Fox Soccer Channel and the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) today announced a two-year broadcasting agreement to televise league matches beginning this November through the 2008/09 season. This partnership represents the MISL’s most comprehensive national television coverage in its seven-year history.
The 20-match regular season telecast schedule for 2007/08 commences on Friday, November 16 with the three-time MISL champion Baltimore Blast hosting the expansion La Raza de Monterrey (MX), live at 8:00 p.m. ET. The complete schedule, which concludes on March 28, 2008, will be announced at a later date; most matches will air live on Fridays during the 8-10:00 p.m. ET broadcast window.
“Our extensive coverage of the Major Indoor Soccer League affirms Fox Soccer Channel’s ongoing commitment to showcasing the very best domestic soccer competitions at all levels of the sport,” said David Sternberg, executive vice president and general manager of Fox Soccer Channel. “With its fast-paced, high-scoring action, the MISL is a great addition to our domestic soccer offering that already includes Major League Soccer, the United Soccer Leagues and college soccer, as well as the perfect complement to our in-depth, exclusive coverage of top-flight international leagues and tournaments.”
"This is a very exciting time for our League, our fans, and our players," said MISL Commissioner Steve Ryan. "We are extremely proud to announce our multi-year media partnership with Fox Soccer Channel. This partnership vastly increases the exposure and frequency of our made-for-television professional sport and places our League with America's top soccer destination. As we expand the footprint of our League with the addition of our three expansion teams in Monterrey, New Jersey and Orlando, we continue to work diligently to build and expand our media platforms to present our great game and our world-class athletes to an ever-growing audience."
This marks the second national partnership between the MISL and Fox. During the 2002/03 season, Fox Sports World – the predecessor to Fox Soccer Channel – featured a 10-match MISL Game of the Week telecast package.
About Fox Soccer Channel
Fox Soccer Channel offers the most comprehensive coverage of world-class soccer available in the United States, including Major League Soccer, England’s Barclays Premier League, Italy’s Serie A and the Argentine First Division as well as global tournaments such as the UEFA Cup, UEFA Women’s Championship, English FA Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, CONCACAF Champions’ Cup and FA Community Shield. The Official Broadcast Partner of the United States Youth Soccer Association, Fox Soccer Channel also televises United Soccer Leagues and NCAA Division I college soccer matches. The channel reaches more than 30 million cable and satellite households in the U.S. and Caribbean.
Fox Soccer Channel is one of 28 national and regional programming networks within Fox Networks Group, an operating unit of the News Corporation (NYSE:NWS). These broadcast, cable, satellite and telephony delivered networks reach more than half a billion U.S. television homes, and represent one of the media industry's most diverse collections of programming operations. Fox Networks Group consists of FOX Sports, Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Cable Networks and Fox Networks Engineering & Operations. For more information, visit America’s most visited online soccer destination at foxsoccer.com.
About the MISL
The Major Indoor Soccer League, a single-entity organization with a coast-to-coast presence, represents the major league of professional indoor soccer, featuring the finest indoor soccer players from 32 countries around the world. The nine MISL clubs competing in the 2007-08 season are the Baltimore Blast, California Cougars, Chicago Storm, 2007 championship finalist Detroit Ignition, Milwaukee Wave, and the defending MISL Champion Philadelphia KiXX, with the addition of three expansion clubs, La Raza de Monterrey (MX), New Jersey Ironmen, and the Orlando Sharks. The 2007-08 MISL regular season commences on the weekend of October 19-21, 2007 and concludes on the weekend of April 4-6, 2008. Each Club plays a thirty-match (30) regular-season schedule (15 home / 15 away). The 2008 MISL Championship Series consists of six MISL Member Clubs competing in three rounds, the Quarterfinal Round (April 11-13), the Semifinal Round (April 18-20), and the Championship Series Final on April 26 at U.S. Cellular Arena in
Milwaukee. For more information on the MISL, visit the League’s official website www.MISL.net.
