FOX’s Sun Sports, the exclusive regional television partner of the Miami HEAT, begins their extensive coverage of the 2013-14 season with the team’s road opener in Philadelphia. The game is the first of 70 regular season telecasts that will air on Sun Sports, as the network enters its third decade of covering the HEAT.
Veteran announcers Eric Reid, Tony Fiorentino and Jason Jackson begin their 10th season together. Now in his 26th season, Reid has been with the club as a broadcaster since its inception and most recently was recognized by the Suncoast Chapter with an Emmy nomination for his work as a play-by-play commentator. Fiorentino, another HEAT original, is the longest tenured analyst in team history. The multi-talented Jackson, who began his broadcasting career in South Florida, remains one of the game’s most entertaining and energetic hosts, and will once again anchor pre and post-game coverage for all home games from the Biscayne Bayside studios.
HEAT fans will enjoy extensive live content before and after every game with expert analysis, post-game press conferences, player interviews and more during HEAT Live. A half hour edition of the show will air before each of the 70 regular season games with an extended post-game edition to return immediately following each broadcast.
The shows premiere tonight at 6:30 p.m., when the two-time defending World Champion Miami HEAT battle the Philadelphia 76ers. The game will also mark the debut for new studio host, Will Manso, who will team with former HEAT point guard and current radio color analyst, John Crotty, for all road pre, half, and post-game shows from the FOX Sports studio in Ft. Lauderdale. Manso, a 13-year veteran of the market, will also contribute to the broadcasts on several home games, joining Kristen Hewitt and Johanna Gomez in the rotation of talented on-site HEAT reporters.
Several popular initiatives that have become staples of the award winning Miami HEAT broadcasts on Sun Sports will continue this season including: “Facebook Fridays,” “Hot Seconds with Jax,” a month-long tribute to Black History and of course the annual Kids Day special, which this year will take place on Saturday, March 1st when the HEAT host the Orlando Magic.
Sun Sports will continue to bring HEAT fans closer to their hometown team with its commitment to feature programming produced by the network. Plans call for 11 new episodes of the Emmy award-winning Inside the HEAT series with numerous player profiles and shows focusing on other aspects of the team and its operations.
Highlights of the Sun Sports schedule include:
- Each of the four meetings this season with the new-look Brooklyn Nets, beginning with the first match up on Friday, Nov 1st at the Barclays Center.
- All four meetings with the team Miami has eliminated in memorable playoff series each of the last two years—the Central Division Champion Indiana Pacers.
- The first road meeting of the season against Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls on December 5th.
- A road rematch with last year’s Finals contestant the San Antonio Spurs on March 4th.
- Road meetings with Western Conference contenders the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets.
- Both meetings vs. Western Conference Finalists from a year ago—the Memphis Grizzlies
The entire regular season will be delivered to fans in high definition. Sun Sports HD games will be available to fans in South Florida with HD service from cable and satellite systems offering Sun Sports HD. For a complete listing of channel locations for Sun Sports in your area, please visit www.FOXSportsFlorida.com.
Spanish-language audio for the games on Sun Sports will be available via secondary audio programming (SAP).