(CHICAGO) – Scottie Pippen, six-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls, is back and looks to lead a stellar cast of young NBA stars, including Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford and veteran team scoring leader Jalen Rose, back to the NBA Playoffs as an exciting new season of Bulls basketball gets underway on Fox Sports Net. This season, fans can look forward to head coach Bill Cartwright's squad in action 48 times on Fox Sports Net (45 regular season and three pre-season games), once again, the most Bulls games covered by any TV network.
Fox Sports Net will carry the 2003-04 home/season opener live from the United Center, as the Bulls host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, October 29 at 7:30 PM. The season opening festivities will be covered in a special, one-hour edition of Century 21 Bulls PRE beginning at 6:30 PM. Prior to the start of the regular season, FSN will also carry three pre-season telecasts with the first airing on Saturday, October 11 at 7:30 PM at Milwaukee. Other pre-season match-ups will be played against Indiana on Tuesday, October 14 and at Toronto on Tuesday, October 21.
This year's regular season Bulls schedule on Fox Sports Net features match-ups against the NBA's very best teams and players including the only home game against Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, Gary Payton and the L.A. Lakers (Mar. 13), the only home game against NBA MVP Tim Duncan and the defending champion San Antonio Spurs (Dec. 8), a battle against Jason Kidd, Alonzo Mourning and Eastern Conference champion New Jersey (Mar. 12), plus, Cleveland's #1 NBA Draft pick/high school phenom LeBron James' first appearance against the Bulls at the UC (Dec. 20), along with two additional road games (Dec. 26 & Mar. 16).
Fox Sports Net's unrivaled coverage of the Bulls is led by the veteran announcing tandem of Tom Dore and Johnny "Red" Kerr, who begin their 12th season together for FSN. Gail Fischer will handle sideline reporting for home telecasts throughout the season.
Century 21 Bulls PRE, featuring the studio tandem of Damon Andrews and Bulls legend Norm Van Lier, will air a half-hour prior to every game telecast with complete game previews and pre-game interviews. Andrews and Van Lier will also host half-time intermissions and Bulls POST, which will immediately follow all FSN game telecasts providing fans with a thorough game breakdown and post-game locker room interviews.
"With our 20th anniversary on the horizon, it's once again our pleasure to bring Bulls fans many more great moments from this exceptional NBA franchise," said James J. Corno, Fox Sports Net Chicago's Senior Vice President/General Manager. "This coming season could possibly bring Bulls fans the most exciting season it has seen in years. From our expert pre-game, game and post-game coverage, viewers can always count on us for the most and very best in Bulls coverage."
This season's Bulls schedule on Fox Sports Net includes 21 home games and 24 road match-ups during the regular season. A schedule breakdown includes 29 games against Eastern Conference opponents, a pair of games against central division champion Detroit and #2 NBA Draft pick Darko Milicic (Dec. 17 & Jan. 13), a road contest at Minnesota featuring Kevin Garnett and his new teammates Sam Cassell, Michael Olowakandi and Latrell Sprewell (Dec. 30), two games against NBA scoring champion Tracy McGrady and Orlando (Nov. 5 & Apr. 2), a battle against Western Conference threat Dallas (Nov. 25), a Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday afternoon match-up at Washington (Jan. 19), plus, home games against NBA "Rookie of the Year" Amare Stoudemire and Phoenix (Jan. 5) and perennial NBA All-Star Allan Iverson and Philadelphia (Mar. 9).
Three regular season games are currently scheduled to be telecast on Fox Sports Net Plus (see attached schedule). Fox Sports Net Plus (FSN+) telecasts are provided to Fox Sports Net affiliates and distributed to viewers when two live events are scheduled simultaneously. Through a cooperative agreement with CLTV, inner market cable operators are given the opportunity to place FSN+ games on CLTV. Cable operators who do not carry CLTV will place FSN+ telecasts on a to-be-determined channel.
Fox Sports Net Chicago reaches more than 3.8 million households in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin. Fox Sports Net Chicago's programming includes Chicago Bulls basketball, Chicago Blackhawks hockey, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs baseball, Chicago Fire soccer, "The Best Damn Sports Show Period," NASCAR and "54321." Fox Sports Net Chicago is managed by Rainbow Sports Networks.
