Philadelphia Union Announce 2016 MLS Regular Season Schedule
Broadcast partners 6abc, CSN, TCN return for 2016; home opener vs. New England on 6abc
From PhiladelphiaUnion.com
CHESTER, Pa. (Jan. 7, 2015) – Philadelphia Union released the club's full 34-match regular season league schedule on Thursday, following the official announcement from Major League Soccer. In 2016, the Union will open its seventh season in MLS at FC Dallas on March 6, and conclude the season on Oct. 23 at Talen Energy Stadium against New York Red Bulls. The team’s home opener will be on Sunday, March 20 at 2 p.m. against New England Revolution with the game aired lived on 6abc.
On Monday, Jan. 11, partial season ticket (five-game and nine-game) plans will go on sale at 1 p.m. On Wednesday, Jan. 20, single game tickets and group packages will go on sale at 10 a.m. with the club also releasing its theme nights for the 2016 season. Fans interested in season tickets or group deposits, can order now, by visiting PhiladelphiaUnion.com/tickets or by calling 1-877-21-UNION.
Once again in 2016, all 34 regular season matches for the Philadelphia Union will be shown live. The club will have three nationally televised matches, including two on UniMas and one on Fox Sports 1. Each of the remaining 31 matches will air locally, either on 6abc, Comcast SportsNet or The Comcast Network. All matches can also be streamed live throughout the country via the MLS Live app.
The breakdown for this year’s schedule will resemble that of 2015 – following the addition of New York City FC and Orlando City SC – creating two, 10-team conferences. Each team will play six teams in their own conference three times, while playing the remaining three teams in their conference twice (home-and-home) for a total of 24 matches. The remaining 10 matches will come by playing each team in the opposite conference one time – with five coming at home and five away.
Eastern Conference Opponents
Three matches against (two home): D.C. United, New York Red Bulls, Orlando City SC.
Three matches against (two away): Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew SC, Montreal Impact.
Two matches against (home and home): New England Revolution, New York City FC, Toronto FC.
Western Conference Opponents
Home: LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Sporting Kansas City, Vancouver Whitecaps.
Away: Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders.
The Union will play five mid-week matches this year, all on Wednesday. They will be May 11, May 25, June 1, June 22 and Aug. 24. They’ll play two more matches on Friday (both televised on UniMas) on Apr. 8 and May 20. The Union will have six matches on Sunday, including both the season opener and season finale – in a return of MLS’ Decision Day. Their remaining 21 matches will come on the usual match date, Saturday.
The Union, like the rest of MLS, will break after June 1 until June 18 during the Copa America Centenario, hosted in the United States. The 16-team tournament features all teams from CONMEBOL and six teams from CONCACAF. Philadelphia will host three matches at Lincoln Financial Field on June 9, 11 and 14.
The full 2016 Philadelphia Union schedule is listed below:
|
GM
|
DATE
|
OPPONENT
|
TIME (ET)
|
|
1
|
Sunday, March 6
|
at FC Dallas
|
3 p.m.
|
|
2
|
Saturday, March 12
|
at Columbus Crew SC
|
TBD
|
|
3
|
Sunday, March 20
|
New England Revolution
|
2 p.m.
|
|
4
|
Saturday, April 2
|
at Chicago Fire
|
TBD
|
|
5
|
Friday, April 8
|
Orlando City SC
|
TBD
|
|
6
|
Saturday, April 16
|
at Seattle Sounders FC
|
TBD
|
|
7
|
Saturday, April 23
|
New York City FC
|
TBD
|
|
8
|
Saturday, April 30
|
San Jose Earthquakes
|
TBD
|
|
9
|
Wednesday, May 11
|
LA Galaxy
|
TBD
|
|
10
|
Saturday, May 14
|
at Montreal Impact
|
TBD
|
|
11
|
Friday, May 20
|
D.C. United
|
TBD
|
|
12
|
Wednesday, May 25
|
at Orlando City SC
|
TBD
|
|
13
|
Saturday, May 28
|
at Colorado Rapids
|
TBD
|
|
14
|
Wednesday, June 1
|
Columbus Crew SC
|
TBD
|
|
15
|
Saturday, June 18
|
at New York City FC
|
TBD
|
|
16
|
Wednesday, June 22
|
Chicago Fire
|
TBD
|
|
17
|
Saturday, June 25
|
Vancouver Whitecaps
|
TBD
|
|
18
|
Saturday, July 2
|
at Houston Dynamo
|
TBD
|
|
19
|
Saturday, July 9
|
D.C. United
|
TBD
|
|
20
|
Sunday, July 17
|
New York Red Bulls
|
TBD
|
|
21
|
Saturday, July 23
|
at Montreal Impact
|
TBD
|
|
22
|
Sunday, July 31
|
Real Salt Lake
|
TBD
|
|
23
|
Saturday, Aug. 6
|
at D.C. United
|
TBD
|
|
24
|
Saturday, Aug. 13
|
at New England Revolution
|
TBD
|
|
25
|
Saturday, Aug. 20
|
Toronto FC
|
TBD
|
|
26
|
Wednesday, Aug. 24
|
at Columbus Crew SC
|
TBD
|
|
27
|
Saturday, Aug. 27
|
Sporting Kansas City
|
TBD
|
|
28
|
Saturday, Sept. 3
|
at Chicago Fire
|
TBD
|
|
29
|
Saturday, Sept. 10
|
Montreal Impact
|
TBD
|
|
30
|
Saturday, Sept. 17
|
at Portland Timbers
|
6 p.m.
|
|
31
|
Saturday, Sept. 24
|
at Toronto FC
|
TBD
|
|
32
|
Saturday, Oct. 1
|
at New York Red Bulls
|
TBD
|
|
33
|
Sunday, Oct. 16
|
Orlando City SC
|
TBD
|
|
34
|
Sunday, Oct. 23
|
New York Red Bulls
|
TBD
|
ABOUT PHILADELPHIA UNION
Philadelphia was awarded the 16th Major League Soccer franchise on Feb. 28, 2008 and the Union were officially named on May 11, 2009. Owned and operated by Keystone Sports and Entertainment, LLC, the group launched the Philadelphia Union's inaugural season on March 25, 2010 and opened Talen Energy Stadium on June 27. Throughout the club’s six-year history, the Union have reached the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final in 2014 and 2015, and have also reached the MLS playoffs in 2011. In 2016, the Union will open their seventh year at Talen Energy Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium that has hosted internationally known clubs Celtic, Chivas de Guadalajara, Everton, Schalke 04, Aston Villa, Pumas UNAM, Stoke City, Crystal Palace and AFC Bournemouth. For more information about Philadelphia Union, visit www.philadelphiaunion.com.