Philadelphia Union vs the weather, a disappointing saga

Many Philadelphia Union fans were obviously frustrated after the match between Orlando City SC and the Philadelphia Union was postponed on Saturday until the next day due to concerns because of storms in the area. And fans have the right to be angry.

What the league did do a good job with was managing the reschedule. MLS was able to communicate with both teams and within an hour of the game being postponed, a 4:30 p.m. ET kickoff was announced for the next day.

However, many fans showed up hours before the game and many traveled far distances to see their team play, ready to see their club take on Orlando City for the second time in four days. Instead, they had to wait around for more than a full hour after the expected kickoff time and then left the stadium unsure of what would happen to the game. 

It’s understandable that the league wants to get the game in. Everybody wanted the game to go on Saturday night. At least everybody on the Union’s side knowing that they had a chance to face an Orlando team missing Sacha Kljestan and Robin Jansson from their red card suspensions. But at some point the league and by extension the Union has to realize that it can make life so much easier for its fanbase.

This starts with doing more to communicate with fans prior to arrival. As Saturday’s game got closer and the weather forecast wasn’t improving, the start time could have been pushed back before a lot of fans had already arrived at the stadium or postponed much earlier than an hour after the originally scheduled kickoff.

The league has a chance to redeem itself tomorrow with the forecast calling for scattered thunderstorms around the time the game is slated to kick off.