The Chicago Fire Major League Soccer (MLS) team has announced WPWR My50 Chicago as its official television broadcast partner for the 2013 season, reports SportsPro. The local network will air up to 23 live matches this year, beginning with the Fire's match against Chivas USA at Toyota Park on Sunday 24th March. At least 20 matches will be available in HD.

Chicago Fire's chief operating officer Atul Khosla said: "Placing all of our matches on a local channel and providing destination programming is integral to the growth of our club.

"My50 Chicago is a widely available, over the air local affiliate committed to building connectivity throughout the Chicagoland area through soccer and the Chicago Fire. We're looking forward to cultivating our relationship this season."

Dennis Welsh, vice president and general manager of My50, added: "The Fire is coming off a successful 2012 season and we are looking forward to providing our viewers all the live action throughout the coming season.

"Partnering with the Fire is just another example of My50's commitment to bringing appointment local programming to Chicago area viewers."

My50's coverage complements the existing national coverage guaranteed for the Fire this season. Between them, NBC Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, Univision and UniMas have agreed to air over 15 of the team's matches in 2013.