Sporting Kansas City will open the 2021 MLS regular season with a visit to the New York Red Bulls at 7 p.m. CT on Saturday, April 17. The inter-conference clash at Red Bull Arena was originally slated to kick off at 12 p.m. CT before moving to primetime.
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.
Following their Week 1 meeting against New York, Sporting will host Orlando City SC in the club’s highly anticipated Children’s Mercy Park home opener on Friday, April 23. The 6:30 p.m. CT matchup will be televised nationally on FS1 and FOX Deportes.
Sporting’s first three matches of 2021 MLS season
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Time (CT)</strong> |
<strong>Opponent</strong> |
<strong>Location</strong> |
Saturday, April 17 |
7 p.m. |
at New York Red Bulls |
Red Bull Arena<br>
Harrison, N.J. |
Friday, April 23 |
6:30 p.m. |
ORLANDO CITY SC |
Children’s Mercy Park<br>
Kansas City, Kan. |
Saturday, May 1 |
1 p.m. |
at Real Salt Lake |
Rio Tinto Stadium<br>
Sandy, Utah |
Led by 13th-year manager Peter Vermes—the longest tenured head coach in MLS history—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.
