MLS signs six-year TV deal with Canada's TSN

Vancouver Whitecaps, Toronto FC fans will get to watch their teams this season on TSN in Canada.

NEW YORK – Major League Soccer announced Monday that it has signed a six-year multimedia rights agreement with TSN, Canada’s most-watched specialty network, and that the TSN family of networks will broadcast 24 regular season games live in 2011, all involving at least one of the two Canadian-based MLS clubs.


This season Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps will respectively feature 13 and 12 times each on TSN/TSN2, including the first two all-Canadian matches in MLS history on March 19 and June 29.


“This announcement comes at an opportune time for MLS as we enter a period of growth in Canada with the Vancouver Whitecaps joining the league this season and the Montreal Impact in 2012," MLS commissioner Don Garber said. "We look forward to building the sport together and creating an exciting multimedia platform for soccer fans throughout the country.”


TSN will also broadcast Toronto FC’s home opener at BMO Field against the Portland Timbers on March 26 (2 pm ET), as well as the Canadian rivals’ second go-round in Toronto on June 29 (7:30 pm ET) and the 2011 AT&T MLS All Star Game from Red Bull Arena on July 27 (8:30 pm ET).


As the official broadcaster of MLS in Canada, TSN also holds broadcast rights for the MLS AT&T All-Star Game, the MLS Cup Playoffs and the league’s championship game, MLS Cup. TSN also will broadcast select additional games between two US-based teams to its lineup of MLS coverage beginning this season through 2016. French-language broadcasting rights in Canada belong to TSN’s sister network RDS as part of the deal in anticipation of next year, when Montreal Impact join MLS as an expansion club.


[inline_node:327227]All MLS games on TSN and TSN2 will be broadcast in High Definition.


The agreement allows TSN to provide extensive and exclusive live coverage of its package of MLS games across a variety of multimedia platforms in Canada. Games on TSN/TSN2 will be available live to fans in the United States via the MLS Direct Kick Package and/or Match Day Live on MLSsoccer.com.


“As we have seen with the success of Toronto FC and MLS’s expansion to Vancouver and Montreal, there is an incredible appetite for professional soccer in Canada,” said Stewart Johnston, President of TSN. “This is a long term partnership with MLS and we are looking forward to working with them not only give fans ‘best in class’ game coverage but also to help build the profile of the league and grow the game of soccer across the country.”


Beginning next year, TSN and TSN2 will combine to broadcast 30 regular season MLS games live across Canada.


2011 MLS Broadcast Schedule (TSN & TSN2)
Home team listed first; all times Eastern; subject to change

<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Date</span></strong>
<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Time (ET)</span></strong>
<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Match (<em>home team listed first</em>)</span></strong>
<strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Network</span></strong>
Sat, March 19
6:30 pm
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Toronto FC
TSN
Sat, March 26<br>
2:00 pm
Toronto FC vs. Portland Timbers
TSN
Sat, April 2<br>
1:00 pm
Toronto FC vs. Chivas USA
TSN
Weds, April 6
10:00 pm
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. New England Revolution
TSN
Sat, May 28
7:00 pm&nbsp;
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. New York Red Bulls
TSN2
Sat, June 4<br>
7:00 pm
Toronto FC vs. Sporting Kansas City
TSN
Sat, June 11<br>
10:00 pm
Seattle Sounders FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
TSN2
Weds, June 15<br>
8:00 pm
New England Revolution vs. Toronto FC&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
TSN
Sat, June 25
8:30 pm
Sporting Kansas City vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
TSN
Weds, June 29
7:30 pm
Toronto FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
TSN
Weds, July 6<br>
8:00 pm
New York Red Bulls vs. Toronto FC&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
TSN
Weds, July 6
10:00 pm
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Columbus Crew
TSN
Weds, July 20<br>
8:00 pm
Toronto FC vs. FC Dallas
TSN
Weds, July 20
10:00 pm
San Jose Earthquakes vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
TSN
Wed, July 27
8:30 pm
MLS All-Star Game
TSN
Sat, July 30<br>
7:30 pm
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. LA Galaxy&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
TSN
Sat, August 6<br>
7:30 pm
D.C. United vs. Toronto FC
TSN
Sat, August 20
10:00 pm
Portland Timbers vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
TSN
Sat, August 27
7:00 pm
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Houston Dynamo
TSN2
Sat, September 17<br>
7:30 pm
Toronto FC vs. Colorado Rapids
TSN
Sat, September 24<br>
7:30 pm
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Seattle Sounders FC
TSN
Sat, October 1<br>
7:30 pm
Toronto FC vs. New York Red Bulls
TSN
Sun, October 2
4:30 pm
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Portland Timbers
TSN2
Sat, October 15
4:00 pm
Philadelphia Union vs. Toronto FC
TSN
Sat, October 22
12:30 pm
Toronto FC vs. New England Revolution
TSN