RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Radio broadcasts will no longer be available for Florida A&M football fans hoping to listen to games.
For the last four to five decades, football games have been carried on the Rattler Sports Network via 96.1 JAMZ, a local Tallahassee radio station owned and operated by Cumulus Media.
FAMU’s contractual agreement with Cumulus ended on June 30, two months ahead of the 2026 football season . Support organization, the Eddie Jackson 220 Quarterback Club, which funded the Rattler Sports Network in partnership with FAMU’s athletic department, per a 2025 press release on FAMU’s athletic website .
It was an easy way for senior and seasoned Rattler fans to tune in to games.
This year, the 220 Club handed off radio responsibilities to FAMU athletics, which decided not to renew the Cumulus deal. Instead, all 12 FAMU games will be televised or streamed on ESPN networks, SWAC TV, and HBCU GO, as broadcast radio undergoes transitions in delivery and market dominance.
“The athletic department expressed that they are shifting focus to the media aspects of the SWAC,” former Eddie Jackson 220 Quarterback Club Vaughn Wilson told the Tallahassee Democrat. “And radio is just not a part of that package.”
FAMU declined to provide a comment to the Tallahassee Democrat on the contract expiration or on moving away from the radio at this time.
The final season of Rattler football on the radio was broadcast by Albert Chester Sr., FAMU’s starting quarterback when the team won the inaugural NCAA Division 1-AA title , and alumnus Bryan Fulford, who hosts the O&G StrikeZone podcast, a show dedicated to university and sports topics.
“Rattler Nation, I have some very disappointing news,” Chester posted to Facebook on Monday, Aug. 10. “I was just advised by the athletic department that the 2026 FAMU football season will not, I repeat, will not be broadcast via radio. Sad day.”
The post received over 115 comments, where Rattlers chimed in.
“This is sadder than sad,” said Greg Coleman, a former FAMU and NFL star punter and Black College Football Hall of Famer. “We say that we are the #1 HBCU, and three weeks from opening the season, and this is the news from the Highest of Seven Hills. Please tell me this is April Fools in August. My high school has a football broadcast. Say it ain’t so!”
FAMU’s fully televised 2026 football season starts on Saturday, Aug. 29, when the Rattlers host the Albany State Golden Rams on Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium . It marks the debut of new head coach Quinn Fordham Gray Sr., FAMU’s Hall of Fame quarterback .
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Florida A&M football 2026 schedule
All times are Eastern
Saturday, Aug. 29: vs. Albany State, 7 p.m., SWAC TV
Sunday, Sept. 6: vs. South Carolina State, Orange Blossom Classic at Miami Gardens' Hard Rock Stadium, 3 p.m., ESPNU
Thursday, Sept. 10: at Miami, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday, Sept. 19: vs. Tennessee State, 7 p.m., HBCU GO
Saturday, Sept. 26: vs. Alabama A&M (SWAC), 7 p.m., SWAC TV
Saturday, Oct. 3: BYE
Saturday, Oct. 10: at Alabama State (SWAC), 3 p.m., HBCU GO
Saturday, Oct. 17: at Jackson State (SWAC), 3 p.m., ESPN Network
Saturday, Oct. 24: vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (SWAC/Homecoming), 3 p.m., HBCU GO
Saturday, Oct. 31: vs. Southern (SWAC), 3 p.m., HBCU GO
Saturday, Nov. 7: at Alcorn State (SWAC), 3 p.m., SWAC TV
Saturday, Nov. 14: vs. Mississippi Valley State (SWAC), 3 p.m., SWAC TV
Saturday, Nov. 21: vs. Bethune-Cookman (SWAC/Florida Classic), 3:30 p.m., ESPN+
Gerald Thomas, III, is a multi-time national award-winning reporter for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat under the USA TODAY Network.
Follow his award-winning coverage on RattlerNews.com and contact him via email at [email protected] or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee .
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU football ends radio broadcasts as all games move to TV, streaming
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