Chicago Fire Unveil 2010 Regular Season Schedule

Fire to Appear in 16 Nationally Televised Matches; Opening Night at TOYOTA PARK on Saturday, April 10 at 7:30 PM CT

CHICAGO, IL (Feb. 3, 2010) – The Chicago Fire Soccer Club, in conjunction with Major League Soccer, unveiled their 2010 regular season schedule and national television broadcast information Wednesday. The Fire are slated to appear in a total of 16 nationally televised broadcasts throughout their 13th season of MLS play. For the third consecutive year, every Fire game will be televised, either through national or regional broadcasts, or on the MLS Direct Kick package. For the first time in League and Club history, the Fire will play each of the other 15 clubs once at home, once away for a balanced, 30-game season.

Branching across multiple programming platforms, Chicago will appear on national broadcast partners ESPN (one game), ESPN2 (four games), Fox Soccer Channel (seven games), and TeleFutura (four games) throughout the season. The Fire will release their 2010 regional television schedule, as well as international coverage of matches at a later date.

  • The Fire will open their 13th season in MLS with an Eastern Conference match against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, March 27 at 6:00 PM CT (ESPN). The First Kick game for both clubs will be the first MLS match at Red Bull Arena, the Red Bulls state-of-the art soccer specific stadium in Harrison, NJ.
  • The Fire will play host to the San Jose Earthquakes for Opening Night at TOYOTA PARK on Saturday, April 10 at 7:30 PM CT.
  • Revenge will be on the minds of the Fire faithful when the club welcomes defending MLS Cup champions Real Salt Lake to TOYOTA PARK on Thursday, July 8 (8:30 CT on ESPN2) for the first meeting since last season’s heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat in the Eastern Conference Final.
  • Marking the 139th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, the Fire welcome Eastern Conference rivals, the Columbus Crew to TOYOTA PARK on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7:30 pm CT. Established on Oct. 8, 1997, the Fire will celebrate the 13th anniversary of its founding, with the 1998 season seeing the club win its first and only MLS Cup.
  • Chicago will face 2010 MLS expansion side Philadelphia Union at TOYOTA PARK on Saturday, June 5 at 7:30 PM CT and will travel to Philadelphia for a match on Saturday, September 11 at 5:30 PM. The match in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 11 will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel.
  • The “Men in Red” will look to claim the Brimstone Cup for the first time since 2001 when they welcome longtime rivals FC Dallas to TOYOTA PARK on Thursday, May 27 (7:00 pm CT on ESPN2) for the first of two matches between the two sides in 2010. The Hoops welcome the Fire to Pizza Hut Park on Saturday, October 2 (7:30 pm CT on FSC) for the second leg of the regular season series.
  • The Fire will participate in SuperLiga 2010, for the second consecutive year. The 2010 edition features the Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, Houston Dynamo, and the New England Revolution representing MLS alongside four clubs from Mexico’s Primera A. The Fire lost 4-3 on penalty kicks to UANL Tigres in the 2009 SuperLiga Final. Full details of the tournament will be announced in the coming weeks.
  • The Fire play its final regular season game on the road against Chivas USA on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 10 AM CT at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, Calif. Eight teams will qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs, which begin the following weekend, Oct. 28-30. The championship match, MLS Cup 2010, will be held Sunday, Nov. 21 at a venue to be announced later, live on ESPN and TeleFutura.

    • Full Season Ticket packages are currently available and partial season ticket packages will go on sale beginning Feb. 16. The Fire are currently taking deposits and are available now by calling 1-888-MLS-FIRE or clicking on the TICKETS link on the club's official website, www.chicago-fire.com. Single-game tickets for 2010 Fire matches at TOYOTA PARK will go on sale to the general public on Monday, March 1. For more information, please call 1-888-MLS-FIRE.

    The complete schedule is listed below. Throughout the year, the most up-to-date version is available at www.chicago-fire.com.

    Schedule

    ABOUT CHICAGO FIRE SOCCER CLUB

    The Chicago Fire Soccer Club was founded on October 8, 1997 as a Major League Soccer expansion team. The Fire won the MLS Cup in its inaugural season in 1998 and was crowned the champion of U.S. Soccer's national tournament, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, in 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2006. In June 2006, the Fire moved into its world-class home of TOYOTA PARK, located in Bridgeview, IL.

    ABOUT TOYOTA PARK

    Located 15 minutes from downtown Chicago and minutes from Midway airport off of I-55 on Harlem Avenue, TOYOTA PARK is the Midwest’s preeminent outdoor live entertainment and sporting facility. Opened in 2006, TOYOTA PARK not only serves as the home of the Chicago Fire, but also hosts a variety of sporting events, special events and concerts by national and international artists. In 2009, artists ranging from Jimmy Buffett to Phish performed live at TOYOTA PARK.