A leader in sports, news and entertainment programming, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). Rainbow Media owns and manages national networks: AMC, Fuse, IFC (The Independent Film Channel) and WE: Women's Entertainment, as well as Mag Rack, a collection of on-demand video magazines. Rainbow Media's other businesses include its regional programming services – MetroChannels, News 12 Networks and Rainbow Sports Networks – in addition to the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications. Rainbow Media is also a 50 percent partner in Fox Sports Net.
2003-2004 Chicago Bulls Schedule
| PRE-SEASON | |||
| 1. Sat, Oct. 11 | @ Milwaukee | 7:30 pm | |
| 2. Tue, Oct. 14 | vs. Indiana | 7:30 pm | |
| 3. Tue, Oct. 21 | @ Toronto | 6:00 pm | |
| REGULAR SEASON | |||
| Wed, Oct. 29 | vs. Washington | 7:30 pm | |
| Fri, Oct. 31 | vs. Atlanta | 7:30 pm | |
| Mon, Nov. 3 | vs. Houston | 7:30 pm | |
| Wed, Nov. 5 | @ Orlando | 6:00 pm | |
| Mon, Nov. 10 | vs. Denver | 7:30 pm | FSN+ |
| Wed, Nov. 12 | @ Boston | 6:00 pm | |
| Sun, Nov. 23 | @ Sacramento | 8:00 pm | |
| Tue, Nov. 25 | @ Dallas | 7:30 pm | |
| Mon, Dec. 1 | vs. Milwaukee | 7:30 pm | |
| Mon, Dec. 8 | vs. San Antonio | 7:30 pm | |
| Fri, Dec. 12 | @ Milwaukee | 7:30 pm | FSN+ |
| Wed, Dec. 17 | @ Detroit | 6:30 pm | |
| Sat, Dec. 20 | vs. Cleveland | 7:30 pm | |
| Mon, Dec. 22 | vs. Utah | 7:30 pm | |
| Fri, Dec. 26 | @ Cleveland | 6:30 pm | |
| Mon, Dec. 29 | vs. Miami | 7:30 pm | |
| Tue, Dec. 30 | @ Minnesota | 7:00 pm | |
| Fri, Jan. 2 | @ New York | 6:30 pm | |
| Mon, Jan. 5 | vs. Phoenix | 7:30 pm | |
| Wed, Jan. 7 | @ Miami | 6:30 pm | |
| Fri, Jan. 9 | vs. Portland | 7:30 pm | |
| Tue, Jan. 13 | vs. Detroit | 7:30 pm | |
| Thu, Jan. 15 | @ Memphis | 7:00 pm | |
| Mon, Jan. 19 | @ Washington | 12 noon | |
| Wed, Jan. 21 | @ Atlanta | 6:30 pm | FSN+ |
| Wed, Jan. 28 | @ Denver | 8:00 pm | |
| Fri, Jan. 30 | @ Golden State | 9:30 pm | |
| Mon, Feb. 2 | @ Seattle | 9:00 pm | |
| Wed, Feb. 4 | @ Utah | 8:00 pm | |
| Thu, Feb. 12 | vs. Boston | 7:30 pm | |
| Tue, Feb. 17 | vs. Toronto | 7:30 pm | |
| Thu, Feb. 26 | @ Washington | 6:00 pm | |
| Wed, March 3 | @ New Orleans | 7:00 pm | |
| Tue, March 9 | vs. Philadelphia | 7:30 pm | |
| Fri, March 12 | @ New Jersey | 6:30 pm | |
| Sat, March 13 | vs. L.A. Lakers | 7:30 pm | |
| Tue, March 16 | @ Cleveland | 6:00 pm | |
| Fri, March 19 | @ Toronto | 6:00 pm | |
| Mon, March 22 | @ Indiana | 6:00 pm | |
| Fri. March 26 | vs. Milwaukee | 7:30 pm | |
| Mon, March 29 | @ Miami | 6:30 pm | |
| Fri, April 2 | vs. L.A. Clippers | 7:30 pm | |
| Sat, April 3 | vs. Miami | 7:30 pm | |
| Fri, April 9 | vs. Atlanta | 7:30 pm | |
| Mon, April 12 | vs. Orlando | 7:30 pm | |
Three pre-season, 45 regular season telecasts on this season's schedule
All Times Central Time
Schedule Subject to Change
All Games are preceded by a half-hour edition of "Century 21 Bulls PRE"
"Bulls POST" immediately follows all games
PLEASE NOTE: FSN+ telecasts may be found on CLTV or call 1-877-655-PLUS for channel number