SAN FRANCISCO, CA (December 17, 2009) – Women’s Professional Soccer today announced the bulk of its home openers for the 2010 WPS Season, which features two new teams entering the league with the Atlanta Beat and Philadelphia Independence as 2010 expansion franchises. League play will begin with a full slate of games on the weekend of April 10-11, two weeks later than the start of the inaugural season in 2009 in order to accommodate warmer weather and avoid playing on the Easter holiday weekend. It will be the first time ever that four WPS games take place over one weekend.

The opening game for Fox Soccer Channel’s WPS Sunday on FSC national telecast package, which will return with the same appointment-television format in 2010, will feature 2009 WPS Champion Sky Blue FC (NJ/NY) playing host to the Chicago Red Stars on April 11 at 6pm ET. Sky Blue FC played their final home game of the 2009 season in front of a sell-out crowd at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, NJ, before its 3-game run through the WPS Playoffs, and will be looking for a successful start to their title defense. The Fox Soccer Channel national game in Week 2 will then feature the first television appearance for a WPS expansion team with the Philadelphia Independence traveling to play the Boston Breakers at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, MA on April 18, also at 6pm ET. The game will be a return to the Boston area for former No. 1 overall draft choice Amy Rodriguez and star defender Heather Mitts – both of whom played with the Breakers last year before signing with the Independence during the off-season.

Other home openers on the weekend of April 10-11 include Philadelphia hosting the Atlanta Beat in a match-up of expansion teams, Saint Louis Athletica taking on FC Gold Pride in St. Louis, MO, and the Washington Freedom hosting East Coast rival Boston at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, MD. FC Gold Pride will host its 2010 home opener against Sky Blue FC on April 17 at Castro Valley H.S. Athletic Stadium, a temporary venue, while the Chicago Red Stars will face regional rival Saint Louis with its first home game at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, IL.

Home openers for the Los Angeles Sol and Atlanta will be announced soon with Atlanta expecting to play its first home game in May at its brand new stadium built specifically for Women’s Professional Soccer at Kennesaw State University.

Home Team	Away Team	Venue	Time/ Result	TV/ Box Score	Tickets/ Attendance
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Washington Freedom	Boston Breakers	Maryland SoccerPlex, Boyds, MD	TBD		Tickets
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Philadelphia Independence	Atlanta Beat	John A. Farrell Stadium, West Chester, PA	TBD		Tickets
Saint Louis Athletica	FC Gold Pride	The Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park, Fenton, MO	TBD		Tickets
Sky Blue FC	Chicago Red Stars	Yurcak Field, Piscataway, NJ	6pm ET	FSC	Tickets
Saturday, April 17, 2010
FC Gold Pride	Sky Blue FC	Castro Valley Athletic Stadium, Castro Valley, CA	TBD		Tickets
Chicago Red Stars	Saint Louis Athletica	Toyota Park, Bridegview, IL	TBD		Tickets
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Boston Breakers	Philadelphia Independence	Harvard Stadium, Cambridge, MA	6pm ET	FSC	Tickets

More details on the 2010 WPS Regular Season, the 2010 WPS All-Star Game presented by U.S. Coast Guard and the 2010 WPS Playoff schedule will be released in the coming weeks. The complete 2010 WPS Regular Season schedule is expected in early February.

About Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS)
Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) is the premier women’s soccer league in the world and the global standard by which women’s professional sports are measured.  The Inaugural Season kicked off in March 2009 with seven WPS teams based in the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey/New York, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.  The league’s eighth and nine franchises, Philadelphia and Atlanta, will begin play in the 2010 WPS Season, which begins April 2010. For more information, visit www.womensprosoccer.com.