Jan. 31, 2006
BACK TO BACK
MLS Cup again in Frisco this year

Frisco, Texas -- MLS announced on Tuesday that the MLS Cup will be held at the Pizza Hut Park on Sunday, Nov. 12.

It will be the second consecutive year the cup will be played at the new soccer-specific stadium.

In the 2005 championship game, the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated the New England Revolution, 1-0, in extratimein front of an overflow crowd of 21,193. The 2005 championship game was the first of many world-class soccer events for Pizza Hut Park.

The park will join the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. as the only MLS venues to host back-to-back MLS Cups. The HDC was home to the 2003 and 2004 MLS championship games.

“Pizza Hut Park is clearly becoming a major destination for marquee soccer events in the United States, and we’re pleased to host MLS Cup 2006 at one of America’s great soccer facilities,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “The tremendous support by the entire soccer community in North Texas for MLS Cup 2005 makes Pizza Hut Park -- one of the premier soccer complexes in the world -- the perfect choice.”

Pizza Hut Park opened on Aug. 6, 2005. Combining a world-class stadium with an extensive sports park, Pizza Hut Park is one of the best and most unique soccer facilities in the world. The complex includes the 20,500-seat stadium, and 17 championship-quality soccer fields located just north of the stadium. The 145-acre site is used more than 300 days a year, hosting MLS matches, U.S. Men's and Women's National Team matches, major concerts, international soccer matches and high school sports.

“Speaking for the Hunt Sports Group and FC Dallas, we are most appreciative that Major League Soccer has chosen Frisco and Pizza Hut Park as the location for the 11th MLS Cup,” FC Dallas and Kansas City Wizards investor/operator Lamar Hunt said. “The 2005 event was an unqualified success with exceptional weather and a standing-room only crowd for the Los Angeles Galaxy -- New England Revolution game. The entire Hunt family is very proud to once again help bring this national professional championship event to the Metroplex.”

Previous title games were held in California, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and Ohio.

North Texas Soccer is the largest joint youth and adult soccer association in the United States, representing 145,000 youth players, 24,000 adult players, 40,000 indoor players, 25,000 coaches, 6,600 referees, and more than 1,300 administrators. The North Texas Soccer family is estimated to include at least 500,000 people.

Ticket prices will range from $35 to $150. In early summer F.C. Dallas season ticket holders will have first priority on the purchase of MLS Cup tickets to be followed by a private corporate sale and then a public registration for a random computerized drawing, which will assure fans on a nationwide basis that they will have access to 10 percent of the seating capacity of the park.

The public-on-sale-date will then take place in the early fall for all remaining tickets. More information on MLS Cup tickets is available by calling 1-888-FCD-GOAL or visiting www.fcdallas.net.