Beginning with tonight’s highly anticipated home match vs. Sacramento Republic FC when the two undefeated clubs battle for the first time, Lights FC will offer two new avenues for fans to watch all the action happening at Cashman Field – both at home and on the go.
Saturday’s 8 p.m. match will be the first of 20-plus games that will air locally in the Las Vegas market on myLVTV.
Carlos Alvarez is mobbed by teammates while celebrating his 53rd minute goal in Lights FC’s 2-1 victory over Swope Park Rangers at Cashman Field on Saturday, March 31, 2018. (L.E. Baskow / Lights FC)
Included in the broadcast partnership, all Lights FC home matches throughout the remainder of the 2018 regular season will air on myLVTV. Also, selected away matches will also air on myLVTV, beginning with the club’s next away match – Monday, April 30 at Real Monarchs SLC. The full away match broadcast schedule will be announced in the near future.
myLVTV is available locally over the air (Channel 21), on COX (Channel 12, 1012 in HD), on Centurylink (Channel 21) and on DirecTV (Channel 21). Each televised match is accompanied by the Spanish-language radio broadcast of all home and away games on ESPN Deportes 1460AM.
myLVTV, along with its local Las Vegas-based sister stations KSNV (NBC) and KVCW (The CW), will partner with Lights FC in many ways across all platforms throughout the season. With station headquarters based near Cashman Field, myLVTV also shares a similar commitment to Downtown Las Vegas and its development alongside Lights FC.
Also, as part of Lights FC’s partnership with myLVTV, the club will be a sponsor of the weekly featured Thursday Night Lights high school football game, which airs on myLVTV. Plus, Lights FC will be the presenting sponsor of the Scholar Athlete of the Week, featured each week during the school year on KSNV News3.
“We were always committed to partnering with a station all fans could access locally, and today’s announcement with myLVTV further demonstrates our commitment to being for Las Vegas, by Las Vegas and of Las Vegas,” Lights FC Owner & CEO Brett Lashbrook said. “We’re thrilled to partner with myLVTV, who has shown a sincere interest in not only being a great community partner, but growing with Lights FC throughout our inaugural season.”
“We are delighted to be partnering with Las Vegas Lights FC, and at the same time giving the local soccer fans of Las Vegas the opportunity to watch live soccer on television,” said myLVTV General Manager Larry Strumwasser.
Meanwhile, the United Soccer League (USL) announced it has expanded its broadcast agreement with ESPN for the 2018 and 2019 seasons, that will bring more regular-season games to linear networks and make ESPN+ the league’s streaming subscription service in the United States.
The league on Tuesday also announced the USL “Game of the Week” schedule for all matches set to be aired on ESPN’s linear networks. Lights FC will make three appearances as part of the “Game of the Week” during the 2018 regular season:
- Friday, May 27 – Lights FC vs. San Antonio FC – ESPN3
- Wednesday, July 11 – Lights FC at OKC Energy FC – ESPN News
- Wednesday, October 10 – Lights FC vs. Phoenix Rising FC – ESPN3
Lights FC’s Saturday match vs. Sacramento will be the club’s first game streamed on the new ESPN+ app service. For fans outside of the United States where ESPN+ is not available, all matches will still be accessible via YouTube. Following live streams of all matches on ESPN+, the archived broadcasts will all be available to re-watch on the USL’s YouTube channel beginning seven days after the live broadcast.
For answers to more frequently asked questions regarding the USL’s agreement with ESPN, visit the league’s FAQ page.
“Locally, nationally & internationally – We have our fans covered to access our live matches and follow Lights FC all season long,” Lashbrook said. “myLVTV, ESPN & YouTube is a fantastic combo. Simply put, we won’t require our fans to have a cable subscription to watch us live – All matches will be broadcast over the air or via a streaming service. We are Las Vegas’s first pro sports team to do so.”
“We are thrilled to expand our valued relationship with ESPN through the 2019 season,” said USL Chief Executive Officer Alec Papadakis. “Our clubs and players will benefit from the significantly increased exposure across ESPN’s linear networks, ESPN3, and our presence on ESPN+ alongside Major League Soccer, the English Football League and UEFA Nations League, and other top international soccer leagues and tournaments.”
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