Brent Musburger and VSiN signed a deal with the New York Post to provide sports betting articles 7 days a week.
Brent Musburger of the Vegas Sports & Information Network (VSiN) signed to be the Oakland Raiders’ radio voice, replacing Greg Papa. Musburger will remain the Las Vegas Raiders‘ radio broadcaster when the team moves to Nevada in 2020.
Greg Papa has been the Raiders’ play-by-play announced for the past 21 years and has been synonymous with the team since it relocated from the Los Angeles to Oakland. Raiders owner Mark Davis wants to make a clean break with Oakland, though — at least when the team ends its lease in 2019.
Brent Musberger, now 79 years old, is a legend in football broadcasting. He spent 17 years as the host of NFL Today on CBS, then moved to ESPN and ABC to broadcast NCAA college football and college basketball games for 27 years.
Over the years, Musburger’s distinctive broadcast voice and style have distinguished him with college fans. Before that, his stint with NFL Today defined an era, as his banter with famed handicapper Jimmy the Greek was must-watch tv in the late-1970s and 1980s.
VSiN and Brent Musburger
Brent Musburger left the Disney-owned ABC/ESPN in 2017, then moved to Las Vegas to found VSiN. The longtime broadcaster’s time could not have been better, because VSiN launched less than a year before the US Supreme Court repealed the PASPA sports betting ban in 46 US states.
With the expansion in sports betting expected to reach up to 20 new states in the next 5 years, sports media publishers have scrambled for content providers with experience, name recognition, and credibility. Brent Musburger and VSiN recently signed a deal to provide a sports betting article 7 days a week for the New York Post, along with 2 columns by Musburger himself.
Greg Papa: Longtime Raiders Voice
After announcing Greg Papa and Tom Flores would not return, Mark Davis said in a press release, “The Raiders organization would like to thank Greg Papa for his two decades of service to the Silver and Black. He wasn’t just given the job. He earned it. With intense preparation Greg was always ready for the call. Just as my generation remembers Bill King and ‘Holy Toledo’. The Raider Nation will remember Greg Papa and ‘Touchdown Raiders’. We wish Greg and his family the best in whatever the future brings.”
Papa said the Raiders’ late-owner, Al Davis, was like a father to him. When Papa took over the broadcast booth for his first game in 1997, Al Davis visited him in the Texas Stadium broadcast booth and told Papa to “dominate the airwaves”.
Mark Davis said a generation of Raiders fans would remember Greg Papa. The team decided not to retain Papa’s longtime broadcast partner, 2-time Super Bowl winner Tom Flores. Local media speculated that Flores, who is now 81, might retain some position with the club.
Tom Flores Profile
Tom Flores, who led the Raiders to world championships in 1980 and 1983, said he was “semi-surprised” he would not be returning to the booth. Of his job next to Greg Papa, Flores said, “We’ve been together for 21 years. I was just hoping to do at least one year in Vegas, but it didn’t happen. I’ve been a Raider since 1960; I’m not going to walk away.
Flores was a groundbreaker in the NFL. Flores, who was the first minority coach to win a Super Bowl, said of his firing, “My loyalty is to the Raiders. I’m a little hurt right now and we’ll miss Greg and I’ll miss being with the team, on the road, in the booth, in the press box. I’m just trying to digest it right now. Nothing lasts forever, but I’ll always be affiliated with the team in my heart.”
Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman trained many top football coaches in the NFL and college ball. In the NFL, he trained Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Chuck Knox, Dick Vermeil, George Allen, Bum Phillips, Al Davis, and Tom Flores. In NCAA football, greats like Ara Parseghian and Bo Schembechler learned under Gillman.
Lincoln Kennedy: Musburger’s Likely Partner
The Raiders have not named a color commentator to join Brent Musburger, but the early buzz is former Raiders offensive tackle and current sideline reporter Lincoln Kennedy might move up to the booth.
