2016 Philadelphia Union schedule

The Union's full 2016 season schedule has arrived. A couple quick highlights, becaucse for the most part it speaks for itself:

- Steven Gerrard's Los Angeles Galaxy visit on May 11, a Wednesday night. It's not a certainty that Gerrard will be there, but he could make the cross-country trip. Or you could be disappointed when the time comes.

- New York City FC's only trip to Chester of the year is on Saturday, April 23. It would be Andrea Pirlo's first ever game here, and Frank Lampard's first since playing for Chelsea in the 2012 All-Star Game.

- The Union won't play between June 1 and June 18 because MLS is going dark during the group stage of the Copa América Centenario.

- There's a trip to Houston in July, which is not a time of year when playing soccer in Houston is enjoyable.

- The last five games to close the season are a brutal stretch: at reigning MLS Cup champion Portland, at Toronto, and two games against the New York Red Bulls sandwiched around one against Orlando City. But at least the final two contests of the season are at home.

- Just three games will be nationally televised: July 17 vs. the New York Red Bulls on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Deportes, and April 8 vs. Orlando and May 20 vs. D.C. United on UniMás. As of now, there will be no appearances at all on ESPN networks.

- Local broadcasts will continue to be spread across 6ABC, Comcast SportsNet and The Comcast Network. One of the 6ABC games will be on the network's secondary digital channel - 6.2, also known as the Live Well Network. Union games used to be on there in the team's early years.

Here's everything:

Saturday, February 6: Preseason exhibition at Jacksonville Armada, 6:00 p.m.
Thursday, February 11: Preseason exhibition vs. Chicago Fire at Clearwater, Fla. (Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex), time TBD
Wednesday, February 17: Preseason exhibition vs. D.C. United at Tampa, Fla. (Al Lang Stadium), 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 20: Preseason exhibition vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies at Tampa, Fla. (Al Lang Stadium), 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, February 24: Preseason exhibition vs. New York Red Bulls at Clearwater, Fla. (Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex), 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 27: Preseason exhibition vs. Toronto FC at Tampa, Fla. (Al Lang Stadium), 4:00 p.m.

The games against D.C., Tampa, New York and Toronto are part of the Suncoast Invitational, a tournament organized by the Rowdies.

Sunday, March 6: at FC Dallas, 3:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Saturday, March 12: at Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. (WPVI 6.2/Live Well Network)
Sunday, March 20: vs. New England Revolution, 2:30 p.m. (WPVI-6)

Saturday, April 2: at Chicago Fire, 5:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Friday, April 8: vs. Orlando City, 7:00 p.m. (UniMás)
Saturday, April 16: at Seattle Sounders, 10:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Saturday, April 23: vs. New York City FC, 4:00 p.m. (WPVI-6)
Saturday, April 30: vs. San Jose Earthquakes, 4:00 p.m. (WPVI-6)

Wednesday, May 11: vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, 7:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Saturday, May 14: at Montreal Impact, 5:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Friday, May 20: vs. D.C. United, 7:00 p.m. (UniMás)
Wednesday, May 25: at Orlando City, 7:30 p.m. (Comcast SportsNet)
Saturday, May 28: at Colorado Rapids, 9:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)

Wednesday, June 1: vs. Columbus Crew, 7:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Saturday, June 18: at New York City FC, time TBD (The Comcast Network)
Wednesday, June 22: vs. Chicago Fire, 7:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Saturday, June 25: vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 7:00 p.m. (Comcast SportsNet)

Saturday, July 2: at Houston Dynamo, 9:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Saturday, July 9: vs. D.C. United, 7:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Sunday, July 17: vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:00 p.m. (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes)
Saturday, July 23: at Montreal Impact, 7:30 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Sunday, July 31: vs. Real Salt Lake, 7:00 p.m. (Comcast SportsNet)
 
Saturday, August 6: at D.C. United, 7:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Saturday, August 13: at New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Saturday, August 20: vs. Toronto FC, 7:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Wednesday, August 24: at Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Saturday, August 27: vs. Sporting Kansas City, 7:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)

Saturday, September 3: at Chicago Fire, 8:30 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Saturday, September 10: vs. Montreal Impact, 7:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Saturday, September 17: at Portland Timbers, 6:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Saturday, September 24: at Toronto FC, time TBD (The Comcast Network)

Saturday, October 1: at New York Red Bulls, 7:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Sunday, October 16: vs. Orlando City, 5:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)
Sunday, October 23: vs. New York Red Bulls, 4:00 p.m. (The Comcast Network)

The last two weeks of the season have flex scheduling for MLS' national TV partners.

On the 16th, all Eastern Conference games kick off at 5:00 p.m., with ESPN featuring one game to be determined and providing whip-around coverage of the others. Fox Sports 1 does the same for the Western Conference at 7:00 p.m.

On the 23rd, all games leaguewide kick off at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Fox Sports 1 and ESPN each have one, and feature whip-around coverage of all the rest.