- Major League Soccer (MLS), the biggest league in the United States, begins its 25th season on February 29, 2020.
- While not every game will be available, you can watch most MLS content across ESPN platforms, including 345 out-of-market games live via ESPN+.
- Beyond ESPN, other options to watch the MLS season include games airing on Fox Sports, Univision, and Twitter.
- To get access to all MLS coverage, we suggest using a combination of ESPN+ alongside a live TV streaming service, like Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, or FuboTV.
Major League Soccer (MLS) is set to kick off its 25th season on February 29, 2020. Regular season games will run through the finale on October 4, 2020. Playoff games will then follow, leading to the MLS Cup on November 7, 2020. Various matchups are scheduled to air through ESPN+, Fox Sports, Univision, and Twitter.
For the 2020 season, MLS hopes to foster a strong connection with the US sports television audience. Considering the never-ending appetite for great live sports content (just look at the early success of the XFL) and the ability to stream live content virtually anywhere, this may be more of a possibility than ever before.
This is an important year for the MLS for a couple of reasons. Most importantly, the broadcast rights for MLS content are set to expire in 2022, meaning that there isn't much time to prove to potential suitors what these TV rights are worth. Additionally, even with two new teams debuting in 2020, MLS has hopes to attract more star players and fans by continuing league expansion to 30 teams, which would only be easier with a big-money broadcast deal in 2022.
Major storylines heading into the 2020 season
Beyond the impending auction for the MLS broadcast rights, there are plenty of fascinating storylines on-the-field. Following the trend for aging international superstars, like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Beckham, and Wayne Rooney, one of the biggest names in the sport, Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, has signed with MLS for the 2020 season. He joins his fellow Mexico national team member Carlos Vela on the LA Galaxy.
In addition to Chicharito, the MLS has two new teams making their debut in 2020 — Inter Miami CF is joining the eastern conference and Nashville SC is joining the western conference. With these two new clubs, the league now has a total of 26 teams.
Finally, the Seattle Sounders FC hope to defend their 2019 title this season, led by players like Cristian Roldan, Stefan Frei, and Jordan Morris.
How to watch
Select MLS games will be aired on ESPN+, standard ESPN channels, the Fox Sports network, and Univision. In addition, some games will broadcast live on Twitter.
ESPN owns a majority of the space, with 345 out-of-market games airing exclusively on the ESPN+ subscription service. Beyond the MLS, an ESPN+ subscription also grants you exclusive access to the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, as well as games from other soccer leagues like Serie A, the FA Cup, Copa America, the English Football League, the Carabao Cup, UEFA Nations League, Coppa Italia, Dutch Eredivisie, and more.
A subscription to ESPN+ costs $4.99 per month, or $49.99 per year, or you can bundle it alongside Hulu and Disney Plus for $12.99 per month.
To get access to the games airing on other channels, you can sign up for live TV streaming services, like Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, or FuboTV.
You can access ESPN+, Hulu, Sling, and FuboTV on most major mobile device, media players, and connected TV devices, including Amazon Fire, Apple, Android, Chromecast, PS4, Xbox One, Roku, Samsung Smart TVs, and more.