Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
Mark your calendar for March 4. That’s when St. Louis CITY SC will kick off its first Major League Soccer match at CITYPARK.
The league revealed its 2023 schedule on Tuesday, and the hometown expansion club will officially open its new stadium during Week 2 of the season against Charlotte FC in a showdown between the two newest MLS franchises. The first official game in club history will take place on the road a week earlier when CITY takes on Austin FC on February 25.
"It is exciting to finally see our first schedule laid out for the inaugural season,” Lutz Pfannenstiel, CITY's sporting director, said in a statement. “The build up to 2023 has been amazing, with our CITY2 team and Academy teams having incredible results. We hope we can carry the same type of success into Major League Soccer."
All told, St. Louis’ 34-game schedule will be split evenly between home and road dates. The home schedule features three nationally-televised home games: vs. LA Galaxy on June 11 (FOX), vs. Sporting Kansas City on May 20 (FS1) as part of MLS Rivalry Week, and vs. Austin FC on August 20 (FS1). Beyond these national matches, every CITY game will be available for streaming on Apple TV.
Several other matchups stand out, including a visit from defending MLS Cup champions Los Angeles FC on September 20. CITY will also get two home dates against Sporting Kansas City, including one on Sept. 30. Of CITY's first 10 regular season games, only four will feature matchups against teams that qualified for the 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs.
The first 14 weeks of the season will see matches played exclusively on Saturdays. CITY will also have five matches on Wednesdays, two matches on Sundays, and one match on Tuesday (July 4) over the course of the season.
The league schedule breaks after the July 15 slate of games so that MLS clubs, including CITY, can participate in the Leagues Cup tournament. The competition pits MLS teams against counterparts from Mexico's Liga MX. CITY will resume league play on August 20, before wrapping the regular season on Oct. 21.
Here's how it all shakes out:
- Feb. 25: at Austin FC, 7:30 p.m.
- March 4: vs. Charlotte FC, 7:30 p.m.
- March 11: at Portland Timbers, 9:30 p.m.
- March 18: vs. San Jose Earthquakes, 7:30 p.m.
- March 25: at Real Salt Lake, 8:30 p.m.
- April 1: vs. Minnesota United, 7:30 p.m.
- April 8: at Seattle Sounders, 9:30 p.m.
- April 15: vs. FC Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.
- April 22: at Colorado Rapids, 8:30 p.m.
- April 29: vs. Portland Timbers, 7:30 p.m.
- May 6: at FC Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
- May 13: at Chicago Fire, TBD
- May 20: vs. Sporting Kansas City, 8:30 p.m.
- May 27: vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 7:30 p.m.
- May 31: at Los Angeles FC, 9:30 p.m.
- June 3: vs. Houston Dynamo, 7:30 p.m.
- June 11: vs. LA Galaxy, 12 p.m.
- June 17: at Nashville SC, 7:30 p.m.
- June 21: vs. Real Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m.
- June 24: at San Jose Earthquakes, 9:30 p.m.
- July 1: vs. Colorado Rapids, 7:30 p.m.
- July 4: at LA Galaxy, 9:30 p.m.
- July 8: at Toronto FC, 6:30 p.m.
- July 15: vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m.
- Aug. 20: vs. Austin FC, 8:30 p.m.
- Aug. 26: at Orlando City SC, 6:30 p.m.
- Aug. 30: vs. FC Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
- Sept. 2: at Sporting Kansas City, 7:30 p.m.
- Sept. 16: at Houston Dynamo, 7:30 p.m.
- Sept. 20: vs. Los Angeles FC, 7:30 p.m.
- Sept. 23: at Minnesota United, 7:30 p.m.
- Sept. 30: vs. Sporting Kansas City, 7:30 p.m.
- Oct. 4: at Vancouver Whitecaps, 9:30 p.m.
- Oct. 21: vs. Seattle Sounders, TBD
This story will be updated.
