Mar. 2, 1998

LOS ANGELES - - XTRA-AM Sports 690 will be the new radio home of USC football and men's basketball beginning with the 1998-99 season, USC athletic director Mike Garrett announced today.

The 3-year contract calls for XTRA, Southern California's sports leader, to broadcast live annually all Trojan football games and 20 men's basketball contests (all Pac-10 games and 2 non-conference games).

The station will also produce weekly features within its talk shows promoting other USC sports.

Play-by-play announcers and game analysts will be named in the near future, Garrett said.

"We are extremely excited about this partnership between USC and XTRA," said Garrett. "XTRA's sports programming and promotion will provide outstanding exposure for USC athletics. XTRA is a station that understands sports, both in how to present it and how to promote it. In turn, we'll deliver to XTRA the USC audience, which is one of the top demographic audiences in all of college athletics. This is just a great match."

Said XTRA vice president/general manager Kevin McCarthy: "We are thrilled to be associated with the tradition-rich USC athletic program. Under the leadership of Mike Garrett, Paul Hackett and Henry Bibby, USC football and basketball are poised to compete for national honors once again. And, as USC begins its quest for success, XTRA Sports 690 will be right there."

USC football, with new head coach Paul Hackett now at the helm, is one of the nation's premier programs. The Trojans have won 8 national championships and 20 Rose Bowls and produced 120 All-American first teamers, 4 Heisman Trophy winners and 60 NFL first round draft picks.

Trojan men's basketball, guided by head coach Henry Bibby, ranks among the nation's top 35 winningest programs and has been a post-season participant in 5 of the past 7 years.

XTRA-AM Sports 690 is a Southern California-based station whose 77,000-watt signal reaches from Baja California to the south, Santa Barbara to the north and Palm Springs to the east.