CHICAGO(April 15, 2021) – Chicago Fire FC today announced its 2021 broadcast team for the 32 locally-televised matches on WGN-TV, Chicago’s Very Own, and CFFC Live, the recently announced new streaming platform on ChicagoFireFC.com and the Chicago Fire FC mobile app.
Returning to the broadcast booth for a second season are play-by-play commentator Tyler Terens and color analyst and U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Tony Meola.
Play-by-play commentator Arlo White – whose Fire broadcast debut was postponed last year by the pandemic – is expected to call several games for the Fire in 2021. Further details, including which games White will be calling, will be provided at a later date.
The Fire will make its 2021 debut on WGN-TV and CFFC Live on Saturday, April 17 when the team hosts the New England Revolution at Soldier Field. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT.
On the night of the home opener, at 7:00 p.m. CT, WGN-TV will exclusively air “Make No Little Plans: Chicago Fire FC 2021 Season Preview.” The all-access show will chronicle the Club’s offseason moves, preseason training camp in Florida and the many storylines surrounding the Club as it begins its second season at Soldier Field. The show will also include storytelling and fundraising for the Chicago Fire Foundation, the charitable arm of the Chicago Fire Football Club.
New enhancements for 2021
Fire broadcasts will feature additional specialty cameras this year. A super-slo-mo camera will be set up, allowing for detailed analysis from the commentators, upgraded netcams will be installed, and a jib camera will be located at the south end of Soldier Field, close to the Fire supporters’ section.
An on-field rail cam will make its debut as the first camera of its kind in MLS. It will capture the speed of game action along the sideline for all Fire home matches and be featured on both the broadcast and the in-stadium videoboards.
The Fire will also introduce a fresh on-air look and feel, having created an entirely new graphics package for the 2021 season.
Arlo White
The 2021 season will mark White’s first campaign in the Fire broadcast booth. A native of Leicester, England, who grew up visiting Chicago, White has served as the lead play-by-play voice for NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage since the network acquired the exclusive U.S. media rights beginning with the 2013-14 season. White will call Fire matches during the Premier League offseason (exact games to be determined). He will also call football matches for NBC Olympics during this summer’s Tokyo Games. He previously worked at the 2016 Rio and 2012 London Games.
The New York Times profiled White in a 2015 story, stating in the headline that he “pairs proper English accent with unbridled American verve.”
Prior to relocating back to the United Kingdom to call Premier League matches on-site for NBC Sports, White served as the play-by-play voice for NBC Sports’ MLS coverage and U.S. National Team games. Prior to joining NBC, White was the play-by-play voice of Seattle Sounders FC.
Tony Meola
The 2021 season marks Meola’s second campaign as a member of the Chicago Fire’s broadcast team. A native of Kearny, N.J., Meola served as one of the top two broadcast teams – on-site in Russia – for FOX Sports at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Since 1990, Meola has served as a football broadcaster in various capacities. He has covered the FIFA World Cup as a color analyst for TNT (1990), ESPN (1998), beIN SPORTS (2014) and FOX Sports (2018).
Meola can be heard daily on SiriusXM FC’s Counter Attack radio show, a program he has co-hosted since 2013. In addition to his World Cup duties, Meola has contributed to FOX Sports’ coverage of MLS, UEFA Champions League, Europa League, U.S. Men’s National Team, FIFA U-17 World Cup and FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Meola, the 2000 MLS Most Valuable Player – and still the only goalkeeper to win the award – has also worked as a color analyst for YES Network and Concacaf, calling Concacaf Champions League and Concacaf Nations League matches.
One of the best American players of all-time, Meola was inducted into the United States Soccer National Hall of Fame in May 2012.
Tyler Terens
The 2021 season marks Terens’ second campaign as a member of the Chicago Fire’s broadcast team. A native of Scotch Plains, N.J., Terens, 27, came to the Fire after calling more than 500 football matches including Concacaf Champions League, Concacaf Gold Cup, Concacaf Nations League, Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, USL and NCAA. He also spent two seasons as the voice of Phoenix Rising FC, covering all home and away matches as well as hosting Concacaf’s Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Show.
Terens played four years of college soccer at Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y., graduating in 2016. He then honed his craft calling matches for schools such as Princeton, Holy Cross and Stevens Institute of Technology.
