by DAVE MARTINEZ

To even out the race for the Supporters’ Shield, Major League Soccer made the decision to change the start time of this Sunday’s New York Red Bulls, Chicago Fire match to coincide with the FC Dallas, Earthquakes encounter.

While the right move in the interest of competition, it has left a handful of Red Bull fans in a tough spot.

Some 70+ denizens of the South Ward have already secured their flights to Chicago for this weekend’s epic Shield encounter. Many arranged departing flights right after the match. Now that the 5 p.m. start time has been changed to 7 p.m., those travel plans have been encumbered.

The Red Bull organization is well aware of that issue. Sources tell EoS that the club will look to help those adversely affected by the time change.

Clearly, Red Bull are under no obligation for such a gesture. While New York may have asked for the time change, the decision to do so was a league call. Still, while this won’t likely result in the full compensation of travel costs, it does build into New York’s continuous attempts at outreach to their fanbase which began in earnest this January at the infamous (and contentious) Red Bull Arena Town Hall.