Since Orlando City SC‘s inaugural 2015 season, Orlando City UK has watched Major League Soccer’s popularity grow tenfold in the United Kingdom.
A big part of this has been LIVE televised games. Now Orlando City SC‘s incredible 2020 campaign is unfortunately over, we took this moment to reflect on just how many City fixtures have been televised live in Great Britain this year.
With the free-to-air FreeSports topping up Sky Sports’ existing coverage as the home of Major League Soccer in the UK, these channels gave British Orlando City SC supporters the most comprehensive coverage of Lions fixtures to date.
Combining the Lions’ regular season, post-season and the #MLSisBack Tournament, 19 of Orlando City SC’s 29 overall fixtures were selected for live UK broadcast this season.
Ultimately, 65% of Orlando City SC‘s total number of fixtures were shown live on British telly!
Orlando City UK salutes you for this coverage, Sky Sports and FreeSports.
Live televised Orlando City SC fixtures in 2020
2020 regular season
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME (GMT) | BROADCAST |
| Saturday, February 29 | vs. Real Salt Lake | 23:00 | |
| Sunday, March 8 | at Colorado Rapids | 02:00 | |
| Sunday, August 23 | at Inter Miami | 01:00 | Sky Sports Football |
| Thursday, August 27 | vs. Nashville SC | 00:30 | FreeSports |
| Saturday, August 29 | at Atlanta United | 20:30 | Sky Sports Football |
| Thursday, September 3 | at Nashville SC | 01:30 | |
| Sunday, September 6 | vs. Atlanta United | 01:00 | FreeSports |
| Sunday, September 13 | vs. Inter Miami | 00:30 | Sky Sports Football |
| Sunday, September 20 | vs. Chicago Fire | 00:30 | |
| Thursday, September 24 | at Sporting Kansas City | 00:30 | |
| Monday, September 28 | at FC Dallas | 01:30 | |
| Saturday, October 3 | vs. New York Red Bulls | 21:00 | Sky Sports Football |
| Thursday, October 8 | at Atlanta United | 00:00 | FreeSports |
| Thursday, October 15 | vs. New York City FC | 00:30 | FreeSports |
| Monday, October 19 | at New York Red Bulls | 00:00 | |
| Saturday, October 24 | at Inter Miami | 20:30 | Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Mix |
| Wednesday, October 28 | vs. Atlanta United | 23:30 | |
| Monday, November 2 | at Montreal Impact | 00:30 | |
| Thursday, November 5 | vs. Columbus Crew | 00:30 | FreeSports |
| Sunday, November 8 | vs. Nashville SC | 20:30 |
2020 MLS Cup Playoffs
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME (GMT) | BROADCAST |
| Saturday, November 21 | vs. New York City FC | 17:00 | FreeSports / Sky Sports Football |
| Sunday, November 29 | vs. New England Revolution | 20:00 | Sky Sports Football |
#MLSisBack Tournament
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME (GMT) | BROADCAST |
| Thursday, July 9 | vs. Inter Miami | 01:00 | Sky Sports Football |
| Wednesday, July 15 | vs. New York City FC | 01:00 | FreeSports |
| Tuesday, July 21 | vs. Philadelphia Union | 01:00 | FreeSports |
| Sunday, July 26 | vs. Montreal Impact | 01:00 | FreeSports |
| Saturday, August 1 | vs. Los Angeles FC | 00:30 | FreeSports / Sky Sports Football |
| Friday, August 7 | vs. Minnesota United | 01:00 | FreeSports / Sky Sports Football |
| Wednesday, August 12 | vs. Portland Timbers | 01:30 | FreeSports / Sky Sports Football |
UK access to watching Orlando City SC still as strong as ever
Quite simply, access to watching live Orlando City SC fixtures in the UK is still as strong as ever.
Even prior to finally reaching the MLS Cup Playoffs this season, Orlando City SC have always been a go-to choice for UK broadcasters looking to appease Brits with a casual to firm interest in Major League Soccer.
In 2019, 19 of Orlando City SC’s 34 regular season fixtures were selected for UK broadcast too.
This followed 11 live televised Lions games in 2017.
But this 2020 season, you simply couldn’t take your eyes off Oscar Pareja‘s reinvigorated Orlando City SC side.
In the upper echelons of the Eastern Conference all season long, not to mention reaching the #MLSisBack Tournament Final, Orlando City SC‘s on-field success meant even more broadcasting spots than might’ve been.
Besides being more competitive, and thus selected more times for TV, Orlando City SC are always a big draw anyway!
Beyond signing decorated stars like Kaká and Nani over the years, Brits’ fascination with The City Beautiful as a popular holiday destination is much publicised.
We also like to think that our Official International Fan Club of Orlando City SC, Orlando City UK, has something to do with the games selected by Sky Sports and FreeSports too.
With our @Orlando_CityUK Twitter account established five years ago with a loyal army of 3.3k followers, we’re convinced that Orlando City SC are the best supported MLS franchise in Great Britain.
For us, the amount of live televised broadcasts this year underlines this point.
GOOD NEWS 🚨 | @OrlandoCitySC 🆚 @InterMiamiCF is LIVE on @SkySports Football in the early hours of Sunday morning. 😁👍🏽📺⚽️
It’s the 7️⃣th live 🦁’s game on Sky so far this season. 👏🏽👏🏽
VIEW TV TRACKER 📺: https://t.co/KV9JvpSaRW#ORLvMIA #OrlandoCity #InterMiamiCF #MLSUK pic.twitter.com/FQ5PVnqmB8
— Orlando City UK (@Orlando_CityUK) September 7, 2020