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MLS, TSN and TVA Sports Announce Enhanced 2017 Regular Season National Broadcast Schedule for Canada

February 9, 2017 - Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


NEW YORK- TSN and TVA Sports, the official national broadcasters of Major League Soccer in Canada, today announced their national broadcast schedules for 2017, bringing unprecedented live coverage of MLS to fans across Canada. Coming off a year that saw record-breaking Canadian viewership in the 2016 postseason, TSN and TVA Sports will broadcast a record number of MLS matches in 2017, while providing exclusive coverage of signature league events throughout the year. For the first time in league history, CTV - Canada's most-watched television network - will air seven MLS matches, including the highly-anticipated 2016 MLS Cup rematch between Toronto FC and Seattle Sounders FC.

In the first year of a landmark five-year media rights extension, TSN will broadcast a network record 75 regular season matches featuring Canadian teams, which includes every Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC game. TSN will also provide enhanced viewing for fans with featured games on Fridays nights in the spring, and a game of the week on Saturday nights throughout the season. CTV, the most-watched television network in Canada for the past 15 years, will broadcast seven MLS matches from mid-March through mid-May, highlighted by the 2016 MLS Cup rematch, when runners-up Toronto FC travels to face MLS Cup champion Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field on May 6 (4 p.m. ET, CTV).

TVA Sports, MLS' new official French-language broadcaster in Canada, will provide coverage of more than 50 MLS games throughout the year. With exclusive French-language rights for Montreal Impact matches, all 34 regular season games will be broadcast on TVA Sports for the first time, all in French. TVA Sports will continue to air a weekly show devoted to covering the Impact and MLS on Tuesday nights throughout the season.

For the full schedule of TSN, CTV and TVA Sports games, visit MLSsoccer.com/schedule . Team-specific schedules are available at the individual sites of the Montreal Impact, Toronto FC, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC .

TSN will kick off the 2017 season by bringing all three Canadian season openers live to fans across Canada on Opening Weekend. On Saturday, March 4, 2016 MLS Cup runner-ups Toronto FC starts its 2017 campaign on the road, traveling to Sandy, Utah to face Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium (4:30 p.m. ET). In another inter-conference matchup, 401 Derby rivals Montreal head to San Jose to face the Earthquakes at Avaya Stadium (10 p.m. ET, TSN, TVA Sports). TSN will close out its Opening Weekend coverage on Sunday, March 5, when Vancouver launches its seventh MLS season at home against the Philadelphia Union (9:30 p.m. ET).

Home of the Montreal Impact, TVA Sports will begin the 2017 campaign in San Jose on Opening Weekend, and then have exclusive coverage of Montreal's home opener the following week at historic Olympic Stadium - the site of the 61,004 sell-out crowd in attendance for the thrilling 2016 Eastern Conference Championship first leg against rivals Toronto FC. Montreal will welcome 2016 MLS Cup champion Seattle Sounders FC to Olympic Stadium on March 11 (7 p.m. ET).

Throughout the regular season, TSN, CTV and TVA Sports will broadcast a total of five exciting all-Canadian affairs, with CTV covering both Toronto and Montreal's sole games against Vancouver on March 18 (4 p.m. ET) and April 29 (3 p.m. ET), respectively. One of the most intense and must-see rivalries in MLS, TSN and TVA Sports will air all three 401 Derby meetings between Toronto and Montreal, all scheduled in the final stretch of the season: Toronto FC at Montreal Impact on Aug. 27 (4:30 p.m. ET) as part of Rivalry Week, Montreal Impact at Toronto FC on Sept. 20 (7:30 p.m. ET), and Montreal Impact at Toronto FC on Oct. 15 (3 p.m.ET) as part of the Final Push to the Playoffs.

Highlighting the 2017 MLS season is the addition of two new expansion clubs, Atlanta United and Minnesota United FC. TSN will showcase Atlanta's first trip to Canada when it takes on Toronto FC at BMO Field on April 8 (7:30 p.m. ET), followed by a clash with Montreal at Stade Saputo a week later on April 15 (1 p.m. ET, CTV, TVA Sports). Atlanta's only regular season matchup against Vancouver will be broadcast by TSN on June 3 at BC Place (5:30 p.m. ET, TSN). Minnesota will also make its Canadian debut in Toronto on May 13 (3 p.m. ET, CTV), while Vancouver will be the only Canadian team to visit the newly MLS-minted Minnesota club at TCF Bank Stadium on June 24 (8 p.m. ET, TSN).

TSN and TVA Sports will also carry critical Decision Day contests as the final postseason picture comes into focus on the last day of the regular season. On Sunday, Oct. 22, Montreal hosts Eastern Conference foe New England Revolution (4 p.m. ET, TVA Sports, TSN), while Toronto FC makes its inaugural trip to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to face Atlanta United (4 p.m. ET, TSN), and Vancouver ends its season at Cascadia Cup rivals Portland Timbers (4 p.m. ET, TSN).

TSN and TVA Sports will have exclusive coverage of the MLS Cup Playoffs. In 2016, total viewership for the postseason reached an all-time high in Canada across TSN's networks, highlighted by one of the most thrilling playoff series in MLS history between Toronto and Montreal in the Eastern Conference Championship. After a record 1.5 million Canadian viewers tuned in to see 2016 MLS Cup hosted at Toronto FC's BMO Field, TSN and TVA Sports will continue to provide exclusive coverage of 2017 MLS Cup, as well as the 2017 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target at Chicago's historic Soldier Field on Aug. 2.

MLS games on TSN and CTV can be seen live on TSN GO and CTV GO, while TVA Sports games are available on the TVA Sports app.

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