FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 2nd, 2012
NBC SPORTS NETWORK TO AIR TWO MLS GAMES THIS WEEKEND FOLLOWING ALL-DAY LIVE OLYMPIC PROGRAMMING
NEW YORK – August 2, 2012 – NBC Sports Network will broadcast two soccer games in primetime during the network’s MLS weekend coverage, immediately following the network’s all-day live coverage of the 2012 London Olympics. First, the top two teams in the Eastern Conference take the field tomorrow when the #2 Houston Dynamos battle the #1 New York Red Bulls at 7 p.m. ET, then the Portland Timbers host FC Dallas in a Western Conference game on Saturday at 8 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). Rob Carlin will serve as studio host on site in Houston and Portland on Saturday and on Sunday.
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.
UPCOMING MLS GAMES ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK: (All Times ET, Home Team Listed First)
Fri., August 10, New York vs. Houston, 8 p.m.
Wed., August 15, Columbus vs. Los Angeles, 7 p.m.
Sun., August 19, D.C. vs. Philadelphia, 5 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.
