Union’s 2021 schedule includes seven games on national TV

After announcing the season-opening games a few weeks ago, Major League Soccer confirmed the rest of the Union’s regular-season schedule on Wednesday. It’s an almost entirely intra-conference slate, in order to cut down on travel while the pandemic continues.

Just two of the 34 games on deck will be against Western Conference teams: a home game against the Portland Timbers on May 30 and a trip to Minnesota United on Oct. 20.

Seven games will be nationally televised: three on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, two on FS1 and Fox Deportes, one on Univision’s flagship network and one on UniMás. One of the ESPN games, June 20 at Atlanta, will be a doubleheader with a Switzerland-Turkey European Championship game, which should boost the audience.

The game on Univision, Sept. 25 against Atlanta United, will be the Union’s first appearance on that channel. Univision and UniMás’ games are televised in Spanish with English-language audio available via the SAP function on your cable box, or via live streaming on MLS’s Twitter account.

The Union’s local TV broadcasts will once again be on PHL17, plus one game on 6ABC: May 8 at Chicago. Live streaming of local broadcasts is available free of charge on the Union’s website if you’re in the Philadelphia area, and through the paid subscription platform on ESPN+ ($5.99 per month or $59.99 per year) if you’re not local.

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ESPN+ has live streaming of all out-of-market MLS games, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A (for the rest of this season), England’s FA Cup, and many college sports games involving Temple, La Salle, St. Joseph’s, and Penn. Starting this fall, it will have some exclusive NHL games too.

Also notable on the Union’s schedule is the number of midweek games: 10 in the league, plus two in the Concacaf Champions League and more to come if the Union advance in it. There will also be U.S. Open Cup games to add when the tournament’s schedule is confirmed.

The jam-packed schedule was created by MLS delaying the start of the season after rancorous offseason labor negotiations. The Union’s depth will be tested, but those games may also be big opportunities for the Union’s young academy products to show what they’ve got.

The toughest stretch of the year is likely to come in July, when there are road games at Nashville (a rare Monday contest), the rival New York Red Bulls, and sweltering Orlando and Miami. The end of the season will also be difficult, as four of the last six games are road contests at Montreal, Minnesota, Toronto, and New York City FC.

The Union will have as many fans in the stands as state laws allow. As of now, outdoor venues can have up to 50% capacity as long as six-foot distancing can be maintained. It’s unclear whether that’s possible with 50% of the stands filled at 18,500-seat Subaru Park.

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Wednesday, April 7: at Deportivo Saprissa (Concacaf Champions League), 6 p.m. (TV TBD; Fox and Univision have the rights)

Wednesday, April 14: vs. Deportivo Saprissa (Concacaf Champions League), 8 p.m. (TV TBD)

Sunday, April 18: at Columbus Crew, 5:30 p.m. (FS1, Fox Deportes)

Saturday, April 24: vs. Inter Miami, 8:00 p.m. (PHL17)

Saturday, May 1: vs. New York City FC, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Saturday, May 8: at Chicago Fire, 1:00 p.m. (6ABC)

Wednesday, May 12: vs. New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Saturday, May 15: vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Sunday, May 23: at D.C. United, 7 p.m. (PHL17)

Sunday, May 30: vs. Portland Timbers, 5:30 p.m. (FS1, Fox Deportes)

Sunday, June 20: at Atlanta United, 2 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)

Wednesday, June 23: vs. Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Saturday, June 26: at Chicago Fire, 8 p.m. (PHL17)

Monday, July 5: at Nashville SC, 8 p.m. (PHL17)

Thursday, July 8: at New York Red Bulls, time TBD (PHL17)

Saturday, July 17: vs. D.C. United, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Thursday, July 22: at Orlando City, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)

Sunday, July 25: at Inter Miami, time TBD (PHL17)

Sunday, August 1: vs. Chicago Fire, 6 p.m. (UniMás)

Wednesday, August 4: Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Sunday, August 8: at New England Revolution, 6 p.m. (PHL17)

Saturday, August 14: at FC Cincinnati, 8 p.m. (PHL17)

Wednesday, August 18: vs. New York City FC, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Saturday, August 21: vs. Club de Foot Montréal, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Saturday, August 28: at D.C. United, 8 p.m. (PHL17)

Wednesday, September 15: vs. New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Sunday, September 19: vs. Orlando City SC, 4 p.m. (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)

Saturday, September 25: vs. Atlanta United, 3:30 p.m. (Univision)

Wednesday, September 29: at New York Red Bulls, time TBD (PHL17)

Saturday, October 2: vs. Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Saturday, October 16: at Club de Foot Montréal, 1 p.m. (PHL17)

Wednesday, October 20: at Minnesota United, 8 p.m. (PHL17)

Saturday, October 23: vs. Nashville SC, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Wednesday, October 27: at Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Saturday, October 30: vs. FC Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m. (PHL17)

Sunday, November 7: at New York City FC, 3:30 p.m. (TV TBD, subject to flex scheduling by ESPN)