The Union go behind the Apple paywall for the first time on Saturday

If you’re a Union fan or casual Philly sports fan who hasn’t yet bought Apple’s MLS Season Pass, this is the moment you’ve probably been waiting for — and not in a good way.

Saturday’s home game against the Chicago Fire (7:30 p.m.) will be the Union’s first game behind Apple’s paywall. It costs $14.99 per month or $99.99 for the year, and if you already have Apple TV+, you can get it for $12.99 per month or $79.99 for the year.

Click here for details on how MLS Season Pass works and how to sign up for it.

If you’re a T-Mobile or Metro cell phone customer, you’re in luck: you can get MLS Season Pass free through the T-Mobile Tuesdays app, until March 14. Click here for more details and instructions.

If you’re an Apple TV+ subscriber who doesn’t want to pay for Season Pass, there is one piece of good news: the “MLS 360″ whiparound show with live highlights and analysis is included in your subscription for free. Apple TV+ costs $6.99 per month, and there are many free trial and combo deals with other Apple products.

» READ MORE: CBS is launching a 24/7 soccer channel online

The Union-Fire game’s English broadcast will have Jenn Hildreth on play-by-play and Lori Lindsey as analyst. Hildreth is the lead voice of CBS’s National Women’s Soccer League coverage, and often calls those games with Lindsey.

Hildreth also calls college soccer and basketball games for ESPN. Lindsey played for the former Philadelphia Independence women’s team in 2010 and ‘11, and the U.S. women’s national team at the 2011 World World Cup.

Lindsey still lives in Philadelphia, and was part of the Union’s local broadcast team in 2019. Regular Inquirer readers have seen her name here plenty over the years.

“Despite the loss last week against Inter Miami, I think [they] have looked really good, especially in these early games where teams are still finding their groove a bit,” she told The Inquirer this week. “‘One game at a time,’ I would imagine [Union manager] Jim Curtin is telling his team, and wanting to continue to collect points. Especially at home, where they have been one of the deadliest teams — defensively but also in attack.”

She is happy to have a short commute this weekend after calling Inter Miami and FC Dallas games for Apple in the first two weeks of the season.

“I feel incredibly grateful and love being a part of it, and love covering this league, and now have the fortune of doing it on a weekly basis,” she said. And I get to do it in my backyard for this week.”

The Spanish announcers will be Jose Hernandez, formerly of Univision, on play-by-play; and Pablo Mariño, formerly of beIN Sports and briefly Telemundo, as analyst.

» READ MORE: How to watch Union games in the new Apple MLS Season Pass streaming package

Apple and MLS are offering six games free each week this year, with each team in the league expected to average 14 free games over the season.

This Saturday’s free games are Charlotte FC vs. Atlanta United (noon), FC Cincinnati vs. Seattle Sounders (7:30 p.m.), Nashville SC vs. CF Montréal (8:30 p.m.), Real Salt Lake vs. Austin FC (9:30 p.m.), Portland Timbers vs. St. Louis City SC (10:30 p.m.), and San Jose Earthquakes vs. Colorado Rapids (10:30 p.m.).

Charlotte-Atlanta is the weekend’s TV game, airing on Fox29 and Fox Deportes.

The Union’s next free game on Apple is on March 25, a home game against Orlando City. Their next game on traditional TV is Tuesday’s Concacaf Champions League home game against Alianza (8 p.m.), but as of now it’s only on Fox Soccer Plus — an old cable channel that Comcast doesn’t carry in the Philadelphia region.

Some other carriers have it on a premium tier, including YouTube TV and FuboTV. Univision’s plans for its Spanish-language broadcast aren’t known yet.

» READ MORE: A dog on the field was the highlight of the Union's scoreless tie at Alianza

Charlotte FC vs. Atlanta United, noon (free): John Strong and Stuart Holden on Fox29 in English; Jake Zivin and Taylor Twellman on Apple in English; John Laguna and Mariano Trujillo on Fox Deportes in Spanish; Ramses Sandoval and Diego Arrioja on Apple in Spanish

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. FC Dallas, 5 p.m.: Blake Price and Paul Dolan in English; Francisco X. Rivera and Maximiliano Cordaro in Spanish; Jeremy Filosa and Matthias Van Halst in French

FC Cincinnati vs. Seattle Sounders, 7:30 p.m. (free): Tyler Terens and Devon Kerr in English; Bruno Vain and Andrés Agulla in Spanish

D.C. United vs. Orlando City, 7:30 p.m.: Tony Husband and Ross Smith in English; Moisés Linares and Jaime Macías

New York City FC vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m.: Callum Williams and Calen Carr in English; Juan Arango and Carlos Suárez in Spanish

Union vs. Chicago Fire, 7:30 p.m.: Jenn Hildreth and Lori Lindsey in English; Jose Hernandez and Pablo Mariño in Spanish

Toronto FC vs. Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m.: Steve Cangialosi and Danny Higginbotham in English; Pablo Ramírez and Carlos Ruiz in Spanish; Frédéric Lord and Vincent Destouches in French

Sporting Kansas City vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, 8:30 p.m.: Adrian Healey and Cobi Jones in English, Raúl Guzmán and Sonny Guadarrama in Spanish

Minnesota United vs. New York Red Bulls, 8:30 p.m.: Kevin Egan and Kyndra de St. Aubin in English; Alejandro Figueredo and Luis Gerrardo Bucci in Spanish

Nashville SC vs. CF Montréal, 8:30 p.m. (free): Chris Wittyngham and Jamie Watson in English; Sergio Ruiz and Miguel Gallardo in Spanish; Matt Cullen and Sébastien Le Toux in French

Real Salt Lake vs. Austin FC, 9:30 p.m. (free): Keith Costigan and Maurice Edu in English; Jorge Perez-Navarro and Marcelo Balboa in Spanish

Portland Timbers vs. St. Louis City SC, 10:30 p.m. (free): Mark Rogondino and Heath Pearce in English; Rodolfo Landeros and Martín Zuñiga in Spanish

San Jose Earthquakes vs. Colorado Rapids, 10:30 p.m. (free): Nate Bukaty and Danielle Slaton in English; Adrian Garcia-Márquez and Francisco Pinto in Spanish

Los Angeles FC vs. New England Revolution, 10:30 p.m.: Max Bretos and Brian Dunseth in English; Rodolfo Landeros and Martín Zuñiga in Spanish