The Jacksonville Suns (Class AA; Southern League) have a flagship station for 2016, as the team has signed a deal with 102.3 The Beach. The agreement between the Suns Baseball Network and the Chesapeake-Portsmouth Broadcasting Corporation ensures that all 140 regular season games will be heard on 102.3 FM, which would also air any potential playoff contests.
The Suns Baseball Network gives fans free, live online broadcasts of all games at jaxsuns.com and the TuneIn app. Every home game will stream live and on-demand on MiLB.TV. Subscription to MiLB.TV includes access to game video streams across Minor League Baseball. All Suns home games on MiLB.TV will carry the broadcast heard on 102.3 The Beach.
“102.3 The Beach is proud to partner with The Jacksonville Suns,” said 102.3 The Beach Station Manager Gary Walsh. “We are always looking for great family fun and nobody does it better than the Suns!”
In addition to comprehensive pregame (15 minutes before scheduled first pitch) and postgame shows, the Suns Baseball Network will again offer fans The Jacksonville Suns Podcast, along with video and written features at sunsradio.com. On social media, the Suns’ YouTube, Facebook and Twitter pages will carry the “Suns Today” video show for each home date, and the brand-new “Suns Live” interactive video stream will feature unique press box and ballpark access before every game via Facebook and Periscope.
Suns Director of Broadcasting Roger Hoover returns for his fifth season as the play-by-play voice of Suns baseball and will announce each game this season. Hoover is entering his ninth season broadcasting professional baseball. In March, he made his major league broadcasting debut with three Miami Marlins spring training broadcasts.
“I’m very excited about our partnership with The Beach for what is the most enthusiastically anticipated season in Suns history,” Hoover said. “They will be a great radio home for us as we deliver the most fan-friendly radio broadcast in baseball. Fans will have a lot of fun with us as we use innovative ways to get them more involved with our broadcast and the Suns.”
Joining Hoover on the radio will be Suns Media and Public Relations Manager Marco LaNave, who spent the past four years as head of media relations and lead play-by-play broadcaster with the Quad Cities River Bandits in Davenport, Iowa. Andrew Gibson will host and produce the broadcasts from the Suns Baseball Network studios.