Don't miss a single MLS game this season with our guide to watch all the action online
While England's Premier League and Spain's La Liga are more than halfway through their 2019-20 seasons, America and Canada's Major League Soccer (MLS) season is just getting started. The MLS 2020 regular season kicks off on Saturday, February 29th and will run all the way to October when the best teams in the league will compete in the MLS Cup Playoffs to see which two teams will battle it out in this year's MLS Cup.
Keep reading to find out how to watch every single MLS game this season as we'll show you all of the best options for watching the matches on TV or to stream them online.
What is the MLS?
MLS, which stands for Major League Soccer, is the highest level of professional soccer in the United States and Canada. While the league was founded in 1993 as part of the United States' bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the first season took place several years later in 1996 with just 10 teams.
The league's first championship game known as the MLS Cup was won by D.C. United and in the years since, D.C. United and the Los Angeles Galaxy have won the most league titles with each team winning four championships each. MLS may lack some of the prestige of England's Premier League or Spain's La Liga, it has expanded over the years and there are now 26 teams playing in the league.
The 2020 MLS season will begin on February 29, 2020 and will conclude on October 4, 2020. This season will also mark the first time in which each team does not play every other team at least once.
How to watch MLS from anywhere online
While MLS games are readily available from within the U.S. and Canada, if you're looking to stream the games online from outside either of these countries you'll likely need a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to do so because of geo-blocking. For those unfamiliar, a VPN is a great tool that not only helps secure your internet connection but also allows you to easily appear as though you are in a different location. This can be quite useful when trying to connect to streams that are only available in specific areas, like the MLS ones.
There are lots of different VPNs out there, but we recommend ExpressVPN for a number of reasons. It offers fast connection speeds, a wide variety of server locations, it's very reliable and the customer service is top notch as well. Right now, you can also sign up and get 15 months of service for just $99.95, which is a savings of nearly 50 percent and you also get 3 extra months for free. There are also a bunch of other great options to consider, and some of them are even on sale.
Once you have the VPN installed, you can easily connect to a server in the US or Canada and use one of the streaming options below to tune in and watch the games live online.
ExpressVPN
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Watch MLS on television in the U.S.
If you live in the US and want to watch MLS on television this season, you have plenty of options to do so as the league's 25th season will see an all-time high 46 network broadcast windows across ABC, Fox, Univision and UniMás. ABC will show 10 games, Fox will show 4 games, Univision will show 14 games and UniMás will show 18 games. Since all of these channels are broadcast for free over-the-air, you won't need a cable subscription to watch the games they show and you can even tune in using an over-the-air antenna.
However, you will need either a cable TV subscription or a subscription to a streaming service to watch the 31 games that will be broadcast on ESPN and the 28 games which will be broadcast on FS1.
How to live stream MLS games online
If you're not interested in signing up for an expensive cable TV subscription just to watch MLS this season, don't worry as there are now a number of streaming services, all at different price points, to help you follow your favorite team all the way to this year's MLS Cup. It's also worth noting that the official MLS YouTube channel will show game highlights for free all season long.
You can live stream MLS online by signing up for fuboTV, Hulu With Live TV, Sling TV, AT&T TV Now, YouTube TV or ESPN+. However, each of these streaming services gives you access to different channels and not all of them will allow you to watch every game this season. To make things easier for you, we've broken down which channels each service offers below.
ESPN+
ESPN+ is just $4.99 per month, making it the cheapest streaming option to watch MLS this season and the service has the exclusive rights to MLS Live which was the league's former subscription service to watch out-of-market games. In addition to being able to watch out-of-market regular season games live, ESPN+ also includes exclusive MLS originals and studio shows such as We Are LAFC and MLS Rewind. You won't be able to watch every MLS game using this service but its extras help make up for this.
ESPN+
This is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to watch MLS 2020. You can sign up now with no long-term commitment.
