Union to open MLS season April 18 at Columbus; home opener is April 24 vs. Miami

The Union learned Wednesday that they will get one of their most perennially frustrating road trips out of the way on the first weekend of the season.

They will kick off the campaign Sunday, April 18 at 5:30 p.m. at the Columbus Crew, the team that won the MLS Cup last year and beat the Union twice in Columbus down the stretch of the campaign. Fittingly for a matchup of the reigning MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield winners, it will be a national TV game on FS1 and Fox Deportes.

The Union haven’t won at Crew Stadium — formerly called MAPFRE Stadium, but now back to its original name — since 2016, a stretch of five losses and one scoreless tie. Columbus will open a modern new stadium downtown in July, but will start the season at the old venue.

The game will be four days after the second leg of the Union’s Concacaf Champions League series with Costa Rica’s Saprissa. The Union go to Costa Rica to start the series on April 7, then host the return matchup at Subaru Park on April 14.

The Union’s home opener is set for Saturday, April 24 at 8 p.m. against Inter Miami, featuring stars Gonzalo Higuaín and Rodolfo Pizarro. It will bring back memories of Miami’s trip to Chester last year, which the Union won 3-0 in Higuain’s Inter debut. And it might bring back memories for Miami’s new manager, Phil Neville, who won in Chester in 2019 when he coached England’s women’s national team. Neville got the Miami job this winter with help from his former Manchester United teammate David Beckham, who’s now one of Inter’s owners.

PHL17 will again be the TV home for local broadcasts of Union games, with JP Dellacamera and new color analyst Danny Higginbotham in the booth. Details on local online streaming of games haven’t been confirmed yet.

» READ MORE: Premier League TV analyst Danny Higginbotham joins Union’s broadcast team, NBC and CBS soccer studio shows

If the Union advance past Saprissa in the Champions League, they will face either Atlanta United or Costa Rica’s Alajuelense in the quarterfinals. The first leg would be on the road some time from April 27-29, and the second leg would be at Subaru Park in the May 4-6 range.

So the early-season schedule would look something like this:

Wednesday, April 7: at Saprissa, 6 p.m. (TV TBD; Fox and Univision have CCL broadcast rights)

Wednesday, April 14: vs. Saprissa, 8 p.m. (TV TBD)

Sunday, April 18: at Columbus Crew, 5:30 p.m. (FS1, Fox Deportes)

Saturday, April 24: vs. Inter Miami, 8 p.m. (PHL17)

April 27-29: at Atlanta United or Alajuelense (TV TBD)

May 4-6: vs. Atlanta United or Alajuelense (TV TBD)

The rest of the Union’s schedule will be announced some time in the next few weeks. The team will sell as many tickets as state regulations allow. Current regulations would permit around 3,000 fans. We’ll see how things are in a month.

Before the season starts, the Union have four closed-door preseason scrimmages lined up: March 15 vs. Orlando and March 20 vs. Chicago in Clearwater, Fla.; March 24 vs. Orlando in Kissimmee, Fla.; and March 31 vs. D.C. United at Subaru Park.

» READ MORE: Union manager Jim Curtin says the team still has ‘a piece or two’ to add to the roster

Wednesday’s announcement came as MLS unveiled the home openers for 27 of its teams. But the three Canadian clubs won’t play at home for a while because of ongoing Canadian border restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Toronto FC will be based in Orlando, and will play games at Orlando City’s Exploria Stadium. Club de Foot Montréal, formerly known as the Montreal Impact, will be based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and will play at Inter Miami’s stadium. The Vancouver Whitecaps will be based in Sandy, Utah, and will play games at Real Salt Lake’s stadium.

Expansion team Austin FC won’t christen its new 20,500-seat stadium in the Texas capital until June 19. The team’s first MLS game is April 17 at Los Angeles FC, a matchup of Hollywood celebrity owners in Austin’s Matthew McConaughey and LAFC’s Will Ferrell.

FC Cincinnati will open a new 26,000 stadium this year on the northern edge of downtown, making it two new MLS venues in Ohio. Tentatively called West End Stadium for the neighborhood where it’s based, its first game will be May 16 when Cincinnati hosts Miami.

Ten of the 27 games announced by MLS on Wednesday will be on national TV, including two on network Fox, one on ABC and one on Univision. The rest will be available online via ESPN+, which continues as the home of all out-of-market streaming for MLS games.

» READ MORE: The Union’s Ray Gaddis, the team’s longest-tenured player, retires

Friday, April 16: Seattle Sounders vs. Minnesota United (9:30 p.m., FS1, Fox Deportes)

Saturday, April 17: Orlando City vs. Atlanta United (UniMás, TUDN, Twitter); Los Angeles FC vs. Austin FC (5:30 p.m., Fox29, Fox Deportes)

Sunday April 18: Inter Miami vs. Los Angeles Galaxy (3 p.m., 6ABC, ESPN Deportes); Columbus Crew vs. Union (5:30 p.m., FS1, Fox Deportes)

Friday, April 23: Sporting Kansas City vs. Orlando City (7:30 p.m., FS1, FOX Deportes)

Saturday, April 24: San Jose Earthquakes vs. FC Dallas (3:30 p.m., Univision, TUDN, Twitter)

Sunday, April 25: Los Angeles Galaxy vs. New York Red Bulls (5:30 p.m., FS1, FOX Deportes)

Sunday, May 16: FC Cincinnati vs. Inter Miami CF (4 p.m., Fox29, FOX Deportes)

Saturday, June 19: Austin FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes (9 p.m., UniMás, TUDN, Twitter)