Sporting Kansas City will host Orlando City SC on Friday, April 23, in the club’s 2021 home opener at Children’s Mercy Park. The 6:30 p.m. CT showdown will be televised nationally on FS1 and FOX Deportes, coming six days after Sporting kicks off the MLS campaign at the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, April 17.
MLS unveiled on Wednesday the 2021 home openers for all 27 MLS clubs, which includes Sporting’s trip to Western Conference rivals Real Salt Lake on Saturday, May 1.
FOX Sports Kansas City, soon to be Bally Sports Kansas City, will serve as the television home of Sporting KC in 2021. The local television schedule, the full MLS regular season schedule and Sporting KC ticket information for home matches at Children’s Mercy Park will be announced at a later date.
Sporting’s first three matches of 2021 MLS season
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Time (CT)</strong> |
<strong>Opponent</strong> |
<strong>Location</strong> |
<div>Saturday, April 17</div> |
<div>12 p.m.</div> |
<div>at New York Red Bulls</div> |
<div>Red Bull Arena<br>
Harrison, N.J.</div> |
<div>Friday, April 23</div> |
<div>6:30 p.m.</div> |
<div>ORLANDO CITY SC</div> |
<div>Children’s Mercy Park<br>
Kansas City, Kan.</div> |
<div>Saturday, May 1</div> |
<div>1 p.m.</div> |
<div>at Real Salt Lake</div> |
<div>Rio Tinto Stadium<br>
Sandy, Utah</div> |
Led by 13th-year manager Peter Vermes, the longest-tenured head coach in MLS, Sporting will welcome Orlando to Children’s Mercy Park for the second straight season after the Lions prevailed 2-1 last September. Sporting was victorious in its first two home meetings against Orlando—winning 2-1 in May 2016 and 1-0 in September 2018—and will look to improve upon a 15-3-7 all-time record in MLS home openers, including a 4-1-5 mark at Children’s Mercy Park.
A visit to Red Bull Arena on April 17 will see Sporting open the regular season at fellow MLS charter member New York for the first time ever. Last season marked the first time in the 25-year history of MLS that Sporting and New York didn’t square off in league play, with the most recent meeting resulting in a 2-2 draw on April 14, 2019, at Children’s Mercy Park. The 56-game regular season series is dead even with both teams claiming 21 wins and 14 draws. Sporting has won an MLS-record 14 season openers dating back to the inaugural 1996 campaign, posting a 14-7-4 record in Week 1 matches.
On May 1, Sporting will travel west to renew a longstanding rivalry with Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium. Vermes’ side last visited RSL in the 2020 regular season finale on Nov. 8, earning a 2-0 victory to clinch first place in the Western Conference. The result snapped a seven-game regular season winless run at RSL and completed a sweep of the 2020 series, as Sporting previously recorded a 2-0 win over the Utah club at the MLS is Back Tournament last July.
Sporting is looking to build upon a successful 2020 season in which the team finished atop the Western Conference with a 12-6-3 record and a club-record 1.86 points per game. It was Sporting's fourth first-place conference finish under Vermes since 2011 and marked the best year-over-year improvement in MLS history, as Sporting jumped from 22nd place in the Supporters' Shield standings in 2019 to third place in 2020.
