The Union’s 2027 ‘sprint season’ schedule is set as MLS begins its big calendar flip

As the 2026 Major League Soccer season heads toward its end, the league is already well down the road of planning for next year’s big change to a fall-to-spring calendar.

The first step in the process will be the “sprint season” to be played in the first half of 2027. That schedule is now set, and was announced Thursday afternoon.

Kickoff is set for the weekend of Feb. 19-21, the same time of year as recent seasons have started. From there, each team will play the 14 other teams in its conference once, making for an even split of seven home and seven away games.

The Union will open with a home game against Chicago on Saturday, Feb. 20, a 1 p.m. kickoff. That will be the only afternoon contest of the home slate.

There might be some chilly evenings in Chester, including the second home game: Wednesday, March 17, against CF Montréal. It’s a 7 p.m. kickoff, which brings up something else notable about the sprint season schedule. Games leaguewide will start at the top of the hour, instead of the bottom of the hour as they have for the last few years.

The Montréal game is one of two midweek home games. The other is April 21 against Red Bull New York, also a 7 p.m. kickoff.

» READ MORE: Why MLS is flipping its calendar to a winter-centric format

The other four are on Saturdays: March 13 against New England (5 p.m.), March 27 against Charlotte (7 p.m.), April 3 against Cincinnati (5 p.m.), and May 1 against Nashville (7 p.m.).

Decision Day, the last day of the regular season, will be May 8. The Union will be at Atlanta that day, with all the Eastern Conference games at 5 p.m. and all the Western Conference games at 8 p.m.

The other road games are Feb. 27 at Columbus (1 p.m.), March 6 at New York City FC (3 p.m.), March 20 at Toronto (1 p.m.), April 7 at Orlando (7 p.m.), April 10 at D.C. (7 p.m.), and April 24 at Miami (7 p.m.). The Orlando game is on a Wednesday, and all the rest are Saturdays.

The NYCFC matchup will be at Yankee Stadium, so it will be the Union’s last game in a baseball stadium before the Pigeons open their own home in the summer. Etihad Park is going up across the street from the Mets’ Citi Field in Queens, and the 25,000-seat venue will open when the 2027-28 campaign kicks off.

» READ MORE: Malik Jakupović is the Union’s new hot prospect. Here’s why the team is being patient with him.

There’s a bye weekend for the Union on April 17, given someone has to be off in a 15-team conference. The timing is fortunate, with a three-game week right before then.

But MLS will play through one more FIFA window for old time’s sake. There will be a full slate of league games on Saturday, March 27, when lots of players will be away with their national teams — headlined by the CONCACAF Nations League final four in Los Angeles.

The top eight teams in each conference will qualify for the playoffs, which will be played this time in a single-elimination bracket in its entirety. The MLS Cup final will be played on Memorial Day weekend, with the exact date still to be determined.

As of now, the single-elimination playoff format is only set for the sprint season. The league hasn’t decided yet what its playoff format for the fall-to-spring full season will be.

Every game in the sprint season will be broadcast on Apple TV. Fox’s deal with MLS for a small slate of games on traditional TV expires at the end of this year, and there’s no word yet on what the league will do next.

» READ MORE: Neil Pierre signed a new deal with the Union into 2031. Don’t expect him to be here for all of it.

Saturday, Feb. 20: vs. Chicago Fire, 1 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 27: at Columbus Crew, 1 p.m.

Saturday, March 6: at New York City FC, 3 p.m.

Saturday, March 13: vs. New England Revolution, 5 p.m.

Wednesday, March 17: vs. CF Montréal, 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 20: at Toronto FC, 1 p.m.

Saturday, March 27: vs. Charlotte FC, 7 p.m.

Saturday, April 3: vs. FC Cincinnati, 5 p.m.

Wednesday, April 7: at Orlando City, 7 p.m.

Saturday, April 10: at D.C. United, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, April 21: vs. Red Bull New York, 7 p.m.

Saturday, April 24: at Inter Miami, 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 1: vs. Nashville SC, 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 8: at Atlanta United, 5 p.m.