As the license for Grand Slam Sports 590 KFNS Wood River IL/St. Louis was set to expire next week had the station not return from its one year of silence, the bankruptcy receiver in charge of the station has found a new operator for the station.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that Detalus Consulting, the bankruptcy receiver overseeing KFNS and sister 1380 KXFN St. Louis, has agreed to lease KFNS to Markel Radio Group run by Randy Markel and Scott Gertken, the latter of whom operates the TalkSTL.com programming currently heard on KXFN.

KFNS was the one time Sports Talk leader in the St. Louis market until the launch of Hubbard’s “101 Sports” 101.1 WXOS in January 2009. A string of failed relaunches and shift to Hot Talk as “590 The Man” followed. When KFNS went dark last year it was reported to be in negotiations to sell the station to a religious operator. That deal never came to fruition.

TalkSTL.com programming currently heard on 1380 KXFN will simulcast on KFNS. That includes longtime market names such as JC Corcoran, Howard Balzer, and Kevin Staten and CBS Sports Radio’s Jim Rome.