The Union’s first-round playoff schedule is out, and it’s weird

This article was updated after the Wild Card round.

Major League Soccer released the schedule for the first round of the playoffs on Sunday night, and it’s unlike anything the Union has seen before.

Of course, this year’s playoff format as a whole is totally new: an early wild-card round, then a best-of-three first full round, then single-game rounds the rest of the way. The league’s decision to abandon having single-game rounds the whole way was encouraged by Apple, and by lower-ranked teams that wanted to be guaranteed a home game regardless of merit. The format was announced in February, and you can expect much of the criticism that arose then to rise again now.

But what’s truly strange about the Union’s first-round series against the New England Revolution is the amount of time between games. The series will start Saturday at Subaru Park (5 p.m., Apple TV), a week after the teams met at Gillette Stadium in the regular-season finale. Game 2 at New England won’t be until Nov. 8 (7 p.m., FS1, Fox Deportes, Apple TV), 10 days after Game 1. Then if a Game 3 is necessary, it will be just four days after Game 2, on Nov. 12 at Subaru Park (3 p.m., Apple TV).

There are some external factors involved. The Union likely don’t want to have a game at the same time as a potential Phillies World Series game, and the Revolution share Gillette Stadium with the NFL’s Patriots. The Game 1 kickoff time and the Game 2 date took care of that. Nov. 12 is the Eagles’ bye weekend, so the Union won’t have to worry about fans splitting their attention.

MLS and Apple structured the round’s overall schedule so there will be games on Oct. 25, 28, 29, and 30, Nov. 1, then every night from Nov. 4-12 (counting all the potential Game 3s). We’ll see if that’s better than having a lot of games on weekends. All of the games will be streamed on Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass, with seven games televised on Fox cable channels: FS1 in English and Fox Deportes or FS2 in Spanish.

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As for how the best-of-three format works, a tied game after regulation will go straight to penalty kicks. The shootout winner wins that game. Yes, that means a team could win a series by playing two scoreless ties and winning the ensuing shootouts.

After the first round ends, the playoffs will stop for the November FIFA window. The conference semifinals are to be played Nov. 25-26, with the schedule to be set after the first round ends. The conference finals are set for Dec. 2-3, and the championship game is set for Dec. 9 at 4 p.m.

Here’s a look at the schedule for each wild-card and first-round series matchup.

Game 1: Saturday at Union, 5 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 2: Nov. 8 at New England, 7 p.m. (FS1, Fox Deportes, Apple TV)

Game 3 (if necessary): Nov. 12 at Union, 3 p.m. (Apple TV)

Wild-card game: Wednesday at New York, 7:30 p.m. (Apple TV)

New York beat Charlotte, 5-2.

Game 1: Sunday at Cincinnati, 8 p.m. (FS1, Fox Deportes, Apple TV)

Game 2: Nov. 4 at New York, 7 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 3 (if necessary): Nov. 11 at Cincinnati, 2 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 1: Nov. 1 at Columbus, 7:30 p.m. (FS1, FS2, Apple TV)

Game 2: Nov. 7 at Atlanta, 7 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 3: Nov. 12 at Columbus, 7 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 1: Monday at Orlando, 7 p.m. (FS1, Fox Deportes, Apple TV)

Game 2: Nov. 7 at Nashville, 9 p.m.

Game 3 (if necessary): Nov. 12 at Orlando, 5 p.m. (Apple TV)

» READ MORE: Union fall in regular season finale at New England Revolution, 2-1

Wild-card game: Wednesday at Kansas City, 9:30 p.m. (Apple TV)

Kansas City advanced on penalty kicks after a scoreless tie.

Game 1: Sunday at St. Louis, 10 p.m. (FS1, Fox Deportes, Apple TV)

Game 2: Nov. 5 at Kansas City, 5 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 3 (if necessary): Nov. 11 at St. Louis, 6 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 1: Sunday at Houston, 6 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 2: Nov. 6 at Salt Lake, 9 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 3 (if necessary): Nov. 11 at Houston, 4 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 1: Saturday at Los Angeles, 8 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 2: Nov. 5 at Vancouver, 7:30 p.m. (FS1, FS2, Apple TV)

Game 3 (if necessary): Nov. 9 at Los Angeles, 10 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 1: Monday at Seattle, 9 p.m. (FS1, FS2 in Spanish, Apple TV)

Game 2: Nov. 4 at Dallas, 9 p.m. (Apple TV)

Game 3 (if necessary): Nov. 10 at Seattle, 10 p.m. (Apple TV)

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