MLS Releases 2011 Schedule: All Six Cascadia Cup Matches Will Be On Weekends
by Jeremiah Oshan on Feb 10, 2011 11:24 AM PST
in Sounders: MLS Regular Season
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PrintAll six of the Cascadia Cup matches will be played on weekends, which should at least waylay some of the fears supporters had about travel arrangements. The first of the games will be played on May 14 with the Seattle Sounders hosting the Portland Timbers. The Sounders will host the Vancouver Whitecaps on June 11. The Sounders will make their visit to PGE Park on July 10 and will visit Vancouver on Sept. 24.
The Sounders will play two matches on ESPN and three more on ESPN2. That is the third most of any team, as the New York Red Bulls will be on ESPN/ESPN2 eight times and the LA Galaxy will be on six times.
The Sounders will never have to take a roadtrip longer than two matches. Their tightest roadtrip appears to be May 4-7 when they will visit DC United and the Columbus Crew four days apart. Their toughest roadtrip is likely May 28-June 4 when they visit Real Salt Lake and the Chicago Fire.
Unlike last year, their schedule is pretty balanced with home game No. 8 coming in Game 16. It is worth noting that three of their final four games of the season will be on the road with games at Vancouver, New England and Chivas USA. The Sounders' final home game is Oct. 15 against the San Jose Earthquakes.
The Sounders will are scheduled to play six games during the week, but just three of those will be at home. Those three home weekday matches are: March 15 against the Galaxy, May 25 against FC Dallas and June 23 against the New York Red Bulls. Single-game tickets will go on sale on March 1 at 10 a.m.
Complete schedule after the jump. You can also get a downloadable version at SoundersFC.com.
Day Date Opponent Time (PT) (National TV, all other games either on KING or KONG)
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The season is 30+ weeks long...
and ESPN is showing a doubleheader on July 4th… and yet only showing 21 games overall? What gives?
Maybe
Fox Soccer/Versus is filling the void?
by Miki Turner on Feb 10, 2011 11:37 AM PST up reply actions
That's an increase in games covered for ESPN I believe
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
What about those weekly Thursday ESPN2 games a few years ago?
As far as I’m concerned, ESPN and ESPN2 are interchangeable for my viewing habits.
Did some digging on the historical statistics...
In 2008 there were 27 games on ESPN2, plus 1 on ABC.
In 2009 there were 27 games on ESPN2, plus 1 on ESPN.
In 2010 there were 25 games on ESPN2, plus 1 on ESPN.
In 2011 there will be 17 games on ESPN2, plus 4 on ESPN
Again, I say, what gives?
See: http://www.soccer365.com/mls/story_7208220434.php
http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/ussoccerplayers/2009/01/mls-releases-schedule.html
http://wvhooligan.com/2010/02/03/2010-mls-schedule-released/
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/espn-and-espn2-broadcast-21-regular-season-matches-2011
And we know that ESPN adds games
As they added Seattle v LA last year
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
For clarification...
Is the home team listed first or second on the schedule?
yeah, i screwed up in decipering that at first. now fixed
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Feb 10, 2011 11:45 AM PST up reply actions
I'm liking the lack of midweek games
Though there are too many 1p starts for my taste. All in all, not bad.
I don't like the 1pm starts much...
…but it lets fans hang out with non-season-ticket-holders in the evening, which I’m sure appeals to some. The puzzling thing to me is that a lot of the 1pm starts seem to be in the summer, when it is warmer. If they are going to have 5-6 1pm starts, it seems like you’d have more of those in March/April/October than any other time.
Yeah that doesn't make sense to me
What beats a warm summer evening at Qwest watching soccer?
by Miki Turner on Feb 10, 2011 11:44 AM PST up reply actions
Figured it out...
At least by my count, all but one of the 1pm games is scheduled on a day when the Mariners have a home night game. Inexplicably, the Sun. June 26th game against NE is scheduled for 1pm when the Mariners are playing an “away” game in Seattle against the Marlins at 1:10pm.
Wouldn't a 4:30pm start time make more sense?
Still early enough for NE viewing, might make traffic a little less crazy?
It's almost asuredly going to get bumped to a later time.
Remember the whole big thing about the 2009 US Open Cup not being able to be in Seattle because of the Mariners game at the same time?
I'm betting that MLS missed the Marlins moving the series here
for a U2 concert!
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Seems likely
They were scrambling to get a schedule out as it was, seems like it’d be an easy thing to miss. (I would argue if the Marlins really wanted 81 home games, they could have worked something out around the U2 concert, but they prefer to have the negative publicity towards the current stadium to justify calls for a new stadium, but that’s getting a bit off-topic.)
I figured it was just because they can make more $ from the concert than a 3 day homestand.
Jeffrey Loria is one of the worst owners in pro sports.
That's a good point.
But I can’t believe they’d be able to kick a MLB team out for an entire series without making it worthwhile.
The sked is right, my explantation is wrong about roadtrips
Now fixing sorry.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Feb 10, 2011 11:37 AM PST reply actions
good catch
That’s what I get for counting by hadn.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Feb 10, 2011 12:09 PM PST up reply actions
its ok, im extremely wierd and spent a good half hour analyzing the numbers
and trying to figure out some pattern…or at least something to justify my wasted time…haha
A sky of blue, a sea of green...(or claret)
by kelliott1527 on Feb 10, 2011 12:16 PM PST up reply actions
There's still a shot at another national broadcaster too
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
Don't think anything changed...
