FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

MLS GAME THIS WEEKEND FOLLOWS ALL-DAY LIVE OLYMPIC COVERAGE – ADDITIONAL GAME NEXT WEDNESDAY

Houston at New York Friday at 8 p.m. ET Los Angeles at Columbus Wednesday, August 15, at 7 p.m. ET

NEW YORK – August 8, 2012 – NBC Sports Network will broadcast this week’s MLS coverage in primetime on Friday immediately following all-day live coverage of the 2012 London Olympics. An Eastern Conference match between the #3 New York Red Bulls and the #1 Houston Dynamos will air Friday live from Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., at 8 p.m. ET. Additionally, the LA Galaxy will travel to meet the Columbus Crew on Wednesday, August 15, at 7 p.m. ET.

COMMENTATORS: NBC Sports Network’s MLS coverage will feature John Strong (play-by-play), the play-by-play announcer for the Portland Timbers, alongside former MLS player and Olympian Brian Dunseth (“Between the Benches” analyst). Brent Harris will serve as studio host on site in New York and Columbus on Friday and Wednesday, respectfully.

Strong and Dunseth will call all MLS games on NBC Sports Network while the network’s lead soccer commentary team of Arlo White and Kyle Martino while they are in London for the 2012 Olympic Games.

RATINGS: TheMLS game on Sunday, August 5 featuring FC Dallas against the Portland Timbers,was the network’s most-watched MLS game to date, with 405,000 average viewers. The game on Sunday is up 241 percent from the 2011 regular-season average on Fox Soccer (232,000).

 

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

Sun., August 19, D.C. vs. Philadelphia, 5 p.m.

Fri., August 24, Philadelphia vs. Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m.

Sun., August 26, Los Angeles vs. Dallas, 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 on 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.