MLS Is Back Tournament: TV Listings & More On Morning Kickoffs, Knockout Rounds

Although Florida continues to deal with a surge of identified cases of COVID-19, Major League Soccer remains confident (at least publicly) that it can pull off a safe and successful return to play. On Wednesday, the league released its full schedule of group matches, as well as TV times and listings for all group and knockout phase games.

Some first thoughts:

• Much was made about the news the tournament would include 9 am ET kickoff times, but they will be only a relatively minor part (more on why below). Seven of 54 games in total will kick during the morning hour.
• There has been a change to the competition rules, with the top three teams from Group A now automatically advancing to the knockout phase (You might remember a previous post here about the inherent unfairness of the tournament draw at the time).
• The ESPN family of networks will broadcast 28 of the tournament’s 54 games in English and in Spanish. FOX and FS1 will combine for 16 broadcasts in English, and TUDN will show 23 broadcasts in Spanish, including 13 that are simulcasts with FS1 English language telecasts. (All TUDN games will be available in English on Twitter.)

Read below for more on the tournament schedule and some other notes …

MLS Is Back Tournament Schedule/TV Listings

Group Stage

Wednesday, July 8

• Orlando City vs. Inter Miami CF (8 pm ET | ESPN)
• Nashville SC vs. Chicago Fire FC (10 pm ET | ESPN)

Thursday, July 9

• NYCFC vs. Philadelphia Union (9 am ET | ESPN)
• Montreal Impact vs. New England Revolution (8 pm ET | TUDN)
• FC Dallas vs. Vancouver Whitecaps (10:30 pm ET | TUDN)

Friday, July 10

• Toronto FC vs. D.C. United (8 pm ET | ESPN)
• Seattle Sounders vs. San Jose Earthquakes (10:30 pm ET | ESPN)

Saturday, July 11

• Atlanta United vs. New York Red Bulls (8 pm ET | FOX, TUDN)
• FC Cincinnati vs. Columbus Crew SC (10:30 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)

Sunday, July 12

• Sporting Kansas City vs. Minnesota United (8 pm ET | ESPN)
• Real Salt Lake vs. Colorado Rapids (10:30 pm ET | ESPN)

Monday, July 13

• LAFC vs. Houston Dynamo (8 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)
• LA Galaxy vs. Portland Timbers (10:30 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)

Tuesday, July 14

• Inter Miami CF vs. Chicago Fire FC (9 am ET | ESPN)
• Philadelphia Union vs. Nashville SC (8 pm ET | TUDN)
• Orlando City SC vs. New York City FC (10:30 pm ET | TUDN)

Wednesday, July 15

• Seattle Sounders vs. FC Dallas (9 am ET | ESPN)
• Montreal Impact vs. Toronto FC (8 pm ET | TUDN)
• San Jose Earthquakes vs. Vancouver Whitecaps (10:30 pm ET | TUDN)

Thursday, July 16

• Atlanta United vs. FC Cincinnati (9 am ET | ESPN)
• D.C. United vs. New England Revolution (8 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)
• Columbus Crew SC vs. New York Red Bulls (10:30 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)

Friday, July 17

• Sporting Kansas City vs. Colorado Rapids (8 pm ET | ESPN)
• Real Salt Lake vs. Minnesota United (8 pm ET | ESPN)

Saturday, July 18

• Portland Timbers vs. Houston Dynamo (8 pm ET | ESPN2)
• LAFC vs. LA Galaxy (10:30 pm ET | ESPN)

Sunday, July 19

• New York City FC vs. Chicago Fire FC (8 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)
• Philadelphia Union vs. Inter Miami CF (10:30 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)

Monday, July 20

• Orlando City SC vs. Nashville SC (9 am ET | ESPN)
• FC Dallas vs. San Jose Earthquakes (8 pm ET | TUDN)
• Seattle Sounders vs. Vancouver Whitecaps (10:30 pm ET (TUDN)

