I’ve spent more than thirty years in broadcasting, and I thought I’d seen just about every kind of sponsorship deal this industry could dream up. We’ve put our names on football games, basketball tournaments, concert stages, festivals, race cars, and probably a few things nobody in the sales department wants to discuss anymore. But when I saw that iHeartMedia had entered into a major partnership with the National Squash League, I had to read the announcement twice. Yes, squash. The racquet sport. Not something you order at the farmers market. And while this might seem like one of the more unusual partnerships to emerge from the broadcasting business this year, I think iHeartMedia may be onto something considerably bigger than a few matches inside a glass-walled court.
On October 16, iHeartMedia announced it would become the National Squash League’s official audio partner and title sponsor for the 2026–27 season, bringing the company’s enormous broadcast and digital promotional capabilities to a professional sports league preparing for a potentially historic moment.
Squash will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
And iHeartMedia wants a place in the conversation before much of America even knows the conversation has started.
Now that’s interesting.
The agreement includes sponsorship across the league’s 16 franchises, branding on player jerseys, promotional opportunities across iHeartMedia platforms, and presenting sponsorship of the league’s playoffs.
Michael Biondo, iHeartMedia’s President of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, sees the approaching Olympics as an opportunity to introduce the sport and its athletes to a much larger audience.
The National Squash League gets access to promotional resources that would be difficult to duplicate independently.
And iHeartMedia gains a relationship with a developing sports property that could attract new fans, sponsors, and advertisers.
Everybody has something to gain.
But here’s what caught my attention.
For once, a major broadcasting company isn’t just fighting over an established audience. It’s helping create one.
Think about how much money gets spent chasing advertising connected to the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, and major college athletics.
Those are powerful properties, and deservedly so.
But everybody wants a piece of them.
The competition is enormous, the sponsorship costs can be extraordinary, and there’s only so much room for another logo on the stadium wall.
Squash represents a different proposition.
It’s a fast-moving, highly competitive international sport with an opportunity to introduce itself to American audiences before its Olympic debut.
And iHeartMedia has the tools to help make that introduction.
We’re talking about a company with radio stations across the country, nationally recognized personalities, digital platforms, podcasts, and established advertising relationships.
Imagine what happens when a few engaging squash athletes start appearing on morning shows, sports programs, and podcasts.
Suddenly, somebody who has never watched a professional squash match knows the name of a player.
They hear that player’s story.
They discover the competition.
And maybe they decide to watch.
That’s how audiences are built.
Not simply by selling tickets, but by creating connections.
And creating connections is something radio has been doing for more than a century.
Of course, there’s a little humor in all of this.
Somewhere in America, I can practically hear a Program Director asking whether squash tests better than pickleball with adults 25–54.
And I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody in promotions is already working on a contest called Get Squashed and Win Cash.
But beneath the jokes is a serious business opportunity.
The radio industry is constantly searching for new revenue streams while competing with streaming services, social platforms, and digital advertising companies.
We talk endlessly about the challenges.
We complain about the shrinking advertising pie.
And then we sometimes approach the very same advertisers with the very same ideas we’ve been pitching for twenty years.
Maybe the solution isn’t always finding a bigger slice of the existing pie.
Maybe sometimes you need to help bake a completely new one.
That’s what makes this partnership worth watching.
And let’s be clear about something. This is a marketing and audio partnership, not an announcement that iHeartMedia stations will suddenly begin carrying live squash play-by-play.
There is also no guarantee that professional squash will become the next major American sports obsession.
But the timing is smart.
The National Squash League has an opportunity to build momentum heading toward Los Angeles 2028, and iHeartMedia has positioned itself to participate in that growth rather than waiting until every other media company discovers it.
I respect that.
Because radio has always been at its best when it introduces audiences to something they didn’t know they would love.
A new artist.
A new song.
A new personality.
A new event.
Or perhaps, in this case, an entirely new sport.
The real story isn’t that iHeartMedia signed a deal with a squash league. It’s that somebody in a major radio company looked beyond the usual opportunities and decided to take a chance on building something.
I’d love to see more of that thinking throughout our industry, especially at the local level.
We have the personalities, the community relationships, the promotional experience, and the ability to make people care about something.
Those are valuable assets.
And there’s no reason they should be limited to the same familiar sponsorship categories.
Congratulations to iHeartMedia and the National Squash League on an unexpected and potentially exciting partnership.
I’ll be watching to see how they bring the personalities, rivalries, and excitement of the sport to American audiences.
And if this thing takes off, remember where you heard it.
Radio didn’t just enter the squash business. It may have found another way to remind advertisers that nobody builds excitement quite like broadcasters who know how to connect with an audience.
Now somebody please explain the scoring system before the first promotional meeting.
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