Toronto FC announced Thursday that, for the third straight season, all 30 of the team's regular season games will be broadcast on television across Canada.
Canada's national public broadcaster, CBC, leads the way with an 11-game broadcast package that will feature the team's home opener at BMO Field April 4 versus Seattle Sounders FC. The Network will bring viewers the Houston Dynamo's only visit to BMO Field as midfielder Dwayne De Rosario faces his former team on July 18. ESPN will also be presenting that game live in the U.S. Other notable matches include the MLS Cup winners Columbus Crew's only trip to Toronto on May 2 and the LA Galaxy the following weekend on June 6. CBCSports.ca will also provide live and on-demand coverage of all CBC Major League Soccer broadcasts.
Rogers Sportsnet will air 10 games this season, nine of which will be on the road. Their first match will be Toronto's trip to D.C. on May 9. The schedule also includes a trip to Houston as De Rosario makes his return back to his old club to play the Dynamo. The lone home game to air on Rogers Sportsnet will be August 15 versus D.C. United.
The remaining nine games of the schedule will be broadcast on GolTV Canada. GolTV will kick off their coverage with Toronto FC's opening game of the 2009 MLS season in Kansas City, and follow that up with the team's match the following weekend against Columbus in Ohio.
"We're excited that all 30 Toronto FC games will be broadcast in 2009 and that the CBC and Rogers Sportsnet will return to be part of the line-up during the MLS season," said Tom Anselmi, executive vice-president and chief operating officer, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. "The addition of GolTV as a new broadcast partner combined with our returning partners gives Toronto FC tremendous promotional power to continue growing soccer across Canada, bringing the game to hundreds of thousands of homes throughout the country."
"CBC is committed to the game of soccer in Canada," said Scott Moore, Executive Director, CBC Sports. "Toronto FC is fielding its strongest team ever and presenting this exciting team to Canadians is an important part of our commitment. This will be an exciting year in soccer as Toronto FC joins the Confederations Cup on CBC this summer as we prepare for next year's World Cup in South Africa."
"As a broadcaster of the club since day one, we're pleased to continue our partnership with Toronto FC," said Doug Beeforth, President, Rogers Sportsnet. The team has become a vital part of the sports landscape, and is a great fit with Sportsnet's other soccer programming."
For the full schedule, click here.
