If sports are huge, for the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex - the fifth largest radio market in the country - then talking about sports is enormous.
The best avenue for sports conversations has been the highly lucrative sports radio talk show industry. This is the gigantic pie Thom Bailey is determined to get a slice of, for himself as well as for his loyal legion of on-air and behind the scene talent working with him.
“He’s gun-ho and it’s rubbing off on all of us,” said David Burrall, sports director of KFCD-AM Sports Fan 990.
As of Jan. 15, Bailey, a 30-year sports media veteran launched Sports Fan 990, 12 hours of shows five days a week, to fill voids left by major competitors, ESPN-FM (103.3) and KTCK-AM “The Ticket,” (1310). Bailey plans to eventually take control of the entire station and develop a complete 24-hour sports and variety package.
“Firstly, we’re not a radio station. We’re a radio network inside a radio station at the moment,” Bailey said. “Our goals are plain, simple and clear, to bring actual sports talk to Dallas. We’re not saying they’re not already doing that now. [But] Our focus is on local stuff.”
What we’ve done is put a local program together we feel that can go up against any of the other shows,” Bailey continued. “There is an audience for what we’re doing which the other outlets don’t just have. We talk sports and give the fan what they want. There’s room in this marketplace for an actual third sports talk station.”
Burrall agrees. “I believe this medium is not obsolete. The internet has their place, bloggers have their place, we have our place too and that’s not going away,” Burrall said. “Thom is not trying to set his sights extraordinarily high, and that’s a good thing. You don’t have to do that and you can be successful in this business. He’s thought a long time about doing this.”
Bailey’s comes forth with a passionate drive and a self-proclaimed “Sports Know-it-all” mentality. Two adages hang in his office: “When I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you” and, “People who think they know it all are especially annoying to those of us who do.” Bailey says he knows he’s perceived by many as a cocky and perhaps arrogant sports personality.
“I am who I am,” Bailey counters. “When you get to know me there’s a different side of me. I command, get and give respect. You may not believe it, but I’m a very humble person.
“I’m not going to let my team down. If I’m the Terrell Owens of sports radio, I’m going to be the right Terrell Owens that’s going to lead my team. We’re going to walk the walk and talk the talk.”
ESPN and The Ticket are not the only two giants who would crush Bailey if given the chance. Obstacles for African Americans to own radio stations also stand in the way. Michael J. Copps, a commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission, speaking last month at the Rainbow/PUSH Wall Street Project conference, sharply criticized the lack of opportunities for minority ownership in radio and television.
“The facts are downright chilling,” Mr. Copps stated. “While people of color make up over 30 percent of our country’s population, a study from Free Press last fall tells us that they own only 3.26 percent of all broadcast television stations. Unpack these numbers a little further and you’ll find that African Americans own only 1.3 percent of all stations.
And it’s sad to say, we’re not making progress. Truth is that there has been a sharp drop in the total numbers of African American stations since 1998 - by 30 percent. This isn’t just a problem. It’s a national disgrace.”
The November/December issue of The Crisis magazine, published by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, revealed ugly numbers including the Associated Press Sports Editors’ (APSE) first-ever Racial and Gender Report Card last June, which showed white males still dominating sports reporting and editor positions at newspapers as much as 80 to 90 percent.
In the matter of radio, Dwight Lewis said in the Jan. 25 edition of the Tennessean:
“Nobody is asking for a handout, but if Blacks are good enough to play ball and coach, why can’t they host a sports talk show or be a sports columnist? Instead, for the most part, you get someone like a Rush Limbaugh, who’s not a sports columnist or sports talk show host, but who said on his show Jan. 17, ‘Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. …’”
Gregory H. Lee Jr., senior assistant sports editor at the Boston Globe and chairman of the National Association of Black Journalists Sports Task Force said such disparaging numbers have a major impact on the way Black athletes are portrayed. The same holds true for Dallas-Fort Worth.
It’s vital to note that Bailey is running a mainstream, not exclusively-Black, sports network. Yet his vision and non-slanted eye for talent has brought in a thorough blend of African Americans, whites and females to his staff, one that better accurately represents his fan base.
Strangely, instead of getting credit for providing balance and diversity to sports talk radio, Bailey said he’s actually been accused of trying to make it too Black, having been dubbed “The Black Ticket” by bloggers for the local alternative publication. To which, he has a simple and sensible response. “We’re not discriminating here,” Bailey said. “I’m only as good as the people I have. I think I have a very good lineup; I would put them up against any lineup in the metroplex. We can be entertaining and funny - but not go overboard.”
Bailey opens up the weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. with “The Press Box,” accompanying veteran sports talk show host Leon Simon and newcomer Rodney Blu, a former regular sports show caller who received recent notoriety for appearing on the last Miller Lite “Men on the Square Table” beer commercials. Established journalists such as Jean Jacques Taylor and Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News, Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Newy Scruggs of NBC5, along with coaches, players and executives frequent the show.
The Sports Fan Firing Line follows from 9 a.m. to 12 noon with Rich Permenko, Francois Ransom and Nikki Granville bringing on special guests to probe into selected topics.
The Sports Insider is from 12 to 2 p.m. with Danny Miles and Al Learner analyzing the current issues. From 2 to 4 p.m., Gameday 990 features Kristi Scales, the sideline reporter for the Dallas Cowboys radio broadcasts and ———. Udi Middleton and Roland Parrish present a hip-hop flavor for the younger generation with The Sports Mix from 4 to 6 p.m. All the shows are caller-driven.
Bailey started at Indiana University as a play-by-play and color analyst for the student radio station, covering the school’s basketball team, lead by Isaiah Thomas, when they won the 1981 national championship. He credits himself with breaking the story that Thomas would forego his senior year to play for the NBA, leading to an internship at an Indianapolis television station.
Coming to Dallas, Bailey became Sports Director for community station KNON-FM for 16 years, where he built a sports department, while writing columns for several publications including The Dallas Examiner. He had his own television show on Channel 52. At KFCD, he conducted a morning show on Sundays before branching out to his current format.
At 49, Bailey says making the Sports Fan network successful is the hardest thing he’s done thus far in his career. Critics said he would be out of business within the first week. It’s been one month.
“If you believe in people and yourself, you can do anything you set out to do,” Bailey said.
“There are a lot of people who say it’s not going to happen,” Burrall said.
“If I know anything about Thom, he’s a pretty determined guy and he will do all he can to prove everyone wrong.”