The 2004 MLS Cup between the Kansas City Wizards and D.C. United on Sunday, November 14 at The Home Depot Center (3:30 p.m. ET), will be broadcast live on radio and television in both English and Spanish. The national television broadcast will be carried live by ABC Sports with a SAP (Supplemental Audio Programming) option for Spanish language commentary. In addition, the ABC broadcast will be carried by ESPN International in over 175 nations as well the Armed Forces Network, reaching the men and women who protect the United States in 177 countries and on 200 ships at sea. The live Spanish radio national broadcast will be aired exclusively by Radiovisa, the Los Angeles-based station that broadcasted the Sierra Mist MLS All-Star game earlier this summer. Local radio partners for each team will broadcast the Championship game in their respective markets.
TELEVISION
Calling the game action are television soccer personalities JP Dellacamera, who will handle play-by-play duties for his third MLS Cup, and analyst Eric Wynalda, completing his first year as lead analyst for ABC/ESPN2 MLS coverage after spending last year offering his unique, insightful and candid perspective from the field. Dellacamera spent a month this summer as the lead play-by-play announcer on NBC for the soccer games of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Wynalda was recently honored as one of the first MLS veterans to be inducted into the US National Soccer Hall of Fame.
U.S. Women's National Team star Lorrie Fair, who completed her first year as sideline reporter during regular season coverage on ESPN2 and ABC, will add commentary from the field. Fair, a veteran of three seasons in the Women's United Soccer Association, is the first World Cup Champion (USA '99) to offer her perspective from the sideline on MLS broadcasts. The host for the pre-game and halftime segments is ABC soccer commentator Rob Stone, who finished his second season of play-by-play duties for ESPN2 broadcasts.
In addition, MLS will provide Spanish language SAP (Supplemental Audio Programming) for the ABC Sports broadcast of MLS Cup 2004. Ernesto Motta returns for his third consecutive MLS Cup as the Play-by-Play announcer, and Robert Sierra comes back to ABC in the role of color analyst after debuting last year.
Motta, a native of Argentina, is the "Official Spanish Voice of the MetroStars", having served as the Play-by-Play announcer during the season-long broadcasts of MetroStars matches on Radio WADO 1280 AM in New York City. Motta also broadcast the 2004 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star game via SAP. Additionally, Motta is the host of "Solo Fútbol", a weekly program featuring MLS and international soccer news also broadcast on Radio WADO.
MLS Broadcasts continue to provide innovative and entertaining production enhancements that have been elevating the coverage of soccer in the United States since the League's inception in 1996. The ABC broadcast will be delivered in stereo with a mixture of bench, sideline, goalmouth and wireless microphones. The first professional league to offer viewers unfettered access to coaching decisions during games, MLS will again interview coaches during the game in a groundbreaking tradition that traces back to 1997.
An 85-man crew will work the broadcast, which will be delivered by 20 cameras, including two super slo-mo, a Jib, and robotic goal cameras. These cameras will feed 12 replay sources, including six that are digital. For the first time ever in an MLS Cup, the broadcast will feature Dartfish Stromotion technology, presented by Panasonic, on replays. This technology allows viewers to isolate and track a player or ball across the field by compounding video into a frame-by-frame image.
The RadioShack MLS Cup 2004 Halftime Show will feature Columbia Records recording artist Switchfoot as they perform hit songs from their smash album The Beautiful Letdown. The Halftime segment will also give fans a sneak preview of MLS 2005-the League's historic 10th Season.
ABC Sports, in its ninth season of MLS coverage, and ESPN are the League's primary national English-language television outlets. The combined networks - ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Sports - present the most comprehensive soccer coverage in the United States, featuring Major League Soccer, the Men's and Women's World Cup, U.S. National Team soccer and the NCAA Men's and Women's soccer championships.
RADIO
In its first year as the Los Angeles Galaxy Spanish-Language radio partner, Radiovisa KMXE 830 AM is rapidly becoming the leading provider of long-form and short-form talk, news and entertainment programming on Spanish-language radio stations nationwide. Radiovisa is a 50,000 watt radio station blanketing Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties and is now the largest Hispanic AM radio signal in the United States.
