For years UConn has been hoping to get a New Haven presence on the network of stations carrying UConn men's and women's basketball games.

The wish was granted as WELI-960 signed a two-year contract to carry UConn men's and women's basketball games.

"It is great," said Clear Channel Connecticut program director Mike Wheeler. "It is one of the crown jewels of the state, it is a nice treasure and we are glad to have it.

"I think it benefits everybody. It is a great benefit for WELI and for folks that are down state because TIC doesn’t reach them very well and (the reception) is spotty and it is great for UConn. It helps them be an even bigger entity in the state, it helps with their reach in the state."

Wheeler said at the current time the deal is only for basketball but in the future perhaps football could be added to the mix.


"Right now we are focused on basketball and we will see what happens with football," Wheeler said.

Although there may be a possibility of conflicts, Wheeler believes there are enough other options to deal with each situation as they arise.

"I think we have some that we are trying to work through now but it is only a couple and I am not sure what we are going to do with those yet," Wheeler. "They will show up somewhere else on one of our other stations."