By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — The Athletics have another MLB season and a half to play in West Sacramento, California, but the historic American League team has made some bold steps to set the foundation for their arrival in Las Vegas in 2028.
Some are quite visual and obvious, like the $2 billion domed stadium taking shape at the construction site on the Strip and millions of dollars invested in an A’s stadium experience center at the UnCommons development in southwest Vegas where the team is trying to line up corporate sponsorship agreements and discussing season/premium ticket deals.
There are also feel-good PR moves like dispatching the Athletics mascot to schools to distribute ballcaps, staffers to cheer up kids at hospitals and players to help make meals at a food bank.
And then, there’s radio and baseball in Las Vegas.
This season every A’s game is told in real time on the radio in Las Vegas, with longtime A’s radio broadcaster Ken Korach using his soothing, baritone voice to narrate pitchers’ throws, hitters’ swings, fielders’ catches and games’ results.
Korach is joined by his broadcast partner, Johnny Doskow, with occasional radio work by A’s broadcaster Chris Caray. There’s also “A’s Cast” programming hosted by Chris Townsend, who serves as the pregame and post game voice with an enthusiastic style.
Korach, 74, has strong Las Vegas area ties. The Los Angeles native, who has lived in Henderson since 1992, broadcast Las Vegas Stars and UNLV basketball and football games before his A’s radio career started in 1996. He’s in his 31st season as the radio voice of the A’s.
Korach is also working 114 of the 162 regular season games this season. Caray is filling in for most of the games that Korach misses, while A’s TV broadcaster Jenny Cavnar and former big leaguer Steve Sax will also pitch in and do some radio broadcasts when Korach is out.
The radio broadcasts of A’s games on KWWN 1100 AM/100.9 FM and KLAV 1230 AM pump Athletics games and content directly into their future home market this season. Select games are also available in Spanish on KENO 1460 AM.
FOX 5 and the Silver State Sports and Entertainment Station are televising 20 of the 162 regular season A’s games in 2026.
There’s something about the storytelling form of baseball’s play-by-play action that separates the game on the radio from other sports like football and hockey.
The baseball broadcaster is in the unique position to verbally paint pictures, deliver newsy anecdotes and chat about nostalgic nuggets in a way that emotionally ties the listener to the team brand. Big league baseball is a daily ritual from April through September, so Korach’s voice comes to your home or car day-in, day-out.
That has potential marketing gains for the A’s in Las Vegas.
As Korach put it, “We are trying to gain a foothold in Las Vegas.”
Korach hopes his words about A’s games on the radio can entice fans in Las Vegas to become Athletics and baseball fans like the days when he fell in love with baseball by listening to games on the radio as a kid.
“Baseball on the radio hooked me on baseball,” Korach told LVSportsBiz.com Monday during an A’s off day before the team plays road series in San Francisco and Anaheim this week.
“It also got me hooked on pursuing a career in baseball,” he said. “In a romantic sense, what we do is that we hope to be a member of your family. Baseball on the radio is the heartbeat of the team. You can take us anywhere. It’s that day-to-day thing, whether you’re listening to us in your living room, or while you’re barbecuing or in the car.”
With the A’s moving to Las Vegas for the 2028 season, Korach has slightly recalibrated some of his A’s storytelling to include baseball tales for a new fan base and casual baseball followers who might be unfamiliar with the Athletics’ past. For example, Korach said, he might include more stories about former legendary A’s broadcaster Bill King, the iconic Oakland Athletics voice from 1981-2005 before he died at 78 in 2005. Korach wrote a book on King and was his broadcast partner for a decade.
“He’s a fascinating individual and there’s a never-ending reservoir of stories,” Korach said of King.
Here in Las Vegas where there are many Dodgers fans, one of the radio stations used to broadcast Dodgers games several years ago. It allowed Las Vegas baseball fans to hear former iconic Dodgers radio broadcaster Vince Scully describe the Dodgers games in his memorable voice.
Korach began his radio career in 1980 in Petaluma in Northern California about 30 miles north of San Francisco where he hosted a radio show, recorded commercials and, yes, broadcast high school sports.
He came to Las Vegas and did play-by-play of Las Vegas Stars games at Cashman Field in 1989, 1990 and 1991 before he got his first broadcasting crack at the majors, doing one game a week for the Chicago White Sox in 1992. Korach did a weekly game for the White Sox through 1995 until he began his radio life for the A’s in 1996.
Korach also was the radio voice of UNLV football from 1992-95 and the basketball Runnin’ Rebels from 1992-2004 when the team was a national power.
Now at age 74, Korach tries to use his calming, rich voice more effectively and hopes it’s “wearing well over time.”
When the A’s played six games in Las Vegas earlier this month, Korach tried to share some history of the A’s in Vegas from 30 years ago when the Athletics played six regular season games at Cashman Field in downtown Las Vegas because work was being done at the Coliseum back in Oakland.
His goal is to build a “one-on-one relationship with fans that inculcates their sense of using your imagination to visualize things. You’re the eyes and ears of the audience. I loved (former famed sports broadcaster) Dick Enberg. He said, ‘Give the audience a reason to care to build an emotional tie.’ ”
Korach knows he’s broadcasting A’s games in 2026 and 2027 for a team temporarily based in West Sacramento and he can’t wait for the new A’s ballpark to open in 2028. He noted he’s only a 12-minute drive to the site from his home in the Green Valley section of Henderson.
“I never tire of preparing for games. I love drinking my coffee and going to the ballpark. Every game is its own little drama,” Korach said, “and we want people to come for the ride.”
And if you’re following the A’s on Korach’s radio broadcasts this year, there has been no shortage of drama on the diamond in 2026. The A’s play three games with the Giants in San Francisco Tuesday-Thursday, then travel to Anaheim for Friday, Saturday and Sunday games against the Angels. The A’s are 38-40, sitting a game and a half behind the division-leading Seattle Mariners.
PSA