COLUMBUS, Ohio - Columbus Crew interim general manager Mark McCullers and FSN Ohio senior vice president/general manager Steve Liverani announced Firday that the Crew has partnered with Fox Sports Net to televise three remaining Crew games locally in 2004.
FSN Ohio will televise the following three games, including two at home: Saturday, August 21 (7:30 p.m. vs. D.C. United at Crew Stadium), Saturday, October 2 (7:30 p.m. vs. Chicago at Crew Stadium), and Wednesday, October 6 (8:30 p.m. against Chicago at Soldier Field). The two home games being televised locally are the third and fourth time home games have been shown locally.
The three additional games being shown on Fox Sports Net will bring the total to four that they have aired this season. The May 8 game at D.C. was also on FSN Ohio.
The August 21 home game will be the first appearance of teenage phenom Freddy Adu and D.C. United at Crew Stadium in 2004 and less than 300 tickets remain.
Widely recognized as the most talented young soccer player in the world today, the 15-year-old Adu became the youngest professional athlete in the history of modern American team sports when he took the field for his MLS debut on April 3, 2004, in front of a national television audience on ABC Sports.
The first overall selection in the 2004 SuperDraft by D.C., Adu has already played in 18 games and scored two goals and has one assist. An immigrant from Ghana who moved to the U.S. with his family at the age of eight, Adu joined MLS after a stellar U.S youth national team career which saw him star at both the under-17 and under-20 world championships in 2003.
"FSN Ohio has been a long-time partner with the Crew and we are excited that we will have three more games televised this season," said McCullers. "Not only have our fans been able to see the majority of our road games this year, now Columbus fans will be able to see two great home games."
This will be the sixth year out of nine that Crew games have been shown on FSN Ohio, including the second consecutive season. Crew games were also on Fox Sports Net/SportsChannel Ohio from 1996-1999.
"As Ohio's leading regional sports network, FSN welcomes the return of the Columbus Crew to our programming line-up," said Liverani. "The Crew has terrific fans throughout the state, and we're thrilled to bring MLS action home to them."
FSN Ohio reaches more than 4.5 million households in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, western Pennsylvania, western New York, and West Virginia. Fox Sports Net Ohio's programming includes the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Columbus Blue Jackets, Cleveland Cavaliers, The Best Damn Sports Show Period, NASCAR and Beyond the Glory. FSN Ohio is managed by Rainbow Media Holdings LLC.
