Tracy Allen | isiphotos.com

Ella Masar's Chicago Red Stars visit Anita Asante's Sky Blue FC on Sunday, April 11 in the first "WPS Sunday on FSC" nationally-televised broadcast of the 2010 season.

Fox Soccer Channel’s National Television Games Unveiled

View the 2010 WPS Schedule | View the 2010 WPS Television Schedule

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (February 18, 2010) – Women’s Professional Soccer unveiled its 2010 WPS season schedule on Thursday along with Fox Soccer Channel’s WPS Sunday on FSC nationally-televised broadcast schedule.

In 2010, WPS will expand to a 24-game regular season schedule in which each of the eight WPS teams will host 12 home games and play the other seven teams in the league three or four times each based mostly on regional rivalries. Opening weekend will include a full slate of four games on April 10-11 – the first time four WPS games will be played on one weekend – with a regular season of 96 total games running through Sunday, September 12. WPS will take a break on the weekend of May 22 for national team commitments and 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying games. Games are mostly featured on Saturday and Sunday evenings with 12 midweek games scheduled on Wednesday nights starting in early June.

The national television schedule on Fox Soccer Channel will kick off on Sunday, April 11 at 6pm ET with 2009 WPS Champion Sky Blue FC taking on the Chicago Red Stars at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, N.J. All eight WPS teams will be shown during the first month of the season and seven of the eight WPS venues will be featured on television in the first nine weeks of the regular season. Other television highlights for WPS Sunday on FSC include:

• Four-time FIFA World Player of the Year, Marta, debuting with her new team, FC Gold Pride (Bay Area), during a special Saturday, May 1 timeslot at 6pm ET against Sky Blue FC.
• The national television debut of WPS expansion team Philadelphia Independence, as they travel to Boston to take on the Boston Breakers at 6pm ET on April 18.
• The opening of the first-ever stadium built specifically for a WPS team with the Atlanta Beat hosting Sky Blue FC on Sunday, May 9 in their home opener.
• San Francisco Bay Area’s FC Gold Pride hosting their first national television game at Pioneer Stadium on the campus of California State University, East Bay on June 27.
• A new mid-season WPS All-Star Game presented by U.S. Coast Guard on June 30.
• Open dates on September 5 and 12 will be flex television games in order to broadcast match-ups with playoff implications.

The WPS Playoffs will follow the same format used during the WPS Inaugural Season with the No. 3 seed hosting the No. 4 on Sunday, September 19 at 2pm ET/11am PT in the WPS First Round featured nationally on Fox Sports Net.  The No. 2 seed will host the winner of the WPS First Round on September 22/23 in the WPS Super Semifinal on Fox Soccer Channel. As the No. 1 seed, the winner of the regular season will play host to the winner of the Super Semifinal in the 2010 WPS Championship on September 26 at 2pm ET/11am PT, broadcast nationally on Fox Sports Net. Seedings will be based on the final 2010 WPS Regular Season standings in a single, eight-team table.

View the 2010 WPS Schedule >>

About Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS)
Headquartered in San Francisco, Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) is the world’s premier soccer league for women with eight teams across the United States featuring the best players from around the world. WPS completed its inaugural season in August 2009 as Sky Blue FC of New Jersey became the first-ever WPS Champions. In 2010, eight teams will each play 24-game schedules from April 10-September 12 including six original WPS teams – Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, FC Gold Pride (Bay Area), Saint Louis Athletica, Sky Blue FC (NJ/NY) and Washington Freedom – and two expansion teams Atlanta Beat and Philadelphia Independence. The top four finishers in the regular season will qualify for the 2010 WPS Playoffs scheduled for September 19-26. For more information, visit the WPS official website at www.womensprosoccer.com or follow all the news at www.twitter.com/womensprosoccer.