On July 1st, XM will become the exclusive satellite radio home of the NHL. In September of 2005, XM announced signing a 10-year, $100 million dollar, exclusive, agreement with the NHL.

Just as Sirius is the exclusive satellite radio broadcaster of NASCAR and the NFL, XM will be the exclusive home of the MLB and NHL. The 2007-08 NHL season will mark XM's third season of NHL coverage and its first season as the exclusive satellite radio provider of the League.

XM airs over 1,100 NHL games per season to hockey fans across the U.S. and Canada. XM also offers the first and only 24-hour nationwide hockey radio channel - Home Ice (ch 204) - with news, commentary, interviews and play-by-play analysis from hockey experts like Phil Esposito, Bill Clement, Denis Potvin and Gary Green.

XM's first day as the exclusive satellite radio home of the NHL is the same day as Free Agency Day, the annual start of the free-agency period for NHL players.  Home Ice will provide round-the-clock coverage of the latest signings and negotiations.

As the exclusive satellite radio partner of the NHL, XM is officially rebranding the Home Ice channel to NHL Home Ice.

XM is launching their own page on the growing social networking site Infield Parking. Infield Parking is a relatively new addition to the social networking scene, but is built specifically for NASCAR fans, and now includes over 35,000 members including 11 Nextel Cup drivers.

The site was co-founded by NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr., who also serves as president of Infield Parking, and also has his own show on XM. (Got the connection?)

XM's Infield Parking page, which is launching today, will include:

• Information on driver shows and other on-air talent
• Links to information about XM
  
• Exclusive Offers on XM radios and service
• Q&A Section w/ chance for fans questions to be answer on-air
• Blogs from your favorite on-air talent
• Photos of drivers and other on-air talent
• ...and naturally more content to be added throughout the season

Word has it that this is part of a growing initiative at XM to target users online through social marketing. Let's see if it goes beyond just buying ad units on MySpace.

[View the XM Infield Parking page]

Chris DiMarco, three-time PGA TOUR winner, has signed with XM Satellite Radio to air a weekly, 30-minute show "oPINionated With Chris DiMarco” presented by RSM McGladrey.

DiMarco and his co-host, broadcast journalist Greg Warmouth, will take listeners inside the ropes for an unfiltered look at professional golf. DiMarco also plans to talk candidly about other sports, current events, and other hot topics.

"The channel is all about golf, and our show will definitely be focused on the sport, but we’re going to steer the conversation off the course from time to time," DiMarco said. "What’s great about this channel is that you can keep up with the sport and hear the tournaments live, and it's broadcast nationwide, so you can listen virtually anywhere across the country."

The show will premiere Tuesday, June 19th, at 7am ET on XM's PGA TOUR Network (ch 146), and will air weekly at the same time and channel. Encore broadcasts will air at different times throughout the week.

"oPINionated With Chris DiMarco” is presented by RSM McGladrey. RSM McGladrey is the official accounting, tax and business consulting firm of The PGA of America. DiMarco is a member of Team RSM McGladrey, which also includes Masters Champion Zach Johnson and LPGA Pro Natalie Gulbis.

XM will now be carrying Big 12 Conference sports, starting this fall. The addition of the Big 12, now makes XM the official satellite radio network for all six BCS conferences in college sports.

XM will air select Big 12 football games each week, as well as the Big 12 football championship, starting in the fall. XM will also air select Big 12 men's and women's basketball games and full coverage of the Big 12 men's and women's basketball tournaments.

The new, multi-year agreement with ESPN Regional Television allows XM to appeal to the displaced sports fan who may not be able to Big 12 games locally.

Thanks Roland & Carlo! 

NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr. has called a press conference for tomorrow to make a long-anticipated announcement about which team he will drive for in 2008 and beyond.

Sirius willl air the Dale Earnhardt Jr. press conference live from the JR Motorsports shop in Mooresville, N.C. on Sirius NASCAR Radio (ch 128) at 11 am ET Wednesday.

XM will interrupt regularly scheduled programming on XM Sports Nation (ch 144) on Wednesday at 11am ET to bring live coverage of the news conference.

XM's sports anchor Claire B. Lang, who will report live from the press conference, is reporting that multiple sources have said they expect Dale Jr. to jump to Hendrick Motorsports (alongside Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson).

ESPN is also reporting that Earnhardt will make the jump to Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 2008. Rumors persist that NASCAR driver Kyle Busch will leave the Hendrick team.

Earnhardt is the host of the weekly XM show "Dale Jr. Unrestricted," which airs Thursdays at 7:30pm ET on XM Sports Nation.

Sirius is the exclusive satellite radio provider of NASCAR. Sirius broadcasts every NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, carrying the live feeds of MRN, PRN and the IMS Radio Network from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Sirius also provides additional 24/7 coverage of NASCAR with exclusive programming.

Thanks Todd! 

(UPDATED to include Sirius content.) 

XM is airing coverage of the 2007 U.S. Open golf tournament live from Oakmont Country Club, starting next Tuesday.

Play-by-play U.S. Open coverage and expert commentary will air on XM's PGA Tour Network (ch 146) - from Thursday, June 14th to Sunday, June 17th - each day starting at 12-noon ET to 7pm ET, followed by a 30-minute recap show.

Pre-event coverage from Oakmont begins Tuesday, June 12th, at 2pm ET with press conferences featuring Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, and defending champion Geoff Oglivy, among others. XM will then air an extensive preview show on Wednesday, June 13th, starting at 2pm ET with interviews with many of the competitors in the top-flight field.

Spectators at the U.S. Open can pick up portable XM radios for the day and hear the XM coverage, as well as keep up with the action throughout the course. The first 1,000 people to sign up at the XM booths each day will be able to listen to an XM radio for one day at no charge.

Louisiana State University (LSU) has been added to XM's sports line-up of Southeastern Conference (SEC), starting this fall.

Kicking off with the Tigers' football season opener against Mississippi State on August 30th, XM plans to carry every LSU regular-season football game, the vast majority of LSU basketball games and other LSU athletic teams.

James Carville, the renowned political consultant, LSU alumni and co-host of XM sports talk show "60/20 Sports" called this "a marriage made in heaven."

"My network and my team. It doesn't get any better than that," Carville added.

LSU is the latest member of the SEC conference to join XM's roster. Earlier this year, XM announced a 5-year deal with the SEC, but LSU wasn't on the list of schools. That now has changed.