How to watch Major League Soccer when the season resumes on July 8
- Major League Soccer (MLS), the biggest league in the United States, resumes its regular season with a tournament style event on July 8, 2020.
- The tournament is being held in a closed setting at ESPN's Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando.
- While ESPN is handling the production of the tournament, games will be broadcast across ESPN, Fox Sports, and TUDN.
With its appropriately named "MLS is Back Tournament," the MLS will become the second major sports league in the United States to return to play, only preceded by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The MLS, like all of the sporting world, was forced to put its season on pause in early March due to the coronavirus pandemic. All 26 of the MLS teams are participating in the tournament, which will run from July 8 to August 11.
The MLS tournament will be hosted at ESPN's Wide World of Sports complex on the outskirts of Orlando. Team players and staff, along with league officials and other essential members, reported to Orlando on July 1. They have created a bubble, or controlled environment, within the ESPN complex to limit those involved in the tournament to outside exposure.
However, the logistics of conducting such a large tournament during the coronavirus pandemic have proven to be taxing. Despite coronavirus testing and bubble protocol (which is outlined by The Athletic here), some players and staff have tested positive for COVID-19. Fourteen players and staff, including 11 from the FC Dallas team, have tested positive to date. The tournament is still scheduled to start on time, though FC Dallas' first match against the Vancouver Whitecaps has been postponed until a later date.
Updated on 07/6/2020 by Andrew Severin: We've completely revised this article to include details about the new MLS is Back Tournament starting on July 8. Danny Bakst contributed to an earlier version of this article.
Major storylines and tournament format
The MLS was just two weeks into its 2020 season when play was suspended on March 12. Though brief, this snippet provided fans with some information to assess the league against preseason predictions. For example, LAFC, Seattle Sounders, Atlanta United FC, and the New York Red Bulls all began the season with strong starts, justifying their status as early favorites for this year's Supporter's Shield. Other teams, like Sporting Kansas City, Minnesota United, and FC Dallas showed they're ready to make the jump to the contender tier.
With that being said, these predictions may not matter in a setting like the MLS is Back Tournament. The tournament sees the league split up its 26 teams into five groups of four, and one group of six. Each team will play the other teams in their group once. At the end of group play, the teams that finish in the top half of each group will qualify for the round of 16, along with the three best teams not in the top half of a group. From there, the tournament will progress from the round of 16 to quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final.
Given that each team only plays three or five games — depending on their group — before a knockout round, there is far more volatility in this tournament than a traditional season. As such, there will certainly be underdogs who advance and favorites who are bounced in the group stage.
While the tournament was formulated as a means of jump-starting the MLS season during the coronavirus pandemic, it has been awarded with a unique and legitimate significance by the league. The winner of the 2020 MLS is Back Tournament will automatically qualify for the next CONCACAF Champions League.
How to watch the MLS is Back Tournament
MLS tournament games will be aired on standard ESPN channels, the Fox Sports network, and TUDN. ESPN owns a slight majority of the space, but the breakdown of games on ESPN versus Fox Sports or TUDN is roughly half and half.
To watch MLS tournament games on ESPN, Fox Sports, or TUDN you will need a cable or satellite package with access to those channels, or a subscription to a live TV streaming service with support for those networks.
ESPN and Fox Sports are both available through Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, AT&T TV, and Youtube TV. Fox Sports is also available through FuboTV, but that service does not yet offer ESPN.
Of those options, the most affordable way to get live streaming access to both ESPN and Fox Sports is via a Sling TV Orange + Blue subscription. This plan features over 50 channels for $45 per month.
You can access all of these live TV streaming services on most major mobile devices, media players, and connected TV devices, including Amazon Fire, Apple, Android, Chromecast, PS4, Xbox One, Roku, Samsung Smart TVs, and more.
The MLS is Back Tournament kicks off on Wednesday, July 8, at 8:00 p.m. ET when Inter Miami CF takes on Orlando City FC.