More information on Radiovisa can be found on the station's web site at www.radiovisa.com.
Talent - ABC SPORTS
JP Dellacamera
- Play-by-play (3rd MLS Cup) -- Prominent soccer voice JP Dellacamera returns for his third consecutive MLS Cup after being the lead voice in this past summer's soccer broadcasts for NBC's coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics. After three seasons in the MetroStars television booth, he brings significant experience working soccer, basketball, and hockey telecasts over a well-respected career that spans 29 years. JP called his fifth consecutive men's World Cup in 2002 for ESPN, in addition to his duties with the MetroStars on MSG. JP has a storied soccer history with the ABC/ESPN networks, calling MLS games in addition to the UEFA Champions League, EURO '96, Italian Serie A and the last two Women's World Cups.
Eric Wynalda
- Analyst (3rd MLS Cup) - A veteran of three World Cups ('90, '94, '98), Wynalda finishes up his first season as color analyst providing expert commentary based on his unequaled playing history, as was seen during ABC and ESPN2 broadcasts as well as the 2004 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star game. The former striker holds the all-time scoring record in U.S. National Team history with 34 goals in 106 appearances. The Honda/Futbol de Primera Player of the Decade, Wynalda is one of only two men in U.S. Soccer history to start in three consecutive World Cups. With an international club career which saw him play professionally in the German Bundesliga and in Mexico, Wynalda returned to the U.S. and joined the San Jose Clash in MLS' inaugural season. He made history by scoring the first MLS goal in the inaugural game on April 6, 1996.
Rob Stone
- Host (7th MLS Cup) - The lead play-by-play commentator for Major League Soccer on ESPN2, Stone will be working his seventh MLS Cup. He has been part of ABC/ESPN's soccer coverage since 1998, served as the host of World Cup Tonight during Korea/Japan after a stint as the network's lead reporter at World Cup France '98. A native of Simsbury, Connecticut, Stone played collegiate soccer at Colgate University, where he was captain, all-conference and team MVP.
Lorrie Fair
- Field Analyst (1st MLS Cup) - The first World Cup Champion to offer a voice from the sideline during MLS telecasts, Fair's high-level playing experience and dynamic personality provided viewers with keen insight and thought-provoking commentary during her debut television season. The youngest member of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup championship team, Fair played in more than 100 U.S. Women's National Soccer Team matches. She is a founding WUSA member and played three years in the league for the Philadelphia Charge. A University of North Carolina graduate, Fair compiled 21 goals and 79 assists playing for coach Anson Dorrance and the Tar Heels. While on the team, Fair reached the NCAA Championship Game four straight years, winning three times.
Talent - ABC SPORTS - SAP EN ESPANOL
Ernesto Motta
-Play-by-play (3rd MLS Cup) - Motta, a native of Argentina, is the "Official Spanish Voice of the MetroStars", serving as the Play-by-Play announcer during the season-long broadcast of MetroStars matches on Radio WADO 1280 AM in New York City. This will be the third year for Motta on ABC broadcasts, after covering the 2004 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game and MLS Cup 2003. Additionally, Motta is the host of "Solo Fútbol", a program featuring MLS and international soccer news also broadcast on Radio WADO.
Robert Sierra
-Analyst (2nd MLS Cup) - Born in Uruguay, Sierra began his broadcasting career in 1970. Play-by-play, analyst and presenter in different events, Sierra also earned a law degree. In his country, he worked with seven radio stations and dos television channels, and newspaper Diario El País, covering World Cup, Sudamericanos, Copas Libertadores de América, as well as top basketball and boxing championships, and two Olympics. Since 1996, Sierra has been involved with the MetroStars broadcasts, as well as co-hosting a radio program "Sólo Fútbol". In the United States since 1989, Sierra has directed sports programs on Radio América 1480 AM, Wado 1280 AM, X620 AM and Radio Unica 1660, as well as presenting news on the MERCOSUR via RCN TV, and acting as editor at El Especial and writer/columnist for diario/La Prensa in Nueva York.
ABC SPORTS PRODUCTION
Technical Equipment
Sound
Talent Behind the Scenes (All Emmy award winners)
