Portland Timbers announce broadcast schedule and announcers for 2014 season

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Timbers today announced their complete broadcast schedule and television announcers for the 2014 Major League Soccer season, presented by Alaska Airlines. Including 11 nationally televised matches, all 34 of the Timbers’ regular-season matches will be broadcast live both on television and radio for a fourth consecutive season in 2014.

Calling the action for the Timbers on television broadcasts will be play-by-play announcer Keith Bleyer and he will be joined by analyst and former Timbers defender Ross Smith. Robbie Earle, the Timbers original analyst and current NBC Sports Network announcer, will call a select number of Timbers local broadcasts during the spring and early summer.

Timbers broadcast partners ROOT SPORTS and KPTV FOX 12 will again air the club’s regional and local television broadcasts, respectively, this season, with select matches continuing to be televised in Spanish on estrellaTV.

750 The Game (KXTG) and La Pantera 940 AM (KWBY) continue to serve as the flagship stations for the club’s English and Spanish radio broadcasts, respectively.

In 2014, ROOT SPORTS will deliver 14 matches across the Northwest region to cable and satellite homes in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. Nine matches will be featured over the air locally on FOX 12 or sister-station PDX TV (KPDX). Additionally, ROOT SPORTS will re-air completed Timbers matches throughout the season.

FOX 12 is the home of the Timbers’ weekly show, “Timbers in 30,” which will air each Friday during the season at 6:30 p.m. (Pacific) starting on March 7. The show features exclusive, inside access, showing the club’s inner-workings and personalities as well as provides team and game analysis with in-studio appearances from Timbers coaches and players each week. The 2014 season of “Timbers in 30” will feature 30-plus episodes along with encore episodes airing on ROOT SPORTS.

In addition to match broadcasts, 750 The Game airs the Timbers’ weekly talk show, “Talk Timbers,” each Tuesday night from 6-8 p.m. (Pacific). “Talk Timbers” features interviews with coaches, players and club representatives and covers both Timbers and MLS news.

Bleyer, a television and radio broadcaster with nearly four decades of experience, enters his third season as a member of the club’s broadcast team after calling games for the team’s radio and television broadcasts during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. A native of Bellevue, Wash., Bleyer has been involved in Major League Soccer broadcasting since the late 1990s and worked as a touchline reporter for national “Soccer Night in America” telecasts on FOX Soccer during the 2011 season. An accomplished player as a youth, Bleyer was a member of the U.S. U-16 National Team pool and played collegiately at Santa Clara University. He holds an ‘A’ Coaching License from U.S. Soccer and coaches teams within the Timbers/Thorns FC ODP Pre-Academy program in Bend.

Smith returns for a third season as a Timbers broadcaster after spending time as the team’s radio analyst during the 2011 season and providing analysis for select television broadcasts in 2013. Smith played the 2010 second-division season with the Timbers and concluded a nine-year professional playing career in 2012 with England’s Ebbsfleet United. During his playing days, he made several appearances in England’s famed FA Cup tournament with Gravesend & Northfleet United (2006-07) and Dagenham & Redbridge FC (2007-08). He was named the Player of the Year for Gravesend & Northfleet United following the 2005-06 season. Smith also runs a youth soccer training program in his native Ontario, Canada.

2014 Portland Timbers Schedule (home matches in bold, CAPS)