It’s Opening Weekend as Major League Soccer’s 2013 season kicks off with nine games. The opener features Sporting Kansas City at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday at PPL Park in Philadelphia. The match will be available as a live stream via MLS Live. You can also take advantage of the Free Preview being offered by Direct Kick. Details below along with the full list of games.
Sporting KC and the Union met three times last year, twice in regular season play and once in Open Cup play. Sporting defeated the Union 2-0 in July to advance to the final of the U.S. Open Cup.
Here are a few season previews to consider as you prepare for the games:
NBC Sports looks at Sporting KC
The NY Times looks at the Eastern Conference
Grant Wahl at Sports Illustrated looks at the League
Sporting Kansas City unveiled the team’s new primary jersey for the 2013 and 2014 seasons on Wednesday. Can you name the players modeling the new look in the photo above?
MLS is giving you the chance to catch every match in 2013. The MLS Direct Kick TV package is returning and broadcasting matches that are not covered by MLS national TV partners. The package includes up to 236 regular season games and select playoff matches. MLS Direct Kick is available at $79 for residential customers and $100 for commercial establishments.
If you want to try it before you buy it, the Direct Kick package will be offered as a free preview during the first 2013 MLS weekends (March 2-3 and March 9-10). Subscription info:
DirecTV: 1-800-GET-SPORTS, www.directv.com/mls
Dish: 1-877-DISH-PPV or www.mydish.com/soccer
iN Demand (major US cable systems):1-888-SPORTS-IN or www.indemand.com
MLS LIVE is also available as an online/mobile version of Direct Kick. MLS LIVE offers total access to MLS including high quality HD streams and highlights. Sporting Kansas City season ticket members will receive a discount on MLS LIVE subscriptions. Contact client services for more information.
I purchased MLS Live last year and it was much improved over the previous year and my primary means of keeping up with games regardless of my location which was nice. There were some issues with the quality of stream as the season went on but I’ve renewed this year. Last year I used the iPhone/iPad version and I’m looking forward to using the Android version this year on my Google Nexus 7. I recommend both!
Saturday
Sporting K.C. at Philadelphia, 3 p.m.
Toronto at Vancouver, 5:30 p.m.
D.C. United at Houston, 7 p.m. (NBCSN)
Colorado at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
Montreal at Seattle, 9:30 p.m.
Columbus at Chivas U.S.A., 9:30 p.m.
Sunday
Chicago at Los Angeles, 4 p.m.
Red Bulls at Portland, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Real Salt Lake at San Jose, 9 p.m.
