Should the Oakland A’s renew their radio contract with 95.7 The Game?

If you’ve been anywhere near A’s President Dave Kaval’s Twitter account lately, you’ll have seen the hoards of fans complaining to him generally about the most minor of inconveniences, and Kaval responding with some sort of gracious fix. One of those complaints led to an important – and heated – Monday morning debate.

Kaval asked his followers: Should the team renew its contract with 95.7 The Game after it expires this year?

95.7 boasts the title of “flagship station” for the A’s, Warriors, and Raiders, but only became a sports station in 2011 (it previously broadcast country music as 95.7 The Wolf). Before the A’s signed their initial 4-year contract with 95.7, they attempted to purchase KTRB 860-AM, their previous flagship station.

This would have allowed the team to broadcast more A’s-specific content, as the Giants do on KNBR 680-AM. Alas, those efforts failed despite the team reportedly offering a respectable sum, and here we are.

When it comes to 95.7, the biggest issue is that the hosts spend more time talking about the Giants than any of the flagship teams, and when they do switch to Oakland-based teams, it’s usually football or basketball. Worse, the hosts openly degrade the team on-air and online.

The obvious counter-argument here is that the A’s haven’t provided enough good content to discuss on-air — but even Sean Manaea’s no-hitter wasn’t heavily discussed, among other team positives in recent weeks (and years).

So, let’s take a look at what some of Kaval’s followers had to say (click on his original tweet to read all 480+ responses).

In response to replies saying that A’s fans should call in to the station more if they want more A’s coverage, @Thischarminham responded with the following, pointing out that it’s not the listener’s job to drive discussion:

@RealRyanMesick’s reply encompasses the majority of complaints, which are that the station overlooks the A’s, and often actively ridicules the team.

If the team is to stick with 95.7, @GlennRecon and @shawcochrane suggested that the station should bring back guests (or even a host) close to the team; say, Dallas Braden?

@OaklandChav was one of a handful of followers to commend Damon Bruce and Chris Townsend for their good coverage. (Editor’s note from Alex: I also want to give a shout-out to Rick Tittle, who regularly has me on as a guest on his pre-game show to talk A’s prospects.)

Finally, @cuppingmaster, along with a few others, said that the team should model a new station after Angels Radio AM 830, the Angels’ team-specific station.

And of course, the most important take of them all:

In all seriousness, should the A’s renew the contract? This conversation is also taking place in the /r/OaklandAthletics thread on Reddit, where one user suggested that 95.7 might not even want to renew with the A’s in order to pursue broadcasting rights to other Bay Area teams.

Given the above, what’s the best radio choice for the A’s? Let’s hear it in the comments.