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MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas And Tigres UNAL to Play for Rio Grande Plate

March 1, 2006 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


FRISCO, Texas (Tuesday, February 28, 2006) - FC Dallas and Mexican First Division club Tigres de la Universidad Autonoma de Nueva Leon (UANL) today announced a unique multi-year partnership which will feature among other elements, a home-and-away series for the inaugural Rio Grande Plate. FC Dallas President / General Manager Michael Hitchcock and Tigres UANL Vice President Miguel Ángel Garza made the announcement today at a press conference held in the Verizon Wireless Club at Pizza Hut Park. The winner of the aggregate-goal series, which will be played on July 19 at Pizza Hut Park with the return leg on July 26 at Estadio Universitario in Monterrey, will win the impressive Rio Grande Plate.

"We're honored to develop a partnership with Tigres, one of the top clubs in Mexico," said Hitchcock. "The success they have achieved on and off the field is a credit to their management team and their commitment to excellence. We share this commitment and look forward to working with everyone at Tigres through a partnership that will benefit both clubs for years to come."

The partnership between the clubs extends beyond the competition for the Rio Grande Plate. The teams will combine efforts to further develop each club's youth academies. One initiative will see FC Dallas' affiliate youth clubs of FC Texas challenge Tigres' Youth Academy clubs in annual competitions to be played at each team's venue. The teams will also combine to conduct community clinics in each others markets.

The relationship will provide the opportunity for the exchange of players as well as exchange of philosophies and practices of each club's management teams. The teams will also have access to each others training grounds for their respective pre-season training, with Tigres training at Pizza Hut Park prior to the 2006 Clausura season and FC Dallas traveling to Monterrey to begin their preparation for the 2007 MLS season.

The collaboration also extends off the field. The front office's of each club will participate in a business summits to share business practices, will combine to offer sponsorship opportunities to each others partners, and will provide each others fans the opportunity to acquire the others official gear by offering each others merchandize in their home stadiums.

Established in 1964, Tigres is one of the top Mexican Division clubs. In January 2006, Tigres was crowned champion of InterLiga, the qualifying tournament with direct entry into the Copa Libertadores . Fielding stars like Walter Gaitan and Sebastian Gonzales, Tigres is currently in the middle of their second consecutive appearance in the prestigious South American tournament.

Off the field, Tigres has set new standards for fan loyalty in Mexican soccer by reaching a season-ticket base of over 30,000 for the year, which is nearly three-times that of the next team's season ticket numbers. The club also has a national television partner in Televisa, with which it is currently working on televising both legs of the Rio Grande Plate.

FC Dallas season ticket holders can use Bonus Game B tickets. Tickets for the general public will be on sale starting on Wednesday, March 1 at 10:00 a.m. CT. with prices ranging from $10-$40.

Interesting facts:

1. The Rio Grande River has its headwaters in Colorado and flows 1,885 miles out to the Gulf of Mexico. It is the sixth longest river in North America.

2. The river, which is known in Mexico as the "Rio Bravo del Norte" ("Bold River Of The North"), forms a 1,240 mile continuous border between the U.S. and Mexico. This border begins at El Paso/Juarez and flows past Brownsville/Matamoras on the south. It represents two-thirds of the total continuous border between the U.S. and Mexico.

3. About one-third of the way along the Texas portion of the border the river forms a signature "big bend" curve, which has spectacular national parks on each side.

- U.S. - Big Bend National Park

- Mexico - Sierra del Carmen National Park

4. The two cities of Monterrey and Dallas were incorporated in 1596 and 1856 respectively.

5. The competition between Tigres UNAM and FC Dallas is formed in a friendship of sports with a winner's plate ("Plato Rio Grande") to be awarded each year to the winner of the total aggregate goals difference between the teams in a two-game series.

FC Dallas, a charter member club of Major League Soccer, began play at Pizza Hut Park, a new 20,500 seat soccer specific stadium, on August 6, 2005. The 145-acre facility is located at the intersection of Main Street and Dallas North Tollway in Frisco. Pizza Hut Park will accommodate Major League Soccer matches, major concerts, international soccer matches and High School football. Adjacent to the stadium are 17 regulation-sized, tournament-grade soccer fields which will be utilized on a year-round basis. On November 13, 2005 Pizza Hut Park hosted Major League Soccer's championship match, MLS Cup 2005 live on ABC Sports. The event saw a then-record crowd of more than 21,000 fans in attendance and was broadcast in more than 130 countries worldwide.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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