Your Guide To Following Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer kicks off the 2023 season this weekend, and it’s sure to be one of the most fun, innovative, and exciting years the league has ever seen. To make sure you don’t miss out, here’s a guide on how to consume the league, with a little bit extra on following our hometown club, the New York Red Bulls.
Watching MLS
Up until this year, Major League Soccer matches have been televised on multiple networks on multiple days with far too many different kickoff times, and blackouts galore.
That all changes in 2023 with the league’s 10-year $2.5 billion deal with Apple. MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+ is the new home for Major League Soccer, streaming every single match with no blackouts.
The new deal means there will be a ton of enhancements and resources poured into the broadcasts and the league. With the new deal, the large majority of matches will take place on Wednesdays and Saturdays with kickoffs at 7:30 P.M. local time.
There will be pre and post-game shows for every match, the MLS 360 whip-around show (think NFL Red Zone) that will take folks around the league and update on goals and action as it happens.
Sam Lloyd – Photo: MLS Soccer League
Bradley Phillips-Wright – Photo: MLS Soccer League
Shep Messing – Photo: MLS Soccer League
Some of the top announcers and color commentators in the business will be part of the coverage, and there’s definitely a Red Bulls lean with a lot of the hires, including former MSG stalwarts Steve Cangialosi and Shep Messing, as well as former Red Bulls players Bradley Wright Phillips, Lloyd Sam, and Sacha Klejstan.
Although MLS Season Pass is a subscription ($79.99 for the season for Apple TV+ subscribers), some 40% of the matches this season will be in front of the paywall with no subscription required.
Accenting to the Apple deal, FOX Sports has renewed its partnership with MLS featuring 34 matches this season between FOX and FS1. This weekend they will have the season opener on FOX when Nashville SC hosts NYCFC at 4:30 PM ET, as well as Sunday’s matchup between Seattle Sounders FC and Colorado Rapids at 8:00 PM ET on FS1. Announcers John Strong and Stu Holden will be back calling the matches for FOX Sports.
Websites, We Got Websites
Sometimes derided because it’s the league site, MLSSoccer.com is an invaluable tool for learning about the league, the clubs, the players, and everything adjacent to MLS. Many of the long-time MLS staff writers will be part of MLS Season Pass as well.
Another daily online visit for me is the MLS sub on Reddit. The r/MLS community has grown exponentially over the last several years as the league has expanded and more people delve into our top domestic league. Over 500,000 people are subscribed to r/MLS, and there’s never a shortage of news and discussion of the league from all over the world. The community there really is top-notch, and it’s an excellent place to interact with other MLS fans.
If you are a sports nut, you’re probably already subscribed to The Athletic. There is no better site covering sports of all kinds, and their soccer coverage both domestically and abroad is second to none. Along with MLS Season Pass, a subscription to The Athletic is crucial.
Backheeled.com was started by Joe Lowery, one of the co-hosts of the Total Soccer Show podcast (which we’ll highlight later). Backheeled goes deep on tactics and analysis, and it’s excellent for people who really want to dig into those aspects of their favorite teams. There’s a lot of other domestic soccer coverage worth your time on Backheeled as well, from USL to NWSL to the national teams.
Of course, Twitter is a terrific place to follow the club and interact with fans, just be sure to follow New York Red Bulls and when tweeting use the hashtag #RBNY.
Podcasts Galore For Your Soccer-Lovin Ears
There are so many great podcasts out there covering MLS, and it seems more are cropping up weekly. These are the ones I have in regular rotation.
ExtraTime comes from the folks at MLSSoccer.com, including host Andrew Wiebe and his partners in soccer Matt Doyle, David Gass, and Tom Boegert (Jersey Shore lad!), as well as former players Calen Carr and Charlie Davies. These guys are a ton of fun to listen to, and few are as knowledgeable about the league, players, and clubs. The show is also on YouTube, and after two-plus years of remote recording will be back in the new MLS Season Pass studios in short order.
Total Soccer Show covers MLS as well as the top European leagues, and the analysis and banter is always top notch. Taylor Rockwell is the man behind TSS, who started the show on public radio in Richmond, VA back in 2009 with late co-host Daryl Grove. The show is now a four-person affair, with Ryan Bailey taking the lead host role along with Rockwell, the aforementioned Joe Lowery, and Graham Ruthven, prolific soccer writer and buyer of soccer kits from Glasgow. The mix of accents and perspective always make TSS a great listen.
Two of the top soccer writers in the country are Sam Stejskal and Paul Tenorio of The Athletic, and they co-host a weekly podcast called Allocation Disorder. If you love collective bargaining, contracts, insider info, and analysis of MLS roster rules this is the pod for you.
