Chicago Fire and CSN Chicago Expand Regional Broadcast Plans

CHICAGO (Feb. 23, 2017) – The Chicago Fire Soccer Club and CSN Chicago announced Thursday expanded regional broadcasting plans for the Fire’s 2017 MLS campaign, including 29 Major League Soccer fixtures (four with Spanish-language simulcasts), 36 episodes of Fire Weekly, presented by The PrivateBank, and four behind-the-scenes Fire All-Access programs. Coverage of Fire matches this season begins with the season opener against Columbus Crew SC at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, March 4 at 1 p.m. CT on CSN. All telecasts will begin with a 30-minute live pre-game show.

“Throughout our 20^th season, CSN Chicago will be providing viewers unprecedented coverage of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club,” said Fire COO Atul Khosla. “We’re thrilled to be able to team with CSN Chicago to share more than 100 hours of live, original content to fans throughout the region.”

“We are proud to be the regional television home for the Fire and fans can count on us once again to deliver expert game coverage, pre-game shows for every telecast, and expanded offerings of Fire-related programming throughout the 2017 MLS campaign,” added Phil Bedella, VP/GM of CSN Chicago.

Returning for Fire match broadcasts are Dan Kelly as play-by-play commentator, Frank Klopas as color analyst and Paul Tenorio as sideline reporter. CSN will air an alternative Spanish-language telecast for four Fire games this season, exclusively on CSN+. The first simulcast will take place on Saturday, May 13, when the Fire host Seattle Sounders FC at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Fire Weekly, presented by The PrivateBank, is set to debut across CSN Chicago platforms on Wednesday, March 1. The hour-long television talk show will air exclusively on CSN+ and be filmed on-location from Heineken Pub97 at The PrivateBank Fire Pitch (3626 N. Talman Ave., Chicago, IL 60618) beginning each Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. CT. Episode one will debut at 10:00 p.m. CT that evening on CSN+. All episodes will also stream live to CSNChicago.com and Chicago-fire.com and be provided in podcast format via Chicago-fire.com.

Veteran Chicago radio host Fred Huebner will be joined by Klopas and Tenorio for Fire Weekly, presented by The PrivateBank, which provides highlights and weekly discussion on the Chicago Fire, Major League Soccer and all things pertinent to the beautiful game.

Fire All-Access returns for the third consecutive year and will include four episodes, with the season premier airing on Wednesday, March 8 at 9:30 p.m. CT on CSN.  Each episode of Fire All-Access will also be available for viewing on CSNChicago.com following their respective on-air debuts.

In addition, CSNChicago.com will provide 24/7 Fire coverage on its dedicated Chicago Fire page (csnchicago.com/fire), which includes game previews/recaps, feature stories, video-on-demand offerings, numerous podcasts, and much more.  Fans are also urged to follow CSN’s Fire Twitter handle (@CSNChicagoFire) for the latest breaking Fire news and information.

Additional bio information:

Dan Kelly - Back in the broadcast booth for his eighth season is play-by-play announcer Dan Kelly. Kelly, a native of St. Louis, called play-by-play for the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks on Comcast SportsNet from 2006-2008. In addition, Kelly has done play-by-play for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Big Ten Network (including men’s and women's college soccer for seven years), as well as both the men’s and women's Big Ten Tournament, University of Denver men’s hockey and for MLS games on HDNet. @DanKelly_21

Frank Klopas - A Chicago soccer icon, Klopas returned to his hometown in advance of the 1998 season and led the Fire to the double, helping the club to the 1998 MLS Cup in a 2-0 win over D.C. United before scoring the Golden Goal days later in a 2-1 extra time victory over the Columbus Crew in that year’s U.S. Open Cup final. Klopas served as the Fire head coach from 2011-13 and in the same capacity for the Montreal Impact from 2014-15. A U.S. international, Klopas scored 12 goals in 39 appearances and represented the United States in the 1988 Summer Olympics, the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1995 Copa America tournaments.

Paul Tenorio - Tenorio returned to Chicago in 2016 after serving as the Orlando City SC and soccer beat writer for the Orlando Sentinel for three years. A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Tenorio additionally served as a sports writer for The Washington Post from 2007-12 and is currently a national MLS and soccer reporter for FourFourTwo. @PaulTenorio

Fred Huebner - Huebner is currently a part-time host at ESPN 1000 for various weekend shows including Talkin’ Baseball, Ultimate Postgame Show and Chicago’s Gameday. Fred also anchors the local updates during the Mike & Mike Show during the week. Huebner currently does color commentating for girls high school soccer broadcasts on Comcast CN100. Fred is also a fan and familiar with the Fire, and served as the Fire’s play by play announcer for two games in 2007, and full seasons in 2008 and 2009 on My50 and FOX. @fred_huebner

Chicago Fire 2017 CSN Broadcast Schedule:

March tune-in schedule: