Sporting Kansas City’s regular season finale against LAFC at Children’s Mercy Park on Sunday will be televised nationally on FS1 and FOX Deportes as part of MLS Decision Day 2018 presented by AT&T, Major League Soccer announced Monday.
Sunday’s highly anticipated showdown, one of 11 MLS matches set to kick off simultaneously at 3:30 p.m. CT, pits the top two teams in the Western Conference as first-place Sporting KC (17-8-8, 59 points) hosts second-place LAFC (16-8-9, 57 points) with playoff seeding on the line. Manager Peter Vermes’ side can clinch the No. 1 seed with a win, while a draw is also likely to seal first place.
Sunday’s FS1 and FOX Deportes broadcasts will also include live look-ins to the most significant moments in the other 10 games as Decision Day determines the Supporters’ Shield winner, the top seeds in each conference, and which clubs qualify for the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Tickets for the Decision Day clash are available via SeatGeek.com as Sporting KC celebrates its Fan Appreciation Match with countless prizes up for grabs exclusively through the Sporting KC Uphoria app, including a pair of 2019 season tickets, player-autographed merchandise, VIP experiences, discount offers at SportingStyle and much more.
Sunday’s 3-1 win at FC Dallas ensured that Sporting KC can finish no worse than fourth place in the West heading into Decision Day. As a result, Sporting KC is guaranteed to host at least one game in the Audi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs, marking the first time the club has hosted a postseason match since winning MLS Cup on Dec. 7, 2013.
The top two seeds in each conference will earn a Knockout Round bye to the two-legged conference semifinals, playing away in the first leg on Nov. 4 and hosting the second leg on Nov. 11. The No. 3 and 4 seeds will host a single-elimination Knockout Round match on either Oct. 31 or Nov. 1. Below are Sporting KC’s seeding scenarios going into the final game of the 2018 regular season.
Sporting KC can clinch a No. 1 seed if…
- Sporting KC beats LAFC, OR
- Sporting KC ties LAFC, AND
FC Dallas fails to beat Colorado by 15 or more goals
Sporting KC can clinch a No. 2 seed if…
- Sporting KC ties LAFC, AND
FC Dallas beats Colorado by 15 or more goals, OR - Sporting KC loses to LAFC, AND
Colorado beats or ties FC Dallas, AND
San Jose beats or ties Seattle
Sporting KC is set to meet LAFC for the second time, having handed the expansion side their first and only home loss to date with a 2-0 win at Banc of California Stadium on Aug. 11. LAFC’s star-studded roster includes Mexican international Carlos Vela as well as former Sporting KC duo Latif Blessing and Benny Feilhaber.
MLSsoccer.com will set the stage for a drama-filled Sunday with “Decision Day Central presented by AT&T” providing an hour of in-depth pregame coverage (3:30 p.m. ET) and an hour of postgame expert analysis (7 p.m. ET) – all streaming live on FOX Sports social channels (FOX Sports Facebook and FOX Sports Twitter), MLSsoccer.com, and MLS social media platforms (MLS Facebook / MLS Twitter/ MLS YouTube).
The digital studio show, with MLSsoccer.com host Susannah Collins, will consist of exclusive reports from around the league and commentary from former MLS players Jimmy Conrad, Calen Carr, Bobby Warshaw and others.
With the excitement building for Decision Day presented by AT&T, fans can enter the Winning 11 presented by AT&T – for a chance to win a trip to MLS Cup on Dec. 8 by predicting the correct results (win, lose or draw) in all 11 simultaneous matches on Sunday, Oct. 28. More information and contest details can be found here.
Visit the MLSsoccer.com Standings page for live standings, updated every 30 seconds throughout Decision Day.
