Two of the 26 Major League Soccer games will be screened on national TV, with Fox Sports 1 broadcasting the Sporting KC and Orlando City fixture on Wednesday, and TUDN USA and Univision transmitting the Nashville and Houston Dynamo game on Saturday.
The remaining 23 matches are scattered across multiple streaming services, including FuboTV, ESPN app and ESPN+, Fox Sports Go, NBCSports.com and MLSsoccer.com.
MLS news and transfers
Winger Alberth Elis completed his dream move to Europe, joining Portuguese side Boavista on Monday, Sept. 21. The transfer fee was not disclosed by the Dynamo. However, the club shared that it will retain a future sell-on percentage and performance-based add-on incentives. Elis, 24, had 34 goals and 27 assists over 88 appearances since 2017. He will join former FC Dallas right-back Reggie Cannon, who played his first game for Boavista last weekend.
On more transfer news, the Colorado Rapids traded forward Kei Kamara to Minnesota United for allocation money. Minnesota United will be Kamara's ninth MLS club since being picked by the Columbus Crew in the 2006 Super Draft. Kamara, 36, will come in handy for manager Adrian Heath, who is looking to add depth to his squad. The Sierra Leone international scored two goals in six games for the Rapids this season.
Finally, yet importantly, St. Louis City SC broke the previous 24-hour ticket deposit record in just 15 minutes on Thursday, Sept 17. The club announced that it received 30,000 deposits in the first 15 minutes and 50,000 after 24 hours. These numbers are the largest in the history of Major League Soccer in terms of season ticket deposits. A number of these fans will get to enjoy St. Louis SC games in their future 22,500 seat, $250 million soccer stadium that will be constructed in the city's Downtown West district.
Game of the Week: Sporting Kansas City vs Orlando City SC
The cross-conference matchup between Sporting KC and Orlando City will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m. ET and available on FS1.
Sporting Kansas City
The Wizards are looking to bounce back from a tight 3-2 loss to FC Dallas last weekend. The loss ultimately resulted in Sporting KC losing the lead in the Western Conference. SKC head coach Peter Vermes expressed his frustrations about the result, stating that they were punished by "silly mistakes" and his distaste for Dallas' time-wasting tactics.
Winger Johnny Russel scored Sporting's two goals against Dallas and the game-winning goal against Minnesota United in their previous match. Russel will be the player to look forward to in Wednesday's match against Orlando City, but do not forget to pay attention to SKC's strong midfield core, consisting of 22-year-old Felipe Hernandez, 18-year-old Gianluca Busio and Ethiopia's Gadi Kinda.
Orlando City SC
Orlando City enters as favorites in this matchup, having won four and drawn two in their last six games. The Lions are coming off a 4-1 home win over the Chicago Fire on Saturday, Sept. 19. Moreover, Orlando has scored 14 goals and only conceded six goals in their last six games. Orlando City manager Oscar Pareja believes that his team has what it takes to succeed in the upcoming postseason.
"The best thing that I can take out of this night and this match the way it went is that we have the consistency we needed during the game to suffer the tough moments," Pareja said. "We didn't get desperate, we accepted that we had a rival with initiative too and they created chances. When that happens and you absorb that pressure and you absorb those difficult moments and then as a team, you overcome them and then that means that we're getting mature. The game today has a lot of lessons for us, and as I said we're proud of this group of guys that are growing and making a case in the league and hopefully we can continue with this."
The Lions will be looking to defeat Sporting KC for the first time in franchise history.
Talk of the Week: MLS Decision Day 2020
Major League Soccer released the schedule for the remainder of the regular season leading up to MLS Decision Day 2020 on Nov. 8.
MLS Decision Day presented by AT&T will feature 13 matches where all 26 teams will play. The seven Eastern conference games will kick off simultaneously at 3:30 p.m. ET before the six Western Conference games kick off simultaneously at 6:30 p.m. ET on Nov. 8.
The flexible schedule on Decision day will allow broadcast partners to showcase the most important matches to national audiences:
- ABC and ESPN Deportes: Select Eastern Conference game at 3:30 p.m. ET
- FS1 and FOX Deportes: Select Western Conference game at 6:30 p.m. ET
- TSN: NY Red Bulls vs. Toronto FC at 3:30 p.m. ET and Vancouver Whitecaps vs. LA Galaxy at 6:30 p.m. ET
- TVA: Montreal Impact vs. DC United at 3:30 p.m. ET
The three Canadian clubs will continue to have US-based home games as the MLS continues to follow travel protocols:
- Montreal Impact: Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.
- Toronto FC: Rentschler Field in Hartford, Conn.
- Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Providence Park in Portland, Ore.
Teams will not play the same opponent more than four times during the 2020 regular season, including MLS is Back Tournament group stage games. Major League Soccer will announce details for the two rescheduled matches – Nashville vs. FC Dallas and LA Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders – at a later date.
