Fox Soccer Channel is letting fans sign up for text-message alerts to stay in-the-know.

The alerts will encourage viewers to tune in to the wide range of programming offered by Fox Soccer Channel, including England's Barclays Premier League, Italy's Serie A, Major League Soccer, Women's Professional Soccer and a host of international tournaments such as the FA Cup and CONCACAF Champions League.

"The strategy of the new text-message campaign is to drive tune-in to on-air Fox Soccer Channel programming through an additional medium," said Bhavesh Patel, vice president of interactive media for Fox Soccer Channel, Los Angeles. "Fox Soccer Channel wants to provide up-to-date programming information to the loyal base of soccer fans."

Fox Soccer Channel offers coverage of soccer available in the U.S., including Major League Soccer, England's Barclays Premier League, Italy's Serie A, the Argentine First Division and Australian Hyundai A-League, as well as such global tournaments as the UEFA Cup, English FA Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The Official Broadcast Partner of the United States Youth Soccer Association, Fox Soccer Channel also televises the United Soccer Leagues, NCAA Division I college men's and women's soccer and -- beginning in April 2009 -- the newly-formed Women's Professional Soccer.

To sign up, soccer fans can text keyword FSCTV to short code 37288.

The target demographic for the Fox Soccer Channel text-message campaign are tech-savvy young males.

"The predominant viewers of Fox Soccer Channel, according to Nielsen research, are tech savvy young males ages 18-34, so this is a perfect match," Mr. Patel said.

"Fox Soccer Channel provides on-air and online coverage of national and international leagues and tournaments from around the world every day of the week, so we want to make sure our viewers have all the information on when they can catch the various matches on-air," he said.

Additional match information will be available at http://www.foxsoccer.com.

Powered by 2ergo's mobile messaging manager, the text message offering is available on various U.S. carriers, including AT&T Wireless, Verizon Wireless, Alltel, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Virgin Mobile USA.

"2ergo works as a service provider for Fox Soccer Channel," Mr. Patel said. "This partnership allows Fox Soccer Channel to explore reaching our viewers through this alternate medium, which we anticipate will be well received by our viewers."

Fox Soccer Channel hasn't made the leap to offering mobile advertising inventory -- yet.

"At this time, there will not be advertising or click-to-call links associated with the SMS alerts, but we definitely view this platform as sellable space in the future," Mr. Patel said. "The SMS alerts are text-focused with pure programming information.

"Fox Soccer Channel is promoting the text-campaign online at the FoxSoccer.com homepage -- see the ?Features' section -- along with an on-air promo spot that will launch within the next week and on-air mentions during the various live studio shows on Fox Soccer Channel," he said.

Consumers should review their wireless carrier agreement for pricing information and details, as standard messaging charges will apply.

"Fox Soccer Channel is committed to connecting with viewers in various ways, and we look forward to the response of the new text-message campaign," Mr. Patel.