One of the great things about having followed MLS for so long is seeing the growth of the sport internationally, which brings us to the MLS UK Show. Henry Hewitt and Elliot Holman are two Brits that fell in love with the parity and chaos of Major League Soccer, especially as their own clubs had been leaving them little to cheer about (shout out Bolton Wanderers and Norwich City!). Henry adopted Atlanta United as his club, and Elliot is an Orlando City fan, so the MLS UK Show derby banter when those teams meet is always fun. Like myself, both works in radio and their broadcasting chops make for a slick show that’s a really fun listen. MLS UK Show is also on YouTube.
New Jersey Is Red
My New York Red Bulls have made the playoffs for thirteen consecutive years now (tied for the longest streak ever in MLS), but despite three Supporters’ Shields for the league’s best regular season record, MLS Cup continues to elude them.
Expectations are high for this season as the club has brought in some much-needed offensive help including Corey Burke from Philadelphia Union and Belgian forward Dante Vanzeir, as well as adding highly touted rookie Peter Stroud from Chester, NJ. The Red Bulls currently have several young homegrown players including Daniel Edelman from Warren, NJ, John Tolkin from Chatham, and Serge Ngoma from North Plainfield.
The first stop online to check out dedicated Red Bulls coverage is of course the team site. The Red Bulls communications and content teams are terrific, and there’s never a shortage of great stuff to check out there and on the socials.
No one, and I mean no one, has put more blood, sweat, tears, and passion into supporting and spreading the word of the New York Red Bulls than Mark Fishkin and the Seeing Red podcast. Mark has been there since the club’s first match as the New York/New Jersey Metrostars in 1996, a real MLS O.G. In 2010 Mark launched Seeing Red, and in that time he and his co-hosts have brought incredible independent coverage and analysis of the Red Bulls, and his interviews with players, broadcasters, and analysts of opposing clubs is second to none. Mark and co-host Joe Goldstein do phenomenal work on the show, and it’s a treat to listen to each week. Full disclosure: I’m also the announcer voice on the Seeing Red intros and outros, my little contribution.
The global reach of MLS will be even greater this year with the Apple TV deal, and that will surely mean more club-centric podcasts from overseas as folks find the league and find their team. It seems nearly every MLS club is now represented by a supporters group or podcast in the U.K. now, and that include the RBNY UK Show. Ronnie Piper and Luke Hume discovered the Red Bulls several years ago, falling in love with club. As a means to chat more about the Red Bulls, they started the RBNY UK podcast in 2021. I’ll admit (even for an Anglophile such as myself) their accents are a bit thick, but their passion is undeniable.
MLS Opening Weekend
Here are some games to look out for in this opening weekend of the MLS 2023 Season. A reminder that all games will be in front of the paywall this weekend on Apple TV+.
Nashville SC v. NYCFC (4:30 P.M. ET, FOX)
While most games will be at 7:30 P.M. locally, the very first match of the 2023 season gets its own slot a few hours early. Nashville surprised a lot of folks with their run of form last season, knocking out the Red Bulls in the first round of playoffs before losing to L.A. Galaxy in the next round. League MVP Hany Mukhtar returns for Nashville as they host an NYCFC team that seems incomplete as the season begins
Orlando City SC v. New York Red Bulls (7:30 P.M. ET)
These are two teams for which pundits have high expectations. Both clubs have improved tremendously in the off-season and they should each be guaranteed playoff spots, if not challenging Philadelphia Union for the Supporters’ Shield. The temperature will be near 90 Saturday, so we’ll see how fit everyone is in this first match.
Philadelphia Union v. Columbus Crew (7:30 P.M. ET)
Philadelphia came within a penalty kick of winning MLS Cup last year, and they are a strong favorite to return to the championship match. Jim Curtin has proved himself to be a brilliant coach, and I would not be surprised to see his head over to a European club in the near future. The Crew have a brilliant manager of their own as they poached Coach of the Year candidate Wilfred Nancy from Montreal. Nancy worked wonders with his squad last year, and Crew faithful hope he can do that again and return Columbus to the Cup.
FC Austin v. St. Louis CITY SC (8:30 P.M. ET)
Austin blew everyone away with not only the atmosphere in their terrific new stadium but the run they went on in just their second season. The atmosphere at Q2 Stadium will be insane as the Verde & Black host the inaugural match for MLS newcomers St. Louis CITY SC. Why is CITY capitalized? Who knows? Former Red Bull assistant coach Bradley Carnell will lead the team out, hoping to avoid the misery that befalls most first-year expansion teams.
LA Galaxy v. LAFC (9:30 P.M. ET)
The first match of the season for these clubs will be massive as El Traffico will take place at The Rose Bowl in front of a sold-out crowd that is on pace to set a new MLS attendance record. The Galaxy will take on reigning MLS Cup champs LAFC as they look for that rare back-to-back title.
And there you go! I hope this guide helps as we dive into what promises to be an incredible season for Major League Soccer and the New York Red Bulls. Come on you Red Bulls!
