MIAMI — FOX’s Sun Sports, the exclusive regional television partner of the Miami HEAT, begins their extensive coverage of the 2014-15 season with the team’s season opening game tomorrow night vs. the Washington Wizards. The game is the first of a record 75 regular season telecasts that will air on Sun Sports, as the network enters its 22nd season presenting HEAT games.
The veteran announce team of Eric Reid, Tony Fiorentino and Jason Jackson begin its 11th season together. Reid and Fiorentino are true HEAT lifers, having both been with the club since its inception. Recently nominated for his second consecutive Emmy award in the field of play-by-play, Reid begins his 27th season of broadcasting HEAT games. Fiorentino, who spent most of his first 16 seasons with the club as a coach and scout, is the longest tenured analyst in team history. The multi-talented Jackson, who remains one of the game’s most entertaining and energetic hosts, recently received his own Emmy nomination and will once again anchor pre-game, halftime and post-game coverage for all home games from the Biscayne Bayside studios.
Another HEAT original, Ron Rothstein, joins the extensive and talented team of additional analysts, reporters and hosts that make up the HEAT’s broadcast bullpen.
Rothstein will join Jackson to provide halftime and post-game analysis on all home games. Former HEAT point guard John Crotty, who enters his 11th season as a broadcaster with the team, will continue his dual role as both a television and radio analyst. Crotty will join Jackson and Will Manso throughout the season providing insights and his popular “Crotty’s Cuts” during pre and post-game editions of HEAT Live. Manso, who enters his second season as a member of the Sun Sports HEAT broadcast team, will again host the majority of road pre, half and post-game shows from the FOX studios in Ft. Lauderdale. Manso and Kristen Hewitt will again contribute as reporters during the broadcasts of most home games.
HEAT fans will continue to 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 75 regular season games with an extended post-game edition to return immediately following each broadcast.
Several popular initiatives that have become staples of the award winning Miami HEAT broadcasts on Sun Sports will continue again this season including: “Social Saturdays,” “Hot Seconds with Jax,” a month-long tribute to Black History and the annual Kids’ Day special, this year scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 29th when the HEAT host the Detroit Pistons.
HEAT broadcasts, and the talented people who work on them, were collectively honored with eight Emmy nominations during the most recent Suncoast Chapter awards. The telecasts were selected for several categories recognizing excellence including game production, editing, writing, feature production and for their special presentation of Kids’ Day.
Highlights of the 2014-15 Sun Sports’ schedule include:
- Two of the four meetings with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
- The first meeting of the season against Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol and the Chicago Bulls on December 14th.
- A road rematch with the team the team they have met in each of the past two NBA Finals – the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs on February 6th.
- Both meetings with Western Conference contenders Oklahoma City, Golden State, Houston and Memphis.
- A January showdown at the Staples Center vs. Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers.
- Each and every matchup vs. Eastern Conference Playoff contenders in Charlotte, Toronto, Brooklyn and New York.
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 FOXSportsFlorida.com.
Spanish-language audio for the games on Sun Sports will be available via secondary audio programming (SAP).