Chicago Bulls ink multi-year extension with The Score

Future prospects for young team look good

With the rest of Chicago men’s sports teams swimming in a dumpster fire right now (the Blackhawks have yet to win a game and the Bears are…well, the Bears), it’s the Chicago Bulls who’ve stepped up and played like a real professional sports team, instead of a bunch of junior varsity rejects on display – like we saw on Sunday with the other two.

And the Bulls’ improved outlook was rewarded with a new multi-year deal with Audacy-owned WSCR-AM/The Score on Monday, continuing their status as the team’s flagship station with all regular and postseason games broadcast. Plus, fans can stream for free on the Audacy app and on the station’s website, meaning no subscription to a league pass package is needed. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Bulls are off to their best start since 1996 with a victory over the Toronto Raptors Monday night. The win gives then a 4-0 record so far in the young season. 

“For years, 670 The Score has been the home for Bulls basketball, and we’re delighted to continue our longstanding relationship with the Reinsdorf family and the Bulls organization,” said Rachel Williamson, who is Audacy Chicago’s regional president and market manager. “As the voice of Chicago sports fans, we look forward to many more years of giving our listeners premier year-round coverage of the team, both on and off the court.”

Returning as the broadcast team is Chicago radio veteran Chuck Swirsky and Bill Wennington, who was part of the team’s glory days in the 1990s. In addition, Bulls broadcasts are preceded by a fifteen-minute pre-game show and a thirty-minute postgame show. 

The renewal keeps Audacy – who changed their name from Entercom last year – is home to three of the Chicago market’s eight professional sports teams. In addition to the Bulls, The Score carries Cubs games and sister WBBM-AM is the flagship for the Bears. 

The Score has carried Bulls games since the middle of the 2017-18 season, when the team and the White Sox’s deals with Cumulus’ WLS-AM abruptly ended due to the company’s bankruptcy filing. The White Sox relocated to WGN-AM in 2018, but returned to WMVP-AM this year. 

In addition to WMVP (their home during the second part of their dynasty years), previous radio homes for the bulls included WIND-AM, WVON-AM, WGCI-FM, and the former WMAQ-AM, who occupied the 670 AM frequency until 2000 when The Score took over.