Hulu with Live TV
Hulu With Live TV $54.99 per month and gives you access to 67 channels including Fox in most areas as well as ESPN, ESPN2, FS1 and ABC. You won't be able to watch MLS games on Univision and UniMás but you will be able to watch two streams simultaneously and the service also includes a free 50-hour cloud DVR in case you want to record some games to watch later.
Hulu
Hulu's Live TV package is a great option for a wide variety of purposes, including streaming the MLS 2020 season.
Fubo TV
FuboTV starts at $54.99 per month and gives you access to Fox in most areas of the U.S. as well as FS1. However, the service does not carry ESPN or ESPN2 so you won't be able to watch the games broadcast on the network. The standard plan will even let you watch Spanish language games on Univision and UniMás. FuboTV also includes a 7-day free trial so you can test out the service for yourself.
Sling TV
SlingTV starting at $20 per month and gives you three packages to choose from and while the service's Sling Orange and Sling Blue plans are cheaper at $20 for the first month and then $30 after, you'll need its Orange & Blue plan which starts at $35 and then increases to $45 per month to get access to all the channels you'll need to watch every MLS game this season. SlingTV also includes 10 hours of Cloud DVR storage for free as well as its own on-demand library.
AT&T TV Now
AT&T TV Now has plans starting at $65 per month and is one of the more expensive streaming services and this is because all of its plans include HBO. With the service's Plus plan, you get access to over 45 channels including Fox, FS1, ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and Univision depending on where you live. AT&T TV Now also allows you to stream on three devices at once and record up to 20 hours of content with its DVR service.
YouTube TV
YouTube TV comes $49.99 per month and gives you access to over 70 channels including ESPN, ESPN2, FS1 and Fox depending on where you live. If you are a Los Angeles FC fan, then the service just might be for you as it gives you exclusive coverage of the team's games. YouTube TV lets you stream on three devices simultaneously and it even includes a 9-month unlimited cloud DVR.
Live stream MLS in Canada
Canadian MLS fans also have several options to watch this season's games on TV or online.
TSN will show games from all three Canadian teams including every Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps match. While you can watch these games on TV if you're already a cable subscriber, you can also sign up for the network's own streaming service, TSN Direct, for either $19.99 per month or you can buy a Day Pass for $4.99 if there is a particular game you want to watch.
Additionally, TVA Sports will show every Montreal Impact game this season and CTV will broadcast eight MLS games on network television.
How many MLS teams are there?
For the 2020 season, MLS will have a total of 26 teams thanks to the addition of Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC. However, the league will continue to expand to reach 30 teams in the coming years. Austin and Charlotte will both get their own teams in 2021 while St. Louis and Sacramento's teams will join the league in 2022.
The 26 teams currently in the league are grouped into divisions based on their location with 13 teams in the Eastern Conference and 13 teams in the Western Conference.
Eastern Conference
- Atlanta United FC
- Chicago Fire FC
- FC Cincinnati
- Columbus Crew SC
- D.C. United
- Inter Miami CF
- Montreal Impact
- New England Revolution
- New York City FC
- New York Red Bulls
- Orlando City SC
- Philadelphia Union
- Toronto FC
Western Conference
- Colorado Rapids
- FC Dallas
- Houston Dynamo
- La Galaxy
- Los Angeles FC
- Minnesota United FC
- Nashville SC
- Portaland Timbers
- Real Salt Lake
- San Jose Earthquakes
- Seattle Sounders FC
- Sporting Kansas City
- Vancouver Whitecaps FC
How many games are in the MLS 2020 season?
In total there will be 884 regular season games in the MLS this year as each of the 26 clubs in the league will play 34 games. Of those 34 games, 17 will be played at home and 17 will be played on the road. Each team will face the other teams in their own conference twice which leaves 10 open dates to play 10 of the 13 teams in the opposite conference. As a result of this, each team will miss out on playing three others in the opposite conference unless they happen to meet in the 2020 MLS Cup.
What is the schedule for the MLS 2020 season?
The MLS regular season will begin on February 29, 2020 and will end on October 4, 2020. The MLS Cup Playoffs will then take place from October to November and the MLS Cup 2020 will be held on November 7.
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