But I swapped out my handmade version of the schedule from one I downloaded from SoundersFC.com. Should all be correct now.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Feb 10, 2011 12:18 PM PST reply actions
In the intro you have Sounders visiting PGE on Aug 20 when the game is Jul 10
Nit picking.. Although Aug 20 is the date that Vancouver visits PGE. Also of note Portland goes to Vancouver on Oct 2, the last game of the Cascadia series, which may mean we are awarded the cup during a game we do not play.
not nitpicking
Total brain fart. Man, not my best piece of work…
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Feb 10, 2011 12:27 PM PST up reply actions
To be honest...
This schedule was a bitch to break down into bite-sized portions. It’s not you, we’ve all had problems trying to get it all sorted out. They didn’t exactly make it neat and easy to figure out.
CougCenter, SBNation Seattle, @FloydCoug
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by Brian Floyd on Feb 10, 2011 12:31 PM PST up reply actions
I will nitpick then
Is there a way to distinguish home games from away games more clearly? Like, bold vs italics or something.
will do
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, North American soccer editor SB Nation and of course follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Feb 10, 2011 12:32 PM PST up reply actions
That US/Argentina date
Sounders are playing Houston that night. Would have been a cool doubleheader
Nos Audietis
I wonder if Independence Day @ LAG will become standard
That stood out to me as a holdover from last year’s schedule.
Personally, I think it would be nice for the Cascadia/Heritage Cup games to be more in Sept/Oct. That way, for fans of teams that are out of the playoff chase, they still have some games they can get excited about.
Yeah that July 4 match is an interesting little oddity
You will hear us on Brougham, you will hear us on Occidental, you will hear us on King. We are all around you, there is no escape.
Not exactly schedule related
but I noticed on soundersfc.com that the Cascadia Summit games will be streamed online.
First I had heard of it. Glad to hear.
Good catch!
I hadn’t seen that yet. I am only going to the Friday game so will be able to watch the rest online.
Nos audietis in somniis
Nos audietis in altum
At this point the home schedule looks like a big improvement over last season
>Fewer weeknight home games: 3 instead of 6, even with 2 more MLS matches.
>None of the crummy Sunday night kickoffs.
>Fewer overlaps with the Mariners: 7 instead of 11. That June 26th conflict due to the wacky M’s game will have to be fixed though.
Of course this might change when the FSC/Versus contract issue is worked out and games are moved for TV, but right now I like it for the most part.
You will hear us on Brougham, you will hear us on Occidental, you will hear us on King. We are all around you, there is no escape.
Unless they were able to work out a deal...
…with the mariners and seattle PD to have the games overlapping (which while annoying should never have been a restriction).
I'll reserve judgement
until we see whether we get a Halloween night playoff game
Nos Audietis
by sidereal on Feb 10, 2011 2:35 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
CCL Match Frequency
FWIW, if the CONCACAF Champions League schedule for 2010 and 2009 are any indication, then we can guess the number of additional CCL matches in the following months:
July = 1
August = 3
September = 3
October = 1
Bye weeks
I love the consectutive Saturdays of Sounders games. There are two weekends we don’t have games: Labor Day weekend and Oct 13/14. No mid-week matches without a Sat/Sun game too.
I think the schedule flows a lot better because the MLS doesn’t have the 2-week break from the first round of the World Cup. Then again, that only adds 2 Saturdays so that can’t be the sole reason.
Has anyone looked at other teams’ schedules to see if they’re more wonky with additional mid-week games (non-CCL teams?) or extra weeks off?
Fan of: Cardinals, Blues, Sounders, Yellow Jackets, Wolverines, Rams, and Blazers.
I don't understand
why we’re the opponent for the last game at Empire Field.
The last game at a temporary stadium. What’s the significance of that? And then PDX for the first games at BC Place the following Saturday. Seems like it would’ve made more sense to spread those two out.
Okay, really I’m just mad at having to schlep the four hours east from Downtown Vancouver to get to the stadium.
This may be incentive to make a 7 day push for BC Place
There would be a great financial reason to work some OT
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
there already advertising the lions game
as the first game in bc place. so they wont move up the opening…
i asked my cousins in vancouver
Four hours?
Ha.
The key is to not even go to downtown.
Yeahhh..
I don’t know how four miles turned into four hours by the time it got to my hands. But there you go.
I’ll be making a night of it Saturday with some friends, so we’ll be staying downtown. As Petula Clark once sang "Downtown, that’s were the action is". Would’ve been great to roll out of BC Place into the rest of the night.
(If a mod could delete the unnested comment three below that’d be great)
It is too bad Empire is so far out there.
There is an amusement park next door.
It’s not too hard to take bus and SkyTrain.
Next year will be better.
Well, now that the fixtures are out, I can confidently predict at least 50 points.
Those first three games could be tough, though, especially if Jhon, Blaise, Jaqua, and others aren’t healthy.
I love our June
We can seriously rack up 10+ pts with Vancouver and New England at home, and Chicago / Toronto away. Our only tough match is NY, but we’re at home. Granted, at this point, we don’t REALLY know who the good teams are going to be – but we can pretty well guess that Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, and New England aren’t going to be atop the tables.
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