It won’t be long before CITYPARK is full of screaming supporters once again. Major League Soccer released the 2024 regular season schedule on Wednesday, and St. Louis CITY SC will have two home games in a five-day span in late February to kick off play. After the club hosts the Houston Dynamo on Tuesday, February 20 in the first game of a Concacaf Champions Cup home-and-home series, it will open league play against Real Salt Lake on Saturday, February 24.
Here’s what else we learned about CITY’s 2024 slate from the MLS schedule drop:
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CITY games will once again take place on weekends and Wednesdays
The breakdown is similar to last season, which was the league’s first with new broadcast partner Apple TV. Of St. Louis’ 34 regular season matches, 26 will fall on Saturdays (including 12 at home), five are set for Wednesdays (three at home), and three will happen on Sundays (two at home). Both of the Sunday home matches will be matinees, including a 3:30 p.m. start against Austin on April 14 and a 1:30 kickoff against the LA Galaxy on September 1.
Kansas City and St. Louis will face off three times during the regular season
After bowing out of the MLS Cup Playoffs last month with two losses to Sporting Kansas City, St. Louis will get its next crack at its rivals on April 20 at Children’s Mercy Park. SKC hosts two of the three matches between the clubs in 2024, including a July 20 tilt in Kansas. CITY will host Sporting at CITYPARK on September 28.
St. Louis will face fresh competition from the Eastern Conference
The schedule features four matchups against Eastern Conference teams that CITY did not play during its inaugural season: New York City FC at home (March 2), D.C. United at home (March 23), Atlanta United at home (June 22), and New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium (September 7).
CITY has a date with Messi
Inter Miami’s last game before international icon Lionel Messi joined the squad came at CITYPARK this past July. In 2024, CITY may get its first up-close look at the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner. St. Louis is due to travel to South Florida for a match on June 1.
June will be a busy month of soccer
CITY has six matches scheduled in a 28-day window that month. There’s a home game against Portland (June 8) sandwiched between road trips to Miami (June 1) and Dallas (June 15). CITY follows with a pair of home matches against Colorado (June 19) and Atlanta (June 22) before closing the month in Canada against Vancouver (June 29).
The regular season will pause for a month to accommodate the Leagues Cup tournament
Cue the groans. MLS’ made-for-TV event is back for its second year in 2024, running from July 26–August 25. CITY’s last match before the break will be its second trip to Kansas City on July 20, and its first match back will be August 24 at Portland. Matchups for the tournament, which pits MLS clubs against their counterparts from Mexico’s Liga MX, will be announced at a later date.
CITY could host some old friends at CITYPARK
Former St. Louis standouts Jared Stroud and Lucas Bartlett are now members of D.C. United, which will visit CITYPARK for the first time on March 23. Jon Bell, whom CITY recently elected not to re-sign, is now with Seattle. The Sounders come to town on May 25.
Decision Day is set for October 19
This past season, CITY had its postseason spot locked up long before the final match of the regular season. Will there be more drama in store in 2024? After marching through a busy, eight-month stretch, CITY will conclude the regular season on October 19 at Minnesota. The club’s regular season home finale is set for October 5 against Houston.
The preseason begins in less than a month
CITY players will begin returning to St. Louis not long after the holidays. The club’s mandatory report date is January 13, with the first match of the preseason set for January 20 against Nashville in Port St. Lucie, Florida. It will be one of two preseason contests in the Sunshine State for CITY, which is also due to square off against Columbus in Port St. Lucie on January 26. After a brief return to St. Louis, the team will head west for three exhibitions in California: LA Galaxy (February 3 at Dignity Health Sports Complex), LAFC (February 7 at Coachella Valley Invitational), and New York Red Bulls (February 10 at Coachella Valley Invitational).
Here’s how the full schedule shakes out:
- Feb. 20: vs. Houston (Concacaf Champions Cup), 7 p.m.
- Feb. 24: vs. Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m.
- Feb. 27: at Houston (Concacaf Champions Cup), 9:30 p.m.
- March 2: vs. New York FC, 7:30 p.m.
- March 9: at Austin, 7:30 p.m.
- March 16: at LA Galaxy, 9:30 p.m.
- March 23: vs. D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
- March 30: at Salt Lake, 8:30 p.m.
- April 6: vs. Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
- April 14: vs. Austin, 3:30 p.m.
- April 20: at Kansas City, 7:30 p.m.
- May 4: at Houston, 7:30 p.m.
- May 11: vs. Chicago, 7:30 p.m.
- May 15: vs. LAFC, 7:30 p.m.
- May 18: at Cincinnati, 6:30 p.m.
- May 25: vs. Seattle, 7:30 p.m.
- June 1: at Miami, 6:30 p.m.
- June 8: vs. Portland, 7:30 p.m.
- June 15: at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
- June 19: vs. Colorado, 7:30 p.m.
- June 22: vs. Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.
- June 29: at Vancouver, 9:30 p.m.
- July 3: vs. San Jose, 7:30 p.m.
- July 7: at Colorado, 8:30 p.m.
- July 13: vs. Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.
- July 17: at Seattle, 9:30 p.m.
- July 20: at Kansas City, 7:30 p.m.
- Aug. 24: at Portland, 9:30 p.m.
- Sept. 1: vs. LA Galaxy, 1:30 p.m.
- Sept. 7: at New England, 6:30 p.m.
- Sept. 14: vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m.
- Sept. 21: at San Jose, 9:30 p.m.
- Sept. 28: vs. Kansas City, 7:30 p.m.
- Oct. 2: at LAFC, 9:30 p.m.
- Oct. 5: vs. Houston, 7:30 p.m.
- Oct. 19: at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
