Chicago Fire Football Club and Chicago’s Very Own WGN-TV Announce Landmark Multi-Year Broadcast Agreement
24 Chicago Fire matches will air on WGN-TV in 2020
CHICAGO (February 19, 2020) Chicago Fire Football Club and Chicago’s Very Own WGN-TV today announced a multi-year partnership that will make WGN-TV the home for all locally broadcast Fire home and away matches. Coverage will begin with the 2020 season as the Club returns to Soldier Field.
Of the club’s 34 MLS regular season matches, all 24 local broadcasts are being carried on WGN-TV, with 18 matches in prime time (10 Fire games will air on national broadcasts across ABC, ESPN, FS1, Univision and UniMás). WGN-TV’s regular season schedule will begin with Chicago Fire at New England Revolution on Saturday, March 7 at 12:30 p.m. CT. View the complete schedule of Chicago Fire FC matches on WGN-TV here.
The agreement with WGN-TV will be additive to the on-going partnership with ESPN+, the leading direct-to-consumer sports streaming service.
“In this transformational year for our Club, we want to provide our fans with as many ways as possible to experience the Fire, both live at Soldier Field and on the broadcast,” said Fire Owner and Chairman Joe Mansueto. “We know WGN-TV’s powerful place on the City’s sports scene and we’re excited to be their new flagship sports property.”
“WGN-TV has a rich history of broadcasting live sports and we look forward to continuing and building on that tradition with Chicago Fire FC,” commented WGN-TV Vice President, General Manager Paul Rennie. “The Fire have found a new home at Soldier Field and now a new broadcast home at WGN-TV. We’re thrilled to bring the exciting action of Chicago Fire FC to our viewers and all of Chicago.”
On March 20 at 7:00 p.m. CT, WGN-TV will premiere “Chicago Fire FC: Homecoming,” an all-access special chronicling the Club’s many exciting changes during the offseason as well as an exclusive preview of its return to Soldier Field for the home opener on March 21 versus Atlanta United.
Beginning in April of this year, WGN-TV will debut an exclusive monthly series that will deliver unprecedented access to Chicago Fire FC, featuring interviews and profiles of players, coaches and fans.
Fire game coverage will also be regularly featured on the new “GN Sports” show on WGN-TV, which airs weeknights at 10:30 p.m. CT.
Contacts:
Sean Dennison – Chicago Fire FC | 872-710-0530 | sdennison@chicagofirefc.com
Diana Dionisio – WGN-TV | 773-883-3412 | ddionisio@wgntv.com
About Chicago Fire Football Club
The Chicago Fire Football Club was founded in 1997 on the 126th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire and will kick off its 23rd season in Major League Soccer in 2020. The Fire have won six major domestic championship titles, including the 1998 MLS Cup, the 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups, as well as the 2003 Supporters’ Shield. The Club’s charitable arm, the Chicago Fire Foundation, was recognized as ESPN’s 2019 Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year. Anchoring Chicago’s growing soccer fan base, the Fire play their home games at Soldier Field. For more information, visit www.chicagofirefc.com.
About WGN-TV
WGN-TV is Chicago’s Very Own source for news and entertainment. WGN News programs more local news than any other Chicago TV station and can be seen on WGN-TV, WGNTV.com and the WGN-TV News app. In-depth local weather is available on all newscasts and the WGN-TV Weather app. WGN 9.2 is Chicago’s home of Nexstar Media Group’s classic TV network Antenna TV. WGN 9.3 is Chicago’s Court TV network affiliate and WGN 9.4 carries TBD, bringing the world of internet video to the TV screen. WGN-TV is a Nexstar Media Group station. For more information on Chicago’s Very Own WGN-TV, go to WGNTV.com.