Getty Derrick Etienne looks to help the Columbus Crew start the season strong on Saturday, February 26.
The Columbus Crew and Vancouver Whitecaps meet to open the MLS season on Saturday, February 26.
The match (3:30 p.m. ET start time) will be televised on Bally Sports Ohio for those who live in the Columbus Crew market. It will also stream live on ESPN+ for everyone out of market in the United States.
Here’s a full rundown of how you can watch a live stream of the Columbus Crew vs Vancouver Whitecaps in the US, which your options depending on where you live:
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If the Match is out of Your Market
ESPN+
Viewers in the United States can watch every out-of-market, non-nationally televised MLS match on ESPN+:
ESPN+, which also includes dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary in existence and additional original content (both video and written), costs $6.99 for a month or $69.99 for a year:
If you also want Disney+ and Hulu, you can get all three for $13.99 per month. Separately, the three streaming services would cost a total $20.97 per month, so you’re saving about 33 percent:
Get the ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu Bundle
Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch the Columbus Crew vs Vancouver Whitecaps live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
If the Match is in Your Market
DirecTV Stream
Note: This option is only for viewers in the Columbus Crew market
DirecTV Stream has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” Bally Sports Ohio is included in “Choice” and up, but you can pick any package and any add-on you want with your free five-day trial:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch the Columbus Crew vs Vancouver Whitecaps live on the DirecTV Stream app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the DirecTV Stream website.
If you can’t watch live, DirecTV Stream also comes with 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours).
Crew vs Whitecaps Preview
Columbus looks to start strong at home on Saturday against a Vancouver Whitecaps squad that struggled on the road last season.
The Crew fared well at home last season with a 10-4-3 record. Columbus finished .500 overall in 2021 with a 13-13-8 mark.
Columbus’ offense faced some changes since last season with Milton Valenzuela leaving and Pedro Santos getting moved to defense according to Jacob Myers of The Columbus Dispatch. Santos scored four goals and assisted on six last season. Vanezuela played in 14 games but didn’t tally any points.
Alex Matan, Luis Diaz, and Derrick Etienne Jr. will take on bigger roles, Myers noted. Etienne scored a goal and assisted on four in 2021, Diaz scored a goal last season, and Matan didn’t post any points.
“I think they’ve all gotten better, honestly, even Luis Diaz,” Columbus Crew head coach Caleb Porter said via Myers. “I thought he kind of plateaued a little bit last year. But he’s got a different energy this year. I think a lot of it’s about what’s between the ears and the energy and the focus and, just in general, where your mindset is. I think the guys have a really good mindset this year.”
The Whitecaps went 2-6-10 in road games for 2021. Overall, the Whitecaps posted a winning record in 2021 with a 12-9-13 mark.
Vancouver defender Jake Nerwinski believes they can pull off a season-opening win in Columbus.
“I think if we go out and do what we need to do then everything else will fall into place. I don’t think we need to worry about (Columbus) too much as long as we carry out what we need to individual roles and team wise, we’ll be fine,” Nerwinski said according to The Canadian Press’ Gemma Karstens-Smith.
“I don’t think anyone’s looking at who the opponent necessarily is, we’re just excited to get back on the field again. And if we have a chance to steal points on an away season opener, that’s even better.”
Columbus’ defense will look to contain the Whitecaps. The Crew anticipates defense will be a strength again, Meyers noted.
“A lot of times last year I think we gave up a lot of easy goals because of a press breaking down or some mistake. We want to cut that out,” Etienne told Meyers. “Then we know that the longer the game goes 0-0, we have a lot of quality between myself, Lucho [Diaz], Yaw [Yeboah], Lucas [Zelarayan], Pedro and Steven [Moreira] coming from the outside backs, Gyasi [Zardes] and Miguel [Berry] — we know that we’re going to be able to create chances.”
Vancouver won’t have Caio Alexander due to injury while the Crew will play without at least five injured players. That includes Perry Kitchen, Kevin Molino, Gyasi Zardes, and Aidan Morris. Josh Williams isn’t certain to play due a quad injury according to Meyers.