Baseball and the NFL when conflicts have arisen with WEPN-FM. WBLS had been added as a sports overflow station in November 2012 when it began airing Knicks games that conflicted with Jets games on Sunday afternoons. Bidding for baseball WEPN-FM was expected to bid for the radio rights for either the New York Yankees or the New York Mets, both of which expired at the end of the 2013 season. It had been reported that WEPN (AM) had been looking to move to a stronger frequency to accommodate having a Major League Baseball team full-time. ESPN Radio New York hoped their chances have been enhanced by acquiring the 98.7 FM frequency and moving the English-language sports format there. WEPN-FM was unable to secure either team; the Yankees signed with WFAN while the Mets signed with WOR. History Experimental operations (1939–1941) In the late 1930s WOR (710 AM), then licensed to Newark, New Jersey and owned by the Bamberger Broadcasting Service, Inc., a division of R.H. Macy and Company, became interested in the newly developed technology of FM radio. In the summer of 1939 WOR engineers, working with Bell Telephone engineers, set up an experimental 1,000-watt transmitter in Carteret, New Jersey, with the call sign W2XWI. In June 1940 experimental operations were moved to 444 Madison Avenue in New York City, now operating under the call sign W2XOR. As W71NY (1941–1943) The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began permitting commercial operations by FM stations in 1941, and Bamberger's New York station was included among the first authorizations made for the original FM band. The station was given the call sign W71NY, which reflected its operation at 47.1 MHz. As WBAM (1943–1948) Effective November 1, 1943, the FCC updated its call letter policy to allow FM stations to have call signs similar to those used on the AM band. The station initially chose WOR-FM, but six weeks later changed it on December 14 to WBAM. In 1945 the FM band was moved to higher frequencies, and WBAM was initially reassigned to 96.5 MHz, before moving to 98.7 MHz in October 1947. As WOR-FM (1948–1972) WBAM changed its call letters to WOR-FM on June 13, 1948. Like most early FM stations, the station initially simulcast AM sister station WOR. Macy's/Bamberger sold the WOR stations (which launched a television station in October 1949) to the General Tire and Rubber Company in 1952. General Tire reorganized