ESPN West Palm is celebrating its 20th anniversary as Palm Beach County’s home for sports talk with several expansion initiatives during December to close out the year.
ESPN West Palm serves Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast with sports talk on ESPN 106.3 FM and Deportes Radio 760 AM. ESPN West Palm Play, which launched on Dec. 20, is a new video platform to include sports highlights, behind-the-scenes content and feature interviews. Listener’s can visit ESPN West Palm’s YouTube and subscribe to access the free content. They will also have selected local sports talk shows live-streamed.
Steve Politziner is the president of Good Karma Brands, which is the parent company to ESPN West Palm. He said the launch day of ESPN West Palm Play coincided with National Signing Day for local high school athletes.
“When you think about the unbelievable talent pool that comes from Palm Beach County and the amount of players that go on to play at the next level, National Signing Day here is so meaningful,” he said. “We had a Heisman Trophy winner and so many players have gone on to the NFL that the attention is put on Palm Beach County because of that as well as the general college football passion that you have here.”
Politziner, a member of the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame, said there is a wide array of sports events throughout the county in a year, including spring training baseball, professional golf and tennis, equestrian and watersports.
He said ESPN West Palm Play is an opportunity to provide the sports fan with a deeper level of coverage.
“We are always trying to pivot to where the consumers are,” he said. “If we can be able to distribute to the way that people are consuming content, then it’s going to be great for fans, continue to bring new fans in and attract different people. As a company that has had a significant investment in digital across so many different facets, to be able to offer this given the talent-rich environment that we have here feels like it makes perfect sense. It’s our challenge and it’s our opportunity to hopefully provide enough compelling and consistent content that is going to bring people back and make this a regular part of their consumption experience.”
Politziner said fans are diverse with their sports passions for their professional and collegiate teams in Palm Beach County. He called it one of the most educated sports markets in the country. He said there are many fans who follow teams from outside the area while still receiving a dose of different content and coverage about teams and athletes locally.
“The people relish all the events that come through Palm Beach County,” he said. “It’s important from an economic impact standpoint and lifestyle standpoint. It’s ultimately why we love sports. It can make an impact in so many different ways.”
ESPN West Palm recognizes local athletes in Palm Beach County throughout the year. The ESPN Top 63 ceremony is held for senior high school football players before the season. They announce the nominees and winners for each award at the annual Lou Groza Awards banquet, which is presented by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. ESPN West Palm also features the Land Rover Palm Beach Player of the Week. Politziner said ESPN West Palm Play will be able to highlight inspirational stories on local athletes and teams across a variety of different sports.
“The focus for high school sports here is great whether it’s team or individual,” he said. “We have so many great stories. It just gives us a chance to go more in-depth.”
ESPN West Palm relocated to a new office during December at The Square in West Palm Beach. They originally started at two locations on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard from 2003 to 2016. They have spent the last seven years at Phillips Point.
“We are really excited about what is going on at The Square,” Politziner said. “We are really also pumped about the ability to interface with fans. Our shows will be front and center and very visible from our street level location. The Square has a lot going on with what they are doing today and what the future is going to be there. It’s really a community hub. We’re local and we want to be in the community. We really strive to be the DNA of the community here and be involved with all the events that come through.”
UnSportsmanLike, the national ESPN radio network morning show out of New York that is nationally televised, headed on the road for the first time to ESPN West Palm’s new studios from Dec. 18-20. The show features hosts Evan Cohen, Chris Canty and Michelle Smallmon.
“Evan Cohen spent nearly 20 years as the preeminent on-air host for ESPN West Palm,” Politziner said. “With our new office open, to have Evan Cohen here physically and a part of it to us feels very appropriate because he is so intertwined to me of what sports is in West Palm. He has such a fond relationship with his fans here and with the community.”
Cohen said the national morning show has been an amazing opportunity and platform.
“We are really lucky that we have a great team of people working on this show,” he said. “I didn’t know Chris and Michelle prior. Getting to know them, they’re both so talented at what they do. It’s been amazing with the three of us together, an amazing producing team and having the opportunity to have the platform we have from ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Radio stations all across the country and SiriusXM. We are four months in and I really believe that every single day we are growing and getting better.
“We had the opportunity to travel to do our first remote with Michelle and the team and it’s here to celebrate the grand opening of this new office,” he added. “It’s surreal. This really is a full-circle moment of the place that I helped be a part of starting and the place where we have UnSportsmanLike’s first live broadcast outside of New York and Connecticut. It’s amazing.”
Cohen recalled his memories as an on-air local host at ESPN West Palm. He said a reason they started the station was because at the time, it was the largest market in the country without an all-sports radio station.
“In 2003, we were on 760 AM and we had a station at the time that didn’t have the greatest signal,” he said. “There wasn’t an app or streaming. We were just six people starting a radio station from scratch. Now, we are led by our market manager, Stephanie Prince, and we have this kind of office 20 years later in downtown West Palm in this community. There are many people now that have grown up who started with the station and all they have ever known is ESPN West Palm. It’s a whole wave of people who have never lived in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast without this station and brand here. They only know ESPN West Palm. That’s a credit to Stephanie and her team here and what the six of us started.”
Cohen also praised John Martin, who has served as a producer, on-air personality and marketing consultant on the sales side. He added Martin has been in their office in West Palm for all 20 years.
“It’s no surprise that the culture around this station in this market is set by the person who has been here for the entirety of the time here,” he said. “When you think about ESPN West Palm and the heartbeat of it, it’s him.”
Good Karma Brands has expanded nationally and owns and operates several radio markets, including in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Milwaukee. They oversee the sales operations for more than 450 stations that make up ESPN Radio Network as well as the ESPN podcasts on the national level. They also serve as a partner to ESPN events and represent several collegiate events across the country. The RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl, which will feature University of South Florida and Syracuse, will take place at 8 p.m. Dec. 21 at FAU Stadium. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN 106.3 FM. ESPN West Palm has been affiliated with the Boca Raton Bowl since its inception in 2014.
Politziner also has been a proponent of continuing education for his team and the different divisions at Good Karma Brands. They provide quizzes on a regular basis, which he has received positive feedback. The quizzes allow the team to stay educated on their lineup, software, procedures, processes, best practices and content offerings.
ESPN West Palm also has been recognized for their strong culture and environment in Palm Beach County.
“Our emphasis on organizational development, training and ongoing education is really what we think has set us apart,” he said. “We recently won best place to work in sports by Front Office Sports for the fourth consecutive year. We are one of very few companies that have received that honor more than once. They pick 25 total companies a year in the entire sports landscape. We really believe a huge part of that is people’s passion for our company.”
Politziner reflected on ESPN West Palm’s 20th anniversary. He was joined by co-founder Craig Karmazin beginning in 2003 as the two executives were also the hosts when the station first launched.
“I am so proud of what we started,” he said. “I had the privilege to start with an awesome team. I am just pleased and grateful how this community has embraced what we have offered and concurrently, we have always tried to offer what is important to this community. I am still able to participate and live here even as a lot of my focus is on all of our company assets. Stephanie Prince, our VP and market manager, has elevated it to new heights and that is really most gratifying.”