Tuesday, July 21

• Toronto FC vs. New England Revolution (9 am ET | ESPN)
• Atlanta United vs. Columbus Crew SC (8 pm ET | TUDN)
• D.C. United vs. Montreal Impact (10:30 pm ET | TUDN)

Wednesday, July 22

• Real Salt Lake vs. Sporting Kansas City (9 am ET | ESPN)
• FC Cincinnati vs. New York Red Bulls (8 pm ET | ESPN)
• Colorado Rapids vs. Minnesota United FC (10:30 pm ET | ESPN)

Thursday, July 23

• LA Galaxy vs. Houston Dynamo (8 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)
• LAFC vs. Portland Timbers (10:30 pm ET | ESPN2)

Round of 16

Saturday, July 25

• Group A winner vs Wild Card B/C/D/E (8 pm ET | ESPN)
• Group A 2nd place vs. Group C 2nd-place (10:30 pm ET | ESPN)

Sunday, July 26

• Group B winner vs. 3rd place Group A (8:30 pm ET | FS1)
• Group D winner vs. Wild Card B/C/E/F (11:00 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)

Monday, July 27

• Group C winner vs. Wild Card A/B/D/F (8:30 pm ET | FS1)
• Group B 2nd place vs. Group F 2nd place (11:00 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)

Tuesday, July 28

• Group E winner vs. Group D 2nd place (8 pm ET | ESPN)
• Group F winner vs. Group E 2nd place (10:30 pm ET | ESPN)

Quarterfinals

Thursday, July 30

• Quarterfinalist 1 vs. Quarterfinalist 2 (8 pm ET | ESPN)

Friday, July 31

• Quarterfinalist 3 vs. Quarterfinalist 4 (7:30 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)

Saturday, August 1

• Quarterfinalist 5 vs. Quarterfinalist 6 (8 pm ET | ESPN2)
• Quarterfinalist 7 vs. Quarterfinalist 8 (10:30 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)

Semifinals

Wednesday, August 5

• Semifinalist 1 vs. Semifinalist 2 (8 pm ET | FS1, TUDN)

Thursday, August 6

• Semifinalist 3 vs. Semifinalist 4 (8 pm ET | ESPN2)

Final

Tuesday, August 11

• Finalist 1 vs. Finalist 2 (8 pm ET | ESPN)

More On MLS In The Morning

If you’ve gotten this far, you’ve noticed that yes, the tournament will include seven games that kick off at 9 am ET.

And they are all on weekdays, eliminating comparisons to the Breakfast at Wimbledon telecasts tennis fans know well. There’s a pretty simple reason why: weekend morning games would conflict directly with telecasts from popular leagues in Europe that continue to play their matches through the summer.

Further, all the games will be on ESPN, which is a coup for the league to have ESPN’s popular ‘Get Up’ morning show as lead-in programming. If MLS can’t grow its modest but stable in broadcast ratings in that environment, it just might not be possible.

Another small but noteworthy detail is that the league did not unilaterally “punish” East Coast teams by assigning them all the morning matches. No teams play more than one early game. Of the 14 involved in them, eight are from the Eastern Time Zone, four from the Central, and one each from the Mountain (Real Salt Lake) and the Pacific (Seattle Sounders).

A Tournament — Not A Conference

Maybe the most welcome twist of the tournament is that the conference structure does not appear to factor into the knockout stages. Teams from the East and West can meet in a round of 16 and presumably in additional rounds prior to the final.

For a tournament expected to more or less replace the 2020 U.S. Open Cup on the calendar this year, it’s refreshing to see it address the often-criticized regionalization of the nation’s. In Cup Competitions in other nations, part of the allure is a random draw format that makes it possible for two giants to meet in the early rounds, or two local rivals to be separated until the final. That never happens in the U.S. Open Cup. But in the MLS is Back Tournament, it appears that at least the latter is possible.