By KEN LIPSHEZ
New Britain Herald Staff Writer

NEW BRITAIN -- The New Britain Rock Cats have sealed a
groundbreaking incursion into the greater New Haven
market on the heels of the Ravens’ departure by
signing a deal with Clear Channel Radio to have all
142 of their games broadcast on WAVZ-1300 AM for the
upcoming season.

New Haven listeners will also receive daily updates on
Clear Channel’s other New Haven property, News/Talk
960 WELI, where the Rock Cats will be a frequent
subject of discussion for popular sports anchor,
George "Coach" DeMaio.

WAVZ, known in New Haven as The Zone and Fox Sports
Radio 1300, joins the Rock Cats Radio Network which
includes the four stations that make up the Buckley
Radio Network in the central and northern parts of the
state.

"The Eastern League had been in New Haven for (10)
years and that used to be New Britain’s territory,"
Rock Cats president/general manager William F. Dowling
said. "When the Ravens left and went to Manchester,
N.H.,that territory’s now ours again in terms of the
Eastern League. We intend to aggressively market in
that area and hope to pick up all the wonderful fans
who attended New Haven Ravens games."

The Ravens, an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays,
left New Haven after the 2003 season.

"Voice of the Rock Cats" Jeff Dooley will call the
play-by-play for the seventh consecutive season. He is
joined by veteran minor league baseball voice and
Buckley Radio sports director Dan Lovallo for home
games. Buckley’s flagship station is Bloomfield-based
WDRC-1360 in the Hartford market. Games are also
broadcast over affiliates in Meriden, Waterbury and
Torrington.

Said Dooley: "I look forward to working with WAVZ and
WELI this season.This extended coverage will allow
fans to hear Rock Cats broadcasts in parts of three
states.

"Additionally, game highlights, player interviews and
portions of (Rock Cats manager) Stan Cliburn’s press
conferences will be featured each morning with the
‘Coach,’ George DeMaio. We are honored that Clear
Channel has chosen to carry our games and feel that
the fans of southern Connecticut will enjoy listening
to our broadcasts this season."

The Rock Cats Network will now be heard from Hampden
County, Mass., to northern sections of Long Island,
which Dowling views as another major step forward for
the franchise.

"It’s a significant signing because WAVZ is one of the
largest stations in New Haven," he said. "It’s known
as a sports station and has great reach up and down
the shoreline. We’re thrilled about this, and what
makes me even happier is they contacted us. It isn’t a
situation where we actively went after them, although
we always wanted them on board."

Well-known Connecticut radio personality and Clear
Channel Radio-New Haven operations manager Jerry
Kristafer is equally excited about the marriage.

"This agreement gives Southern Connecticut sports fans
who listen to the Zone an opportunity to enjoy high
quality, professional Eastern League baseball played
at a modern facility which is less than a 30-minute
drive for most families in our coverage area,"
Kristafer said in a statement prepared by the Rock
Cats Wednesday.

"Greater New Haven and Shoreline baseball fans will be
able to tune in to every Rock Cats game home and away
as well as listen to the pre-game and post-game shows
in the car on the way to and from New Britain
Stadium."

Dowling said the radio deal is just the beginning of
what he aspires to be a steady flow of fans from the
New Haven area. He said the Rock Cats expect to stress
the accessibility of New Britain Stadium along with
the other attributes that have contributed to a rise
in attendance from 177,026 in 1999 to a
record-breaking franchise mark of 268,532 in the
weather-marred 2003 campaign.

"We’re working on a couple of other things," Dowling
said. "We talked about doing a FanFest in the greater
New Haven area, which WAVZ expressed an interest in.
We intend to actively go after some of the Ravens’
former season ticket holders. I think you’ll see us do
a number of things."

The first broadcast of the 2004 season is slated for
Thursday, April 8 when the Rock Cats open up at home
against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the EL’s newest
franchise that operated out of New Haven’s Yale Field
for the previous 10 years. The special 10:35 a.m.
contest is already a sellout.

WAVZ, an all-sports station that features the
syndicated Jim Rome Show, carried New York Yankees
games last season.

03/14/2004


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