Sporting Kansas City will open the 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs with a national broadcast audience as Major League Soccer announced Monday that NBC will air the first leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at 2:30 p.m. CT on Sunday, Nov. 4.



Sporting Kansas City will begin the team's Quest for the Cup, presented by Budweiser, with a visit to No. 4 seed Chicago or No. 5 seed Houston for the first of two matches in the aggregate-goal series. Those two potential opponents will meet in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round at 8:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday at Toyota Park, live on ESPN2. The winner will advance to host Sporting KC on Sunday.



For all the latest on Sporting Kansas City's postseason, visit the SportingKC.com playoff guide.



Sunday’s match will be the 10th Sporting Kansas City match shown on U.S. national television during the 2012 season and first Sporting KC road game broadcast across the country. The playoff fixture will also be the first time this year that a Sporting KC game has been shown nationally on network television and will reach an estimated 114.2 million homes in the United States nationwide.



On Monday, Sporting Kansas City released standing-room only tickets for the team's home playoff match at 8:00 p.m. CT on Nov. 7 at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. The decisive match will be shown live locally on KSMO-TV and a limited number of seats are still available online at Ticketmaster.com or at the LSP Box Offices.



Sporting Kansas City supporters are encouraged to attend the Kansas City Cauldron's playoff rally on Tuesday at Crossroads KC at Grinders (417 E 18th St Kansas City, MO). The rally will feature a special playoff preview edition of The Sporting KC Show on Sports Radio 810 WHB, hosted by Callum Williams and Jake Yadrich from 7-8 p.m. CT live on location. The rally will officially kick off at 8 p.m. CT with Border Patrol co-host Nate Bukaty serving as the emcee for the special event.



Sporting Kansas City players will be in attendance and admission is free for all ages. Doors open at 6 p.m. CT and there will be random prizes given away throughout the rally, including a grand prize drawing for 2013 Sporting Kansas City Season Tickets.