KANSAS CITY, MO. — The American Association of Professional Baseball club carrying on the heritage of a storied Negro League franchise has signed a deal that will bring every home game in the 2025 season from Legends Field to viewers via a Gray Media broadcast TV station available across the market.
This gives the Kansas City Monarchs home games coverage beyond streaming video, with the games heading to KSMO-62, a MyNetwork TV property.
Gray siblings WIBW-13.6 in Topeka and KWCH-12.4 in Wichita will also air the team’s 50 regular-season home games, and any home playoff games.
For KSMO, it marks the return of baseball for the first time in 30 years; KSMO was the broadcast home of the Kansas City Royals MLB franchise from 1990 to 1995. The American Association is a Major League Baseball Partner League with teams across the Midwest and in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Curtis Miles, who serves as VP/GM of KSMO-62 and sibling KCTV-5 in Kansas City, commented, “The Monarchs are baseball royalty in Kansas City, and we are thrilled to make their games available live across multiple cities in Kansas and Missouri. Plus, by airing the games on KSMO, viewers can watch the games for free, which means even more people can catch the excitement and learn about the Monarchs’ rich history. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
Carter Woodiel returns for his third season as the voice of the Monarchs and will have the play-by-play call for all Monarchs game broadcasts in 2025. The team’s season opener is Friday, May 9 at its home field in Kansas City, Kansas. It has 4,500 fixed seats and is adjacent to Kansas Speedway, where I-435 meets I-70.
“At the Monarchs, our goal is to bring our team’s exciting brand of baseball to as many fans as possible,” said Monarchs owner Mark Brandmeyer. “This spectacular partnership with KCTV5 and KSMO will bring Monarchs baseball to its largest audience yet. We’re thrilled to team up with such a great organization and are looking forward to a successful season.”