Austin FC unveiled today the full 34-game schedule for its inaugural Major League Soccer (MLS) season in 2021. The Club will kick off its first official campaign on the road against Los Angeles Football Club on Saturday, April 17, followed by six (6) additional matches on the road, before returning to Austin to play the Club’s first-ever match at Q2 Stadium versus the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, June 19, at 8:00pm CDT. Austin FC’s inaugural MLS match against LAFC will be televised nationally on FOX and FOX Deportes. All non-nationally televised matches will be regionally broadcast in the Austin metro area on The CW Austin, KXAN or KBVO. Additional broadcast details including channel assignments and expanded distribution platforms across Central Texas will be released in the near term.
The Austin FC English language TV broadcast team features legendary play-by-play broadcaster Adrian Healey and MLS veteran Michael Lahoud as analyst. Healey has broadcast more MLS matches (250+) than any other broadcaster in ESPN’s history, and former MLS midfielder Michael Lahoud will make his MLS commentator debut after working most recently as an analyst on ESPN’s Longhorn Network (LHN) and ACC Network soccer broadcasts. Additional Spanish language TV broadcast and radio details will be announced soon.
Austin FC will compete in the Western Conference, along with 12 other clubs, while the remaining 14 MLS clubs will compete in the Eastern Conference. The 26th MLS season will conclude on Decision Day, Nov. 7. The Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs are scheduled to begin on Nov. 19, culminating with MLS Cup on Saturday, Dec. 11.
Following Austin FC’s inaugural MLS match against 2019 MLS Supporters’ Shield winners and 2020 CONCACAF Champions League runner-up LAFC, ATXFC will continue its inaugural campaign on the road to take on the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on April 24 (8:00pm CDT). Austin will then travel for five (5) more consecutive weeks to visit Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field on May 1, Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park on May 9 (6:30pm CDT on FS1), five-time MLS Cup Champions LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park on May 15 (2:30pm CDT on Univision), Nashville SC at Nissan Stadium on May 23 (8:00pm CDT on FS1) and two-time MLS Cup Champions Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field on May 29. Austin FC will then return to Austin to host its historic home opener against the San Jose Earthquakes at the brand-new Q2 Stadium on Saturday, June 19, starting at 8:00pm CDT (UniMás and Twitter).
Following its first-ever MLS match at Q2 Stadium, Austin FC will travel north to Minnesota for the second time in two (2) months (June 23) before returning home to host one (1) of two (2) Eastern Conference clubs that the Club will face during the 2021 regular season, defending 2020 MLS Cup Champions, Columbus Crew SC on June 27 (7:00pm CDT on FS1). ATXFC will remain at Q2 Stadium for two (2) more matches to host the 2020 MLS is Back Champions, the Portland Timbers, on July 3 (8:00pm CDT) and Carlos Vela’s LAFC four (4) days later on July 7.
Matchups against soon-to-be Texas rivals FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo FC will take place in August with Houston visiting Austin on August 4 and Austin FC traveling to Frisco to play FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium on August 7. Additional matches against FC Dallas include the Heineken Rivalry Week game on August 29 at Q2 Stadium (7:00pm CDT on FS1) and on October 30 back at Toyota Stadium. The Verde and Black play Houston Dynamo FC at BBVA Stadium on September 11 and October 24 at Q2 Stadium.
Austin FC will play on the road on July 28 against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC and will travel to Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, on August 14 to play against Real Salt Lake. Vancouver will visit Q2 Stadium on August 18 (8:00pm CDT) and RSL will visit on October 2 (2:30pm CDT on UniMás). Austin will close the 2021 MLS regular season with Decision Day against the Portland Timbers on November 7 at Providence Park (5:00pm CDT).
Austin FC will play five (5) regular season home matches on Wednesdays, one (1) on Thursday, seven (7) on Saturdays, and four (4) on Sundays during its inaugural season. On the road, the Club will play four (4) regular season matches on Wednesdays, 10 on Saturdays, and three (3) on Sundays. Including its June 19 home opener against San Jose, Austin FC will play two (2) home matches in June, four (4) in July, four (4) in August, three (3) in September, three (3) in October and one (1) in November. On the road, ATXFC will play two (2) regular season matches in April, five (5) in May, one (1) in June, two (2) in July, two (2) in August, two (2) in September, two (2) in October and one (1) in November.