MLS to capitalize on record TV viewership with ambitious 2016 National TV schedule

Major League Soccer has unveiled its complete 2016 season schedule, which includes the league's debut on the FOX broadcast network, a record 29 games on ESPN (5 on ESPN2) and 28 Univisión Deportes matches. Coming off a season that generated record numbers in total television viewership, the 21st season will also feature select games aired internationally to more than 140 nations and territories through the League’s global broadcast partners.

• MORE: The 2016 MLS Regular-Season Schedule

This season, fans can again look forward to the weekly programming of Viernes de Futbol (Friday Night Soccer) on UniMás and Soccer Sunday doubleheaders on ESPN and FOX. The 2016 season will see MLS action make its debut on FOX broadcast television, the company’s premier network with over-the-air exposure in approximately 115 million homes, while 29 of ESPN’s 34 matches will be showcased on ESPN, compared with eight in 2015. All 28 Univisión Deportes matches will air live on UniMás, with select matches simulcast on the cable network Univisión Deportes Network (UDN). The broadcast schedule for TSN and RDS in Canada will be announced in the coming weeks.

Major League Soccer’s 21st season will kick off with all 10 matches on the first match day of the season, including four marquee matches broadcast live by the League’s national television partners. First is a rematch of the 2015 MLS Cup as the defending champion Portland Timbers welcome Kei Kamara and Columbus Crew SC on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 4:30 p.m. ET. FS1 and FOX Deportes will showcase Clint Dempsey-led Seattle Sounders FC versus Benny Feilhaber’s Sporting Kansas City at 7 p.m. ET; TSN and RDS will air Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s home opener vs. the Montreal Impact in Canada at 5:30 pm ET; while UniMás rounds out the night by featuring a match between five-time MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy and four-time champions D.C. United at 10 p.m. ET.

• MORE: Schedule Content and Team-by-Team Index

As the regular season reaches its climax, the 2016 schedule throws a log on the fire in the final two weeks with scheduling enhancements for Week 33 and Decision Day, the season’s grand finale. During Week 33, the penultimate week of the season, all 10 games will take place on Sunday, October 16 and consist of intra-conference matches pitting East against East and West against West as teams jockey for postseason positioning.

Similarly, Decision Day will also see exclusively intra-conference matches but the 2016 schedule takes the intensity to a new level by placing all 10 games at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 23 in one final flurry of action to settle the standings and determine who is in, and who is out of the Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs. Both Week 33 and Decision Day will feature flex scheduling allowing FS1, ESPN and Univision Deportes to decide which matches to telecast late in the season, bringing the fans the most compelling games as the dust settles over the playoff landscape. All other games will be showcased across network and league digital platforms to ensure fans do not miss a minute of the action. The broadcasts will also include live look-ins and highlights from other league action while a unique digital experience will keep fans up to date on all the ongoing action and the playoff implications.

Following the first year of an eight-year agreement, MLS returns to FOX networks this season. For the first time in league history, MLS action will air nationally on FOX broadcast television with four matches on FOX and the additional 30 games on FS1, most of which will kick off on Sundays in prime time. The New York City FC vs. New York Red Bulls match on May 21 live from Yankee Stadium, part of Heineken Rivalry Week, will serve as the debut game and is part of a FOX network soccer doubleheader that includes live coverage of the FA Cup Final from England.

In addition to the four matches on FOX, FS1 will broadcast 30 regular season matches in 2016, each including an extended broadcast window to incorporate a 30-minute pregame show. All matches on FOX, FS1 and FOX Deportes are available via the FOX Sports GO and FOX Soccer 2Go apps, and on the web through FOXSportsGO.com.

A partner with MLS since the league’s inception, ESPN’s MLS coverage in 2016 will again establish a consistent programming window on Sunday afternoons with 28 games on ESPN and five on ESPN2 as well as on ESPN Deportes, the Spanish-language sports network and streamed live on WatchESPN and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes+.

Select broadcasts will feature enhanced MLS match coverage including expanded windows for pregame shows, allowing for additional analysis and highlights from around the league.

The AT&T MLS All-Star game will return to ESPN, as well as UniMas, TSN and RDS, live from Avaya Stadium, home of the San Jose Earthquakes, during the last week in July. Additional details about the match date and opponent will be released in the coming weeks.

Following the highly successful inaugural season of Viernes de Futbol, which featured matches broadcast in English via SAP, the Univisión family of networks will continue its exclusive Friday night package in 2016. In this, their 10th consecutive season of MLS coverage, 28 matches will be broadcast on UniMás with Univisión Deportes Network (UDN) simulcasting all matches. UniMás and UDN will also have select matches on other nights of the week in 2016.

Non-national TV games will be played on Saturdays, with intermittent mid-week matches, and will be broadcast locally and/or via a subscription to a digital out-of-market package.

Select games will also be broadcast internationally to more than 140 nations and territories through the League’s global broadcast partners which include Sky Sports in the UK, pan-European broadcaster Eurosport, Globosat in Brazil, Abu Dhabi Media in the Middle East and North Africa, Letv Sports in mainland China, beIN SPORTS across Southeast Asia and Australia, FOX Sports Latin America, FOX Sports Africa, and ESPN across their international platforms in Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania.

Schedule by Network:ESPN schedule  |  FOX & FS1  |  UniMás/UDN