manages the commercial elements surrounding Michigan State Athletics’ broadcasts, sponsorships, and corporate partnerships.
It also represents one of the final major agreements completed under Otis Wiley, the former Michigan State football player who led MSU Sports Properties for the past four-and-a-half years. Wiley recently left Playfly to become the Detroit Lions’ senior director of corporate partnership sales.
Wiley’s role placed him at the center of the business relationship between Michigan State, WJR, and Cumulus Media. The five-year extension gives his former team a long-term Detroit broadcast agreement while expanding the inventory MSU Sports Properties can offer advertisers and corporate partners beyond football and men’s basketball.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The agreement gives Michigan State stability in the Detroit market while preserving the reach that has made WJR valuable to the university for decades.
WJR operates at 50,000 watts, the maximum power permitted for an AM station in the United States, and broadcasts a nondirectional clear-channel signal. It provides strong coverage throughout Michigan during the day. After dark, when AM signals can travel considerably farther, WJR can reach listeners from New York and Pennsylvania west into Illinois and Wisconsin, south into Kentucky and Tennessee, and north across Ontario and other portions of eastern Canada.
The exact reach of the nighttime signal varies based on atmospheric conditions, interference, location, and the receiver being used, but it gives Michigan State the potential to reach Spartan fans far beyond Michigan.
“For two decades, WJR has been proud to serve...
