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With just 11 days to go until the start of the 2019 Major League Soccer campaign, Orlando City SC supporters are the most upbeat they’ve been in a long while!
Following Friday’s home jersey launch, yesterday saw the marquee arrival of Nani and now, Sky Sports are televising THREE live Lions’ fixtures in March starting with the MLS home opener against New York City FC on Saturday 2nd March.
The fourth time in five seasons that Sky Sports have aired Orlando City SC‘s first game of a new Major League Soccer campaign, this is the third time in five seasons that Orlando City SC have faced NYCFC at home in Gameweek 1.
For 2019’s installment, Orlando City SC versus New York City FC will be shown live on Sky Sports Football at the rare early UK kick-off time of 7:30pm on Saturday 2nd March.
GOOD NEWS 😬 | @OrlandoCitySC vs @NYCFC will be shown LIVE on @SkySports Football on Saturday March 2️⃣nd – an early kick-off time too! 🙌🏽📺🙌🏽
7:30PM 🇬🇧
💜🦁💛#OCSC #ORLvNYC #MLS pic.twitter.com/NAudn5cM4T
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) February 18, 2019
If that wasn’t enough, Sky Sports are also televising Orlando City SC‘s away trip to New York Red Bulls on Saturday 23rd March and the home game against D.C. United and Wayne Rooney at Orlando City Stadium on Sunday 31st March.
UK MLS access at an all-time high
Signing a four-year deal to broadcast live Major League Soccer fixtures in the UK since spring 2015, Sky Sports have extended that agreement into 2019, much to the delight of British MLS fans everywhere.
In that time, Sky Sports have been very kind to Orlando City UK members and other British-based Orlando City SC supporters. After all, last season alone saw Sky Sports broadcast 13 live Lions fixtures despite what turned out to be a miserable campaign on the field.
Having shown a superb proportion of live Orlando City SC fixtures since we entered Major League Soccer in 2015, Sky Sports’ game selection process supports all of the activity we do here at Orlando City UK to promote Orlando City SC first and foremost but moreover, MLS at large.
Game selection process
While Orlando City UK aren’t 100% certain how Sky Sports select which Major League Soccer fixtures are aired and which ones are not, their fixture itinerary does at least shed some light.
As of today, Sky Sports have 10 live televised MLS broadcasts scheduled up until Orlando City SC‘s fixture against D.C. United on Sunday 31st March.
Based on TV scheduling from previous MLS campaigns, Sky Sports often select new televised fixtures around one week to a fortnight from that game being played.
In years gone by, this has meant plenty of surprise televised Orlando City SC fixtures cropping up throughout the season, for example…
GOOD NEWS 🙌🏽 | @OrlandoCitySC vs @ATLUTD is LIVE on @SkySports Football from 2️⃣3️⃣:3️⃣0️⃣ on Sunday! 😁📺#ORLvATL #OCSC #MLS pic.twitter.com/XbvsZYBzU3
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) May 10, 2018
Orlando City UK Watch Parties
After announcing that I’m emigrating to live in Canada for two years starting from this March, Orlando City UK Watch Parties will now be in the hands of our passionate and dedicated members.
Stay tuned to our Twitter throughout the course of the season for the latest updates on this.
Sky Sports Fixture Tracker
For a second year running, Orlando City UK will be keeping a comprehensive log of ALL the live televised Orlando City SC fixtures, as selected by Sky Sports.
Simply visit our Fixtures page where we’ve created a tracker so you can see exactly when Sky Sports are showing Orlando City SC next.