FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

FOUR STRAIGHT DAYS OF MLS PLAYOFF COVERAGE BEGINS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1 WHEN DEFENDING CHAMPION LA GALAXY HOST VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC AT 10:30 P.M. ET ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK

NBC to Air First Ever MLS Playoff Game on Nov. 4 at 3:30 p.m. ET

NEW YORK – Oct. 31, 2012 – NBC Sports Group will begin four straight days of MLS playoff coverage this Thursday, Nov. 1, when the defending champion LA Galaxy face the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in an elimination match live from The Home Depot Center at 10:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. On Friday, Nov. 2, NBC Sports Network will air the Western Conference Semifinal between the Seattle Sounders vs. Real Salt Lake at 10 p.m. ET, live from CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Wash. Then on Saturday, Nov. 3, NBC Sports Network will air the Eastern Conference Semifinal Leg 1 between the Eastern Conference DC United and New York Red Bulls at 8 p.m. ET, live from RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

NBC will air the network’s first ever MLS Playoff game on Sunday, Nov. 4 when the Western Conference leading Sporting Kansas City will travel to face off against either the Chicago Fire or Houston Dynamo at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Conference Semifinal Leg 2 in the Eastern Conference between the New York Red Bulls and DC United will take place on Wed. Nov. 7, live from Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., at 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. Additional playoff coverage will be determined after this week’s matches.

WHITE ON LOS ANGELES: “The champions will go into this match full of confidence. They have so many attacking weapons. David Beckham is a constant threat; Robbie Keane as been in terrific form since the Euros, and Landon Donovan is back in the lineup after suffering a knee injury. The role of Omar Gonzalez at the back will be key. He is without his regular partner AJ DeLagarza.”

MARTINO ON VANCOUVER: “Anything can happen in a one-off knockout game. L.A. is nearing their championship form at just the right time, which means Vancouver will need to be at their best to leave L.A. with the most important win of their season.”

NBC Sports Group’s lead MLS announce team of Arlo White(play-by-play), Kyle Martino (“Between the Benches” analyst) andRuss Thaler (host) will call all the action for the playoffs. Coverage on Nov. 2 will see Seattle Sounders team of Ross Fletcher (play-by-play) and Kasey Keller (analyst) in the booth.

For the full NBC Sports Group 2012 MLS Schedule visitwww.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.