Philly Sports Radio Station Changes Name to 97.5 LeBron Meanwhile 94WIP Host Says It's One of His Worst Days as a Sixers Fan

One station, 97.5 The Fanatic (WPEN-FM), the flagship station of the Philadelphia 76ers, is enthusiastic about King LeBron James. The other station, SportsRadio 94WIP, is the flagship station of the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies. 94 WIP is a behemoth when it comes to ratings and has consistently rated near the top of the ratings of all stations in Philadelphia. WIP is locked in on the Eagles, as Jon Ritchie, Hugh Douglas, and Ike Reese, all former Eagles, are long time hosts in either morning drive, middays, or afternoon drive at the station. They play the hits. It's Eagles talk 24/7 unless a signing of major proportions like LeBron James signing with the Sixers changes the topic.

WIP has literally trounced 97.5 The Fanatic ratings for decades to the point where The Fanatic has been consistently rated in the bottom 5 stations in Philadelphia. The Fanatic has had so much turnover in staff, that they've more or less have become a farm team for WIP with many former hosts after getting canned at 97.5 migrate successfully over to 94.1, the number one sports station. So it's not a matter of talent.

But now The Fanatic has seized an opportunity to market themselves temporarily in a unique way, by branding the station as “97.5 LeBron.” This of course came about after NBA legend and free agent LeBron James signed a 2 year $8 million contract with the Sixers.

“At the end of the day, we are die hard Philadelphia Sports fans, they are not”

Sean Brace goes off on “Spike” for going negative on a day that should be a celebration @Sean_Brace pic.twitter.com/vqWyKTfMiy

— 97.5 The Fanatic (@975TheFanatic) July 24, 2026

Meanwhile, one host at 94WIP, Spike Eskin has openly expressed dissatisfaction with the signing of James. In fact he called it the worst day of his life as a Sixers fan. Eskin, is the former program director at both 94 WIP and SportsRadio WFAN The Fan in New York City. Eskin returned to WIP to host afternoons with Ike Reese and Jack Fritz a couple of years ago.

Eskin also hosts a Sixers podcast called 'The Rights of Rickey Sanchez' (a former player who never actually played for the 76ers and who was acquired via trade with the Denver Nuggets in 2007). The podcast has been airing on YouTube for the last 12-13 years in the midst of The Process years. Eskin is an unabashed supporter of The Process, which included tanking season after season in order to get high draft picks and when the time was right, strike quickly while the iron was hot, and land a franchise changing free agent. 

And that's exactly what happened! Except this time, LeBron James apparently was not the "right" free agent.

Apparently former “The Process” architect/president of basketball operations for the Sixers, Sam Hinkie was more in line with Eskin's preference as head of basketball. (Eskin and his podcast co-host orchestrated a banner hanging to honor Hinkie at a local sports bar after Hinkie was fired.) Or apparently recently fired team president Daryl Morey, another numbers guy, was more to his liking. Sports management and personnel that believe in analytics and statistics over actually watching a game and using the eye test; the people Bomani Jones refers to as “Mathletes.” 

Which actually means they don't have the ability to watch a game and know what they're watching because they haven't played the game and simply rely on putting numbers into a spreadsheet from the post game box score.

Well this time it appears “Athletes” are in charge, former basketball players. Mike Gansey (the Sixers Head of Basketball Operations), was a runner up to Ohio Player of the Year in 2003 to LeBron James in high school, a star player at West Virginia, a G-League player, and the former Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager; and Bob Myers, a former player at UCLA, the architect of the 4 time champion Golden State Warriors, and now is the president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) and a special advisor to the Washington Commanders and 76ers. 

Spike Eskin on LeBron James joining the Philadelphia 76ers: “This is one of the worst days I've had as a Philadelphia 76ers fan.” pic.twitter.com/NR9u2kctXX

— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) July 24, 2026

Jon Marks, the midday host at 97.5 The Fanatic along with his co-host Sean Brace, addressed Spike Eskin's take. Marks was a producer and host at 97.5 more than a decade ago with Brace before both were let go. Marks then moved to 94WIP, where he eventually became the lead afternoon host. Despite the show’s peak popularity, Marks left citing quality of life concerns before returning to 97.5 two years later. Meanwhile Brace hosted a local show on Fox Sports Radio (1480 WDAS), before being downsized on that station. 

They point out, the day after the Eagles won Super Bowl LIX in February of 2025, Eskin was critical of Jalen Hurts as a leader of the team. Mind you the Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 and the game wasn't that close. Sounds like, if it's true or not, hot takes drive the success of Sportsradio 94WIP.

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