PORTLAND, Ore.
- As part of a comprehensive effort to further cater to Portland-area professional soccer fans, the Portland Timbers A-League soccer team announced today that all 28 games during the 2004 season will be broadcast in Spanish for the first time on KRMZ "Romance" AM-1150.
The Timbers recently entered into a new partnership with Bustos Media Corporation to air their games in English on KZNY "Sunny" AM-1010 in addition to the Spanish-language broadcast on KRMZ.
Both stations are part of the Bustos Media group.
“We are delighted to be entering into this partnership with the Timbers,” said Spencer French, Bustos Media's Northwest regional vice president and general manager. “It’s a well-deserved addition for Portland’s professional soccer team and its fans in the Hispanic community.”
Arnulfo Alvarez will provide the live play-by-play on the Spanish side for all 14 home games, while the road games will be re-created in-studio and aired with a slight delay.
“Outreach to the Hispanic market is critical to the success of the Portland Timbers Football Club," said Jim Taylor, general manager of the Timbers. "We've made a concerted effort these past few years to have a stronger Hispanic influence on the pitch, and that's evidenced by the emergence of Byron Alvarez and Hugo Alcaraz-Cuellar. Both are emerging stars in this league. Their success has heightened the Hispanic community's interest in the Timbers and the next logical step was to make our matches more accessible for the fan who can't attend every match. We're very pleased about the partnership we've formed with Romance AM 1150 and look forward to working with them to continue building our Hispanic fan base."
Veteran broadcaster Andy McNamara returns for a fourth season to handle the live play-by-play duties for all 28 English broadcasts.
Timbers webcasts will be made available over the course of the season on OregonLive.com/timbers.
The Timbers open the season Saturday night (May 1), playing host to the Seattle Sounders at PGE Park in a 7 p.m. kickoff.
