Toronto FC will open the 2021 Major League Soccer season with a match against 401 Derby rival CF Montreal on Saturday, April 17, at 2 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at Inter Miami CF Stadium. The match will be broadcast on CTV/TSN, the league announced today. The Reds will play a week later, Saturday, April 24, as the home team in Orlando when they take on Vancouver Whitecaps FC at 3 p.m. at Exploria Stadium. The match will broadcast on CTV/TSN. Toronto FC will make Florida their home base for the beginning of the season. The length of TFC’s stay in Florida is contingent upon health and safety regulations as borders re-open in Canada.

“We’d like to thank Orlando City SC for welcoming us to Exploria Stadium for what will serve as our home opener,” said Toronto FC President Bill Manning. “Obviously, we can’t wait to return to play again in front of our fans at BMO Field, but we are grateful to the Orlando City SC organization for assisting us during this difficult time. Our team will be excited to play on a beautiful surface in a state of the art stadium in downtown Orlando.”

Said Orlando City SC CEO Alex Leitão: “We’re very happy to be able to help and open the doors to our stadium for our friends from Toronto and welcome them to the City Beautiful. As we have seen over the past year, Exploria Stadium has become a prime destination for safe and exciting soccer, and we are honored that another one of the league’s top teams will be able to call our facility home during this unprecedented time.”

Toronto FC enter their 15th season in MLS led by new head coach Chris Armas and reigning MLS MVP Alejandro Pozuelo. The Reds are coming off a 2020 season that saw them finish second overall in points during the regular season while earning their fifth playoff berth in the last six seasons.