The Detroit Lions published Week 7 radio broadcast logistics Tuesday, naming 97.1 The Ticket (WXYT-FM) as flagship for the October 27 game against Green Bay. The release included 105.1 The Bounce (WMGC-FM) and 760 WJR as backup stations, one more than the team carried last season.
The Packers game airs at 4:25pm ET on FOX locally, with Dan Miller calling play-by-play and Lomas Brown handling analysis. The Lions added streaming distribution through the official mobile app, the team website, and SiriusXMChannel 225 for national subscribers. The third terrestrial option is new infrastructure.
The timing matters because the Lions sit 5-1 through six weeks, their best start since 1956. Radio inventory is finite. A third station increases total available impressions by roughly 30% in metro Detroit, useful when Ford, Little Caesars, and Comerica are sizing Q1 renewals and the playoff probability models now show Detroit above 75% to make January football. The team hasn't hosted a playoff game since the 1993 Wild Card round.
Backup stations also hedge blackout risk, though that hasn't triggered since the NFL suspended the policy in 2015. More relevant: the Lions drew 67,000 at Ford Field for the Cardinals game in Week 3, and secondary-market ticket prices are tracking 18% above 2022 levels through the first quarter of the season. When a franchise expects to sell out and expects sponsors to pay attention, it protects the broadcast perimeter.
Green Bay carries symmetrical value. The Packers are 4-2, and NFC North games generate the highest local radio ratings in the conference outside of Sunday Night Football windows. Last season's Lions-Packers games averaged a 12.3 share in Detroit and 11.8 in Milwaukee across both markets' flagship stations. Those numbers convert directly to CPM leverage in upfront conversations that typically begin in February.
The SiriusXM distribution is standard under the league's $83 million annual satellite deal, but it extends reach to the 32 million subscribers who already pay for the service, a cohort that skews affluent and mobile. The Lions have a small but measurable national following after Hard Knocks aired in August, and playoff-bound teams see SiriusXM listening increase 22% on average in the back half of the season, per Nielsen Audio data from 2022.
The third station also creates a hedge if 97.1 needs to carry a Michigan or Michigan State game in a future window, though no conflict exists this week. College football broadcast rights are fragmented enough that pro teams with October and November success now preemptively add capacity rather than risk losing a game to tape delay or a streaming-only window.
Quietly, this is the first season the Lions have published detailed radio infrastructure for every game in advance, rather than issuing it on a per-week basis. That suggests the front office expects consistent demand and wants sponsors to plan around it. It also suggests someone in the building is thinking about what a six-figure uptick in local ad revenue looks like if the team finishes 12-5 and hosts a playoff game with four weeks of promotional lead time.
The Packers broadcast will be the Lions' highest-rated radio game of the season to date unless they meet Minnesota in a division-deciding scenario in December. Ford Field sits 72% sold for the rest of the season as of Tuesday morning. The next radio logistics release will come before the Titans game on October 27, and if a fourth backup station appears, someone is preparing for January.
The takeaway
Third backup station addition protects inventory ahead of playoff push and Q1 sponsor renewals in a market expecting January football.
Editorial & Disclosure Notice: This article was written with artificial intelligence from public sources and is published without individual human review. Artificial intelligence and other digital tools are also used for research, analysis, editing, formatting, and production. Errors, omissions, outdated information, or inaccuracies may occur. References to companies, brands, products, services, organizations, or individuals are for informational and editorial purposes and do not imply endorsement, sponsorship, affiliation, partnership, or approval unless expressly stated. All trademarks and other intellectual property remain the property of their respective owners. Opinions, analysis, estimates, and commentary are informational only and should not be construed as financial, investment, legal, tax, medical, procurement, or other professional advice. Information may be corrected, clarified, or updated after publication. Corrections or removal requests: jenny@pops4.com.
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