Today, D.C. United and Major League Soccer announced the full schedule for the 2016 MLS season. We already knew the first three games of D.C. United's 2016 season: the team will open the season against the LA Galaxy on March 6, will follow that game up by flying cross-country to play the New England Revolution on March 12, and then will finally open their RFK season with a nationally-televised game against the Colorado Rapids on March 20.
As we dive into the full schedule, we first take a look at the rivals. D.C. United will play the New York Red Bulls first on May 13; they will play again twice in a few weeks, on August 24 and on September 11. Only that final game is at Red Bull Arena, the other two are at RFK Stadium. In other rivalries, United will play the New England Revolution three times by June, with two of those at home, and the Philadelphia Union three times as well, with two of those at PPL Park.
Schedule congestion is also a common factor of the MLS schedule, and this year is a little better for D.C. United. They do not have to play midweek until June, the game before the midseason break for the Copa America, and their only really bad stretch is a Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday-Thursday stretch at the end of August and the beginning of September.
As for days of the weeks for home games, 8 will be on Saturday, 5 will be on Sunday, 3 on Wednesday and 1 on Friday. However, D.C. United will not play a single Saturday game in May, playing once on Sunday, three times in a row on Friday, and then a Wednesday at the beginning of June before Copa America; they return on the June 18th on a Saturday. The Copa break for United will be from June 2 to June 17.
Finally, nationally televised games are pretty good to D.C. United in 2016. As it stands now 10 of United's 34 games are scheduled to be on one of ESPN2, FS1, or UniMas; four are currently schedule for ABC 7, nine are scheduled for News Channel 8, and 10 are currently to be determined upon which outlet they will be shown.
In addition to these games, United will also have their knockout round games of the Concacaf Champions League as well as the US Open Cup to fit into this season. That's just a little bit about this year's schedule. What games are you must looking forward to? Any road trips spring to mind?
| GM | DATE | OPPONENT | TV | Time (ET) |
| 1 | Sunday, Mar 6 | at LA Galaxy | UniMas | 10:00 PM |
| 2 | Saturday, Mar 12 | at New England | 3:00 PM | |
| 3 | Sunday, Mar 20 | Colorado | ESPN2 | 5:00 PM |
| 4 | Saturday, Mar 26 | Dallas | ABC 7 | 4:00 PM |
| 5 | Saturday, Apr 2 | at San Jose | TBD | 10:30 PM |
| 6 | Saturday, Apr 9 | Vancouver | ABC 7 | 4:00 PM |
| 7 | Saturday, Apr 16 | Toronto | NC8 | 7:00 PM |
| 8 | Saturday, Apr 23 | New England | ABC 7 | 4:30 PM |
| 9 | Saturday, Apr 30 | at Chicago | TBD | 8:30 PM |
| 10 | Sunday, May 8 | New York City | FS1 | 7:30 PM |
| 11 | Friday, May 13 | New York Red Bulls | UniMas | 7:00 PM |
| 12 | Friday, May 20 | at Philadelphia | UniMas | 7:00 PM |
| 13 | Friday, May 27 | at Kansas City | UniMas | 7:00 PM |
| 14 | Wednesday, Jun 1 | Seattle | NC8 | 8:00 PM |
| 15 | Saturday, Jun 18 | at Houston | TBD | TBD |
| 16 | Wednesday, Jun 22 | New England | NC8 | 8:00 PM |
| 17 | Friday, Jul 1 | at Real Salt Lake | UniMas | 10:30 PM |
| 18 | Saturday, Jul 9 | at Philadelphia | TBD | TBD |
| 19 | Saturday, Jul 16 | at Columbus | TBD | 7:30 PM |
| 20 | Saturday, Jul 23 | at Toronto | TBD | TBD |
| 21 | Sunday, Jul 31 | Montreal | NC8 | 6:00 PM |
| 22 | Saturday, Aug 6 | Philadelphia | NC8 | 7:00 PM |
| 23 | Saturday, Aug 13 | Portland | NC8 | 7:00 PM |
| 24 | Sunday, Aug 21 | New York Red Bulls | ESPN | 3:00 PM |
| 25 | Wednesday, Aug 24 | at Montreal | TBD | TBD |
| 26 | Saturday, Aug 27 | Chicago | NC8 | 7:00 PM |
| 27 | Thursday, Sep 1 | at New York City | TBD | TBD |
| 28 | Sunday, Sep 11 | at New York Red Bulls | ESPN | 1:00 PM |
| 29 | Friday, Sep 16 | at Chicago | UniMas | 8:00 PM |
| 30 | Saturday, Sep 24 | Orlando | NC8 | 7:00 PM |
| 31 | Wednesday, Sep 28 | Columbus | NC8 | 7:30 PM |
| 32 | Saturday, Oct 1 | at Toronto | TBD | TBD |
| 33 | Sunday, Oct 16 | New York City | ABC 7 | 5:00 PM |
| 34 | Sunday, Oct 23 | at Orlando | TBD | 4:00 PM |