Nashville – National Pro Fastpitch announced today that coverage of the NPF 2011 Opening Weekend will be carried live on ESPN2 June 11th at 3:00 p.m. EST. The featured game will be a re-match of the 2010 Championship Series Final Series between the Chicago Bandits and the USSSA Florida Pride. The game will broadcast live from ESPN’s Wide World of Sports at Disney and will feature the top players in the sport of fastpitch softball.

To accommodate the televised game, the Chicago Bandits and USSSA Florida Pride have made a change to their respective 2011 schedules. The Bandits, who were originally scheduled to open on June 9 at home versus the Pride, will now begin the 2011 season in Florida.

Chicago’s home opener will now take place on June 16, also against the Pride, at the team’s brand new facility in Rosemont. The four-game series will run Thursday-Sunday and will coincide with several great promotions on the weekend, including Youth Team Appreciation Night #1 and Scout. The games on June 16 and June 17 will also feature giveaways for the first 300 fans to enter the ballpark.

“We’re thrilled to be able to play on ESPN2 to open the season against a great team like the Pride, and we’re just as excited to officially open our ballpark against them on the 16th of June,” said Moore. “We didn’t get the chance to play them at home last season, so this will be a great treat for our fans and this is quickly turning out to be a great rivalry.”

An off season move by the Chicago Bandits to pick up former Olympian and All NPF player, Monica Abbott, will likely increase the attention to the already star-studded match-up. The Chicago Bandits and USSSA Florida Pride have already agreed the starting pitchers slated for the televised game will be the Bandits’ Abbott and the Pride’s, Cat Osterman. In all, at least eleven former Olympic athletes, will square off in the competition.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to deliver the very best fastpitch softball competition in the world, to an ESPN television audience.” said Commissioner Cheri Kempf. “I think fans will be excited to know they will have access to see such an anticipated match-up of softball’s royalty on the opening weekend of what is sure to be another action packed NPF season.”

The NPF regular season opens June 9th and concludes August 14th. All four teams then participate in the NPF Championship Series to be held in Sulphur, LA August 18th – 21st. Additional television dates will be released in the near future.

Tickets are available now for all games on the schedule, including the team’s exhibition game on June 4 vs. Bloomington Lady Hearts. In that game the Bandits will don the uniforms of the Chicago Colleens, a member of the former All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. To purchase tickets for any game this season visit the Bandits website at www.chicagobandits.com or call the office at 877-7BANDIT.