Back in February when the Dolphins departed WQAM for WINZ, rejected general manager Joe Bell snarked in a company e-mail that the 2010 Hurricanes, to whose games WQAM still retained rights, would have a better season than those Fins anyway.
Turns out the real 2010 frontrunner would be the Heat -- and now the city's most promising team is leaving WINZ grasping nothing but air and a lawsuit: starting today with their game against the New Jersey Nets, Miami Heat games can be found at new flagship station 790 The Ticket.
It was that Dolphins' contract with WINZ, a Clear Channel station, that upset the Heat. Despite a clause in their contract stating that the Heat would receive benefits equivalent to any other team contracting with WINZ, the Heat did not receive the same two-hour weekday show their newly-arrived footballing counterparts did.
The Heat filed suit against Clear Channel, and gave WINZ a 30-day notice. The station hoped to work things out, its managers said, but Heat brass were through.
The moves leaves 790 with a lineup of Heat, Marlins, and FIU football; WQAM, the Hurricanes and Panthers; and WINZ, the Dolphins. For fans accustomed to hearing the Heat through the dulcet tones of announcers Mike Inglis and John Crotty, there's no need to worry: the pair will make the move to 790 with the team.
