Highlights include watch parties, multimedia coverage and social media campaigns

Chicago, Ill. – The Chicago Red Stars today launched a host of initiatives for the upcoming 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Among the highlights are watch parties for all U.S. games and select Canada and New Zealand matches, all three of those teams featuring Chicago players. The club will be running special social media campaigns and provide written and video previews for all fixtures involving any of their players, along with written recaps and World Cup interview videos.

All watch parties for U.S. Women’s National Team games will include Red Stars player appearances and exciting giveaways and contest prizes, such as tickets, merchandise, and items signed by World Cup players.

Chicago defender Julie Johnston, defender-midfielder Lori Chalupny, midfielder Shannon Boxx and forward Christen Press are all part of the American roster that will compete on soccer’s biggest stage, while goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc and strikers Melissa Tancredi and Adriana Leon will be doing battle for host country Canada, and defender Abby Erceg is set to captain the national side of New Zealand.

The first World Cup watch party will be held at AJ Hudson’s Public House in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood for the June 6 tournament opener between Canada and China as well as the Red Stars’ away meeting with Western New York Flash. The event will be co-hosted by the club’s supporters group Chicago Local 134.

Next, the Red Stars and their partner CJ Wilson Mazda will join forces on June 8 to host a watch party at the automobile dealership’s Countryside location for the U.S. Women’s first group match against Australia, with a separate event to be held at Ballydoyle Irish Pub & Restaurant in Downers Grove. All World Cup watch parties at Ballydoyle will be co-hosted by Red Stars partner Soccer 2000.

The meeting between Chicago’s Canadian trio and Abby Erceg’s New Zealand on June 11 will be shown at AJ Hudson’s in Lakeview.

There will be separate watch parties for both the Americans’ June 12 clash with Sweden and the final group match against Nigeria on June 16, events being hosted at Ballydoyle in Downers Grove and at Timmy O’Toole’s Pub in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. The watch parties at Timothy O’Toole’s will be co-hosted by U.S. National Team supporters group American Outlaws.

The Red Stars will be using, and encourage fans to use, the Twitter hashtag #CRSWWC for tweets relating to any of their players competing in the World Cup. Several members of supporters group Chicago Local 134 will be traveling to Canada and will be joined on their trip by Lil Chups, a miniature-sized doll version of Red Stars captain Lori Chalupny. Photos and accounts of the adventures of #LilChups will be shared on the team’s social media accounts.

All Chicago fans planning to be in Canada during the World Cup are encouraged to take pictures of themselves in their Red Stars gear and to tag @chicagoredstars and use the hashtag #CRSWWC when sharing on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram for a chance to win awesome prizes throughout the tournament.

The Red Stars will only play one NWSL home game during the World Cup, a June 20 blockbuster clash with visiting second-place outfit Washington Spirit. The July 18 meeting with visiting Western New York Flash is both the club’s Pride Night event and the Welcome Back match for the international players. Single-game and season tickets for the 2015 campaign may be purchased by calling 773-698-6001 or by clicking here.

Chicago Red Stars 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Watch Parties – Complete Schedule

Saturday, June 6
Canada vs. China 5 p.m. CT
Chicago Red Stars vs. Western New York Flash 6 p.m. CT
AJ Hudson’s Public House, 3801 N Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60613 (co-hosted by Chicago Local 134)
Event starts: 4:30 p.m. CT

Monday, June 8
USA vs. Australia 6:30 p.m. CT
CJ Wilson Mazda, 8910 W 159th St, Orland Park, IL 60462 (co-hosted by CJ Wilson Mazda)
Ballydoyle Irish Pub & Restaurant, 5157 Main St, Downers Grove, IL 60515 (co-hosted by Soccer 2000)
Events start: 6 p.m. CT

Thursday, June 11
Canada vs. New Zealand 8 p.m. CT
AJ Hudson’s Public House, 3801 N Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60613
Event starts 7:30 p.m. CT

Friday, June 12
USA vs. Sweden 7 p.m. CT
Ballydoyle Irish Pub & Restaurant, 5157 Main St, Downers Grove, IL 60515 (co-hosted by Soccer 2000)
Timothy O’Toole’s Pub, 622 N Fairbanks Ct, Chicago, IL 60611 (co-hosted by American Outlaws)
Events start: 6:30 p.m. CT

Tuesday, June 16
USA vs. Nigeria 7 p.m. CT
Ballydoyle Irish Pub & Restaurant, 5157 Main St, Downers Grove, IL 60515 (co-hosted by Soccer 2000)
Timothy O’Toole’s Pub, 622 N Fairbanks Ct, Chicago, IL 60611 (co-hosted by American Outlaws)
Events start: 6:30 p.m. CT