Just after noon on Saturday Major League Soccer announced a six-match slate that will continue the 2020 regular season in home-markets. For the New England Revolution they will have three matches at Gillette Stadium and then three on the road starting on Friday, August 21st at 8:00 pm when they will host the Philadelphia Union.
New England will play the Union twice during this six-game slate and play D.C. United, New York Red Bulls, NYCFC, and Chicago Fire FC once. The Revolution through five matches are 1-1-3 on the 2020 MLS regular season and were eliminated from the MLS is Back Tournament by the Union in the first round of the knockout stages.
While MLS will allow teams to open their stadiums where local health guidelines allow the Revolution will not be allowing fans into Gillette Stadium due to the local restrictions that are in place (and rightfully so) in Massachusetts. Fans with tickets for the 2020 season should be hearing from the team in the coming days with information on the next steps.
Six Matches In 22 Days
This first phase of the return to market plan does include a number of tight turnarounds with six matches taking place in 22 days. That is a match roughly every four days for the Revs.
“I would like to thank everyone involved with the MLS is Back Tournament — players, coaches, staff and partners — for their role in helping us recapture the momentum we had at the beginning of our 25th season and reconnect with our passionate fans,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “Since suspending play in March, we have been working on plans to play as much of our season as possible, beginning with the tournament in Florida and resuming in our local markets following the competition. We remain focused on the health and safety of our players, coaches and staff, and look forward to continuing our season in our home markets.”
Date/Time Opponent Venue Broadcast Friday, August 218:00 p.m. ET vs. Philadelphia Union Gillette Stadium(Foxborough, Mass.) NBC Sports Boston98.5 The Sports HubNossa Radio USA Tuesday, August 257:00 p.m. ET at D.C. United Audi Field(Washington, D.C.) NBC Sports Boston98.5 The Sports HubNossa Radio USA Saturday, August 298:00 p.m. ET vs. New York Red Bulls Gillette Stadium(Foxborough, Mass.) FS198.5 The Sports HubNossa Radio USA Wednesday, September 28:00 p.m. ET vs. New York City FC Gillette Stadium(Foxborough, Mass.) NBC Sports Boston98.5 The Sports HubNossa Radio USA Sunday, September 67:30 p.m. ET at Chicago Fire FC Soldier Field(Chicago, Ill.) NBC Sports Boston98.5 The Sports HubNossa Radio USA Saturday, September 12
7:30 p.m. ETat Philadelphia Union Subaru Park(Chester, Pa.) NBC Sports Boston98.5 The Sports HubNossa Radio USA
From an MLS level, the return to market play will kick off on August 12th with FC Dallas hosting Nashville SC. Both teams did not play in the MLS is Back Tournament due to positive COVID-19 cases. They will play each other twice in a matter of four days ahead of the rest of the league returning to action.
Fo the time being the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs will start on November 20th with eighteen teams participating and the tentative date for the MLS Cup final is on December 12th.
The New England Revolution are already well on their way in preparing for the next phase of the regular season with the team resuming full team training at Gillette Stadium earlier this week. New England will be without star playmaker Carles Gil who underwent surgery on his left foot on Tuesday.
It is anticipated that MLS will add an additional 12 matches to this slate of games but would be considered in phase II of the return to markets plan. In total, the Revolution will play 18 regular season matches between August 8th and November 8th if all goes according to plan.
