Major League Soccer revealed details of the 2016 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs schedule on Tuesday. The highlight of the announcement was that for the first time in league history, MLS Cup will take place in Saturday night prime time on network television. The league championship is slated for 8 PM ET on December 10th and will be televised on FOX (English, USA), Unimas (Spanish, USA), TSN (English, Canada) and RDS (French, Canada).
Major League Soccer Announces Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs Schedule
For the second straight season, the top six teams from both the Eastern and Western Conference will qualify for the postseason. Teams seeded third through sixth will contest the knockout round which gets the playoffs started on Wednesday, October 26th and Thursday October 27th. The top two sides in each conference receive a bye to the next round. The one-seed will face the highest remaining seed from the knockout round, while the two-seed takes on the lowest.
The first leg of the conference semifinals begin on Sunday, October 30th with twin double headers on ESPN and FS1 respectively. A week later on November 6th, the second leg takes place at the home of the team with the better seeding. The team with the higher aggregate goal total (with most away goals determining winner in case of a tie) advance to the conference finals.
The four league semifinalists will get a break the following week with November 7th-15th being a FIFA international window. But action resumes on Sunday, November 20th with the Western Conference finals. Two days later on Tuesday, November 22nd, the Eastern Conference finals begin. With Toronto FC in the mix and the CFL’s Grey Cup set to take place at BMO Field on November 27th, the league has decided to schedule the East finals midweek.
The two conference champions (better aggregate goal total over two legs with away goals determining winner in the event of a tie) advance to MLS Cup, to be played at the home venue of the team with the better regular season record (with all tiebreakers applying). This format has been in place since the 2012 season.
More information about the postseason format can be found by viewing the 2016 league competition guidelines.
Full Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs TV Schedule (subject to change)
Knockout Round
Third seed vs sixth seed, fourth seed vs fifth seed
Wednesday, October 26th
Two games (ESPN 2, Unimas)
Thursday, October 27th
Two games (FS1, Unimas)
Knockout round kickoff times to be determined.
Conference Semifinals
First leg, Sunday, October 30th
3 PM ET (ESPN)
5 PM ET (ESPN)
7 PM ET (FS1)
9:30 PM ET (FS1)
Second leg, Sunday, November 6th
3 PM ET (ESPN)
5 PM ET (ESPN)
7:30 PM ET (FS1)
10 PM ET (FS1)
Conference Finals
Sunday, November 20th: Western Conference Championship, First Leg (FS1, 8 PM ET)
Tuesday, November 22nd: Eastern Conference Championship, First Leg (ESPN, 8 PM ET)
Sunday, November 27th: Western Conference Championship, Second Leg (ESPN, 4 PM ET)
Wednesday, November 30th: Eastern Conference Championship, Second Leg (FS1, 7 PM ET)
MLS Cup 2016
Saturday, December 10th, 8 PM ET (FOX, Unimas, TSN, RDS)
