FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 12th, 2012

NBC SPORTS NETWORK MLS COVERAGE THIS WEEK FEATURES TWO WESTERN CONFERENCE MATCHUPS

Live Coverage of Galaxy-Timbers from Jeld Wen Field in Portland Begins Saturday at 11 p.m. ET Additional game between San Jose vs. Dallas on Wed., July 18 at 11 p.m. ET “The cavalry charge to the postseason has begun, and the defending Champions L.A. travel to face a Portland team under new leadership.” - NBC’s Arlo White

NEW YORK – July 12, 2012 – NBC Sports Network will air a MLS Western Conference game between the #5 LA Galaxy and the #8 Portland Timbers this Saturday at 11 p.m. ET, live from Jeld Wen Field in Portland, Ore. NBC Sports Network will air an additional Western Conference game next week when the #1 San Jose Earthquakes host #9 FC Dallas on Wed., July 18 at 11 p.m. ET.

COMMENTATORS: NBC Sports Network’s lead soccer commentary team of Arlo White (@arlowhite, play-by-play), and Kyle Martino (@kylemartino, “Between the Benches” analyst) will call the games in Portland and San Jose, while Russ Thaler (@RussThaler) will host the pre-game, halftime and post-game segments on-site.

WHITE ON PORTLAND: “The cavalry charge to the postseason has begun, and the defending Champions L.A. travel to face a Portland team under new leadership. Jeld Wen Field is notoriously raucous and despite their disappointing campaign so far, the Timbers fans will be noisily behind their team.”

MARTINO ON L.A.: “The Galaxy are back on track and Portland will have a new man steering the ship. This one is shaping up to be a biggie, which is nothing short of what we always get from the Rose City faithful.”

UPCOMING MLS GAMES ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK: (All Times ET, Home Team Listed First)

Wed., July 18, San Jose vs. Dallas, 11 p.m.

Sat., July 28, Dallas vs. Los Angeles, 8 p.m.

Sun., July 29, Philadelphia vs. New England, 7 p.m.

 

For the full NBC Sports Group 2012 MLS Schedule visit www.NBCSports.com. Viewers can also follow all the action on Twitter @MLSonNBCSports.

 

ProSoccerTalk on NBCSports.com: Steve Davis (@SteveDavis90), a respected soccer journalist for more than two decades, is the featured writer for ProSoccerTalk on NBCSports.com. Davis, who has covered Major League Soccer, since its inception in 1996 contributes regular posts and will provide video reports to NBCSports.com, and is expected to be an occasional guest on NBC SportsTalk, the daily hour-long news and information show the new NBC Sports Network.

 

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Last August, Major League Soccer (MLS) and the NBC Sports Group announced a three-year media rights agreement that calls for 46 MLS games and four U.S. National Team contests to be televised live across both NBC and NBC Sports Network each season. This agreement was the first rights deal for the new NBC Sports Network. All telecasts on NBC and NBC Sports Network will consist of pre-game and post-game coverage.