KANSAS CITY, MO – The Kansas City Royals and FOX Sports Kansas City today announced a 142-game television schedule for the 2012 season, featuring two exhibition games and 140 regular season games.
The Royals and FOX Sports Kansas City are entering the fifth season of a long-term agreement in which FOX Sports Kansas City is the exclusive television home of Royals baseball. The 140-game regular season television schedule features 66 road games and 74 from Kauffman Stadium. Every game on FOX Sports Kansas City will be preceded by a 30-minute pre-game show, “Hy-Vee Royals Live,” and followed by the “Boulevard Royals Live” post-game show. All 140 regular season telecasts will be presented in High Definition.
In the booth, Ryan Lefebvre returns for his fifth season as the play-by-play voice of the Royals on FOX Sports Kansas City and he will be joined in 2012 by former major leaguer Rex Hudler as the analyst. Also joining the Royals’ broadcast booth this year is play-by-play announcer and Kansas State University alum, Steve Physioc. Both Physioc and Hudler worked together in the television booth of the Angels for 11 seasons. Lefebvre and Physioc have each agreed to multi-year contracts, with Ryan slated for 90 regular season telecasts while Steve provides the call on 50 games.
“During the winter months, Ryan relayed to us a desire to expand his responsibilities and have a larger presence in the radio booth, thus bringing in a strong veteran announcer like Steve Physioc enabled us to give Ryan that flexibility,” said Mike Swanson, Royals Vice President of Communications and Broadcasting. “The addition of Steve brings a familiar voice back home to the Midwest and affords us the luxury of having both he and Ryan on radio and television throughout the season. As for the addition of Rex, he was a ‘run through a wall’ type of player and brings that same high-energy style to the broadcast booth. His enthusiasm for the game of baseball is infectious and it translates very well on the air.”
“This is a great day for our broadcast team,” said Lefebvre. “For me professionally, I get to work with two of the most enthusiastic and respected men in our business, and personally, I’m grateful the Royals have allowed me to return to the Royals radio booth in a larger role.”
FOX Sports Kansas City’s coverage of Royals baseball kicks off with a Spring Training telecast from Surprise, Ariz., on Friday, March 30, when the Royals host the Chicago White Sox at 8:05 p.m. (CDT). A second exhibition game will be broadcast on Tuesday, April 3, when Kansas City visits the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park in a 9:05 p.m. (CDT) start.
FSKC will air Kansas City’s Opening Day contest on April 6 at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
The complete season schedule with telecasts is listed on the attached schedule. All game times and the TV schedule are subject to change.
