All that "will they, won't they" speculation comes to an end today as MLS and Fox Soccer Channel have jointly announced a renewed commitment through the 2011 season, at which point negotiations will begin anew. As such, the actual deal works out so that FSC will broadcast and additional 31 MLS regular season games and three exclusive play-off games.
For the Timbers this means an additional 5 nationally broadcast games:
- Sat., Mar 19 at Colorado Rapids 6 p.m. FSC, Local TV
- Sat., Apr 23 at LA Galaxy 8 p.m. FSC
- Fri., May 6 Philadelphia Union 7:30 p.m. FSC
- Sat., Aug 20 Vancouver Whitecaps 7 p.m. FSC, TSN
- Fri., Sep 16 New England Revolution 8 p.m. FSC
Additionally, some time slots have been switched around, most notably the May 6th game against Philadelphia Union has been moved up a day from Thursday to Friday.
It seems to me, with 5 games being broadcast nationally, FSC might be taking a little bit of a risk in assessing just how well our fair city handles the ratings. Let's hope it works out well for them.