COLUMBUS – Columbus Crew SC today announced its 2018 broadcast schedule for the 34-match campaign that begins on Saturday, March 3. Crew SC has renewed its hybrid broadcast television partnership with Sinclair Broadcast Group operated stations as well as Spectrum Sports in Ohio for all 32 scheduled regionally televised Columbus Crew SC regular-season contests this year, with the Black & Gold's remaining two regular-season matches to be televised nationally on FS1 and ESPN. Crew SC’s regionally televised matches will also be simulcast on BCSN2 for Buckeye Broadband subscribers in the Toledo and Sandusky, Ohio areas. Furthermore, Crew SC announced a one-year extension for radio broadcasts on local radio station CD 102.5 and the introduction of a Spanish-language radio broadcast distributed globally on ColumbusCrewSC.com.
In 2018, supporters have the option to view all regionally televised Crew SC matches in multiple ways. Regionally televised matches will be available on local broadcast channels (The CW Columbus, ABC-6, or MyTV Columbus 6.2) and Spectrum Sports in Ohio on channel 1311HD and channel 311 as well as channel 510 in Columbus and Northern Kentucky. The CW Columbus (WWHO-53) will be the flagship over-the-air station for Crew SC regionally televised matches and is expected to air 28 matches in 2018. Spectrum Sports in Ohio is the cable television home of Crew SC in Columbus and across the Spectrum Sports footprint in Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Western Pennsylvania. BCSN and BCSN2 are available on HD on channels 608 and 609 as well as on channel 109 in the Greater Toledo area.
2018 CREW SC BROADCAST SCHEDULE
All 900,000 television viewing households in Ohio’s capital city have the option to watch regionally televised Crew SC matches via local broadcast stations (ABC-6, CW Columbus, MyTV Columbus) or Spectrum Sports in Ohio. Outside Columbus, supporters within the Spectrum Sports footprint can access the action via Spectrum Sports in Ohio.
Columbus viewers will have access to all 32 regionally televised 2018 Crew SC matches via simulcast on Sinclair Broadcast Group operated channels, with 28 contests airing live and in HD on The CW Columbus. Crew SC is scheduled to make three appearances on the Columbus ABC affiliate (WSYX ABC-6) and one scheduled appearance on MyTV Columbus (ESYX-6.2).
Crew SC opens the 2018 campaign on the road against 2017 MLS Cup Champions Toronto FC on Saturday, March 3 (1:00 p.m. ET / ABC-6, Spectrum Sports, BCSN2, CD102.5 FM, English and Spanish radio stream available on ColumbusCrewSC.com). Post-match coverage is set to follow exclusively on Spectrum Sports in Ohio.
The partnership also sees the return of Neil Sika and Dwight Burgess to the Crew SC broadcast booth, with Sika on play-by-play and Burgess providing analysis. Sika is set to begin his 12th complete season with Columbus Crew SC after joining the club's radio coverage full-time in 2007. Burgess, now the Head Soccer Coach at Wittenberg University, will return for his 23rd season on the microphone, bringing more than three decades of soccer-specific broadcast experience.
Spectrum Sports’ Marisa Contipelli will join ABC-6/FOX-28’s Clay Hall and ColumbusCrewSC.com’s Alex Stec on the broadcast team. Hall, who will once again provide sideline coverage for select matches, is the Sports Director of ABC-6 and FOX-28. He has covered Central Ohio sports for 23 years and helped ABC-6 and FOX-28 to be named Best Sports Operation in Ohio by the Associated Press on two occasions (2001, 2010). Contipelli is set to return to the broadcast and has worked as a Video Journalist, Associate Producer and Sideline Reporter for Spectrum Sports in Ohio since 2014 and also serves as the in-arena host for Ohio State University men’s basketball. Stec once again is set to provide sideline coverage for home matches in addition to continuing to provide content for ColumbusCrewSC.com. She joined Crew SC as the club’s Brand Journalist in 2015 from Fox Sports SportsTime Ohio and Fox Sports Ohio, where she worked as a Production Assistant and a Freelance Video Editor, respectively.
CD102.5 FM is also set to continue as the official English-language radio home of the Black & Gold for all 34 matches during the regular season. In addition to being able to access the English audio streams from the CD 102.5 broadcast calls of Sika and Burgess, supporters in 2018 can also listen to a new Spanish-language radio stream on ColumbusCrewSC.com, airing all 34 Columbus Crew SC regular-season matches during the 2018 campaign with Juan Valladares providing commentary and expanding the reach of the Spanish-language production worldwide. Valladares is entering his eighth season on Crew SC's Spanish radio team, having re-joined the Black & Gold team in 2013 after serving as a sideline analyst during the 2009 and 2010 campaigns. He worked in radio from 1994-1996, providing coverage of professional soccer before becoming a co-anchor on Channel 25 TV in Honduras from 1995-2002. He worked for Radio America Deportiva from 2002-2008. Valladares joined the Azteca America broadcast team to work on “Passion de Futbol” as co-anchor in 2009 and assisted in coverage of CONCACAF Gold Cup coverage in 2009 and 2010 and FIFA World Cup Qualifiers nationwide from 2010-2013.
