While the Dolphins finalize the contract details for their return to former radio flagship station, WQAM (560-AM), officials with 790 The Ticket (WAXY-AM) insist losing the Dolphins doesn’t spell their station’s demise.

In fact, 790 officials say, the move will free up plenty of programming time and give them the opportunity to forge contracts with other teams, such as the Marlins, whose contract at WQAM expires after this season. Officials with 790 said the Dolphins told them Friday afternoon that 790 would no longer be the team’s broadcast partner and the team is working on a deal with WQAM.

The Ticket’s contract with the Dolphins expired on March 1 and station officials said they spent the past two months trying to reach a new agreement, but the price was prohibitive.

The Dolphins said they'll have an announcement soon. “We are working on finalizing the radio partnership,” said George Torres, Dolphins Enterprises spokesman.

The Dolphins’ move back to WQAM is expected to mean the return of Jim Mandich as the Dolphins color commentator, a job he’d held for 13 years until the Dolphins moved to 790 in 2005.

Officials at The Ticket say they aren’t worried. Consider that the station launched in September 2004 as a challenger to WQAM with ESPN programming as a way to establish itself in the market. Five months later, it dropped its affiliation with ESPN and decided to focus on local sports talk and programming. Soon after, it drew the Dolphins – another move aimed at ensuring the station was a serious player in the market.

At the time, I asked station officials why they would pursue the Dolphins, rather than more radio-friendly baseball, particularly since the Marlins have healthy radio ratings. They said, in this market, football and the Dolphins rule and that’s how the station wanted to make its mark.

Mission accomplished, station officials say. Now it’s time to concentrate on other teams and programming.

“This actually allows us to do more stuff, more programming,” said Alan Brown, a 790 spokesman. “We’re not going anywhere. There’s room for us to grow. We’re still a young station.”