Major League Soccer today announced Sporting Kansas City’s full 34-match schedule for the 2023 MLS regular season, which will kick off in Portland with the earliest regular season match in club history on Saturday, Feb. 25 during MLS is Back opening weekend and will conclude 34 weeks later at home on Saturday, Oct. 21 with Decision Day at Children’s Mercy Park.
Sporting Kansas City's regular season home schedule in 2023 begins with the club’s highly-anticipated home opener at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, March 11 against five-time MLS Cup champions LA Galaxy and features a total of 17 matches, highlighted by 13 Saturday dates – including visits from reigning MLS Cup champions Los Angeles FC on June 17 and MLS newcomers St. Louis City SC on Sept. 2.
The league’s 29th club, St. Louis joins the Western Conference and will twice welcome Sporting KC for matches at CITYPARK: first on Saturday, May 20 in the inaugural meeting between the regional rivals with a national television audience on FS1 and again on Saturday, Sept. 30 in a late-season showdown. Notably, Sporting’s 2023 road schedule also includes a first-ever match against Inter Miami CF on Saturday, Sept. 9.
Season tickets for Sporting Kansas City's 2023 campaign feature exclusive benefits, including a subscription to MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app and complimentary away match tickets, and are available by calling 888-4KC-GOAL or visiting SportingKC.com. Sporting also offers a variety of ticket packages and promotions including the Home Opener Pack and Captain's Flex Pack, as well as the My Five ticket contest.
In addition, single-match tickets for Sporting Kansas City's first eight regular season home matches at Children's Mercy Park in 2023 are now on sale via SeatGeek. Single-match tickets for the remaining regular season home matches will be released at a later date.
The 2023 season will see the debut of MLS Season Pass, the new subscription service from Apple and Major League Soccer that will have every match of the MLS regular season, Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs and Leagues Cup with no blackouts. With MLS Season Pass, fans can enjoy every MLS match – as well as a weekly five-hour live whip-around show from 6:30-11:30 p.m. CT - through the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes, game consoles and the web at tv.apple.com. The launch of MLS Season Pass on Feb. 1, 2023 marks the official kickoff of the 10-year partnership and all matches during the MLS is Back opening weekend will be available to watch for free on the Apple TV app.
Led by Manager Peter Vermes and captain Johnny Russell, Sporting will face 11 clubs in the Western Conference twice - once home and once away - while having the opportunity to play the team’s two closest geographic rivals, Minnesota United FC and St. Louis City SC, three times each in 2023. The remaining fixtures come against six of the Eastern Conference’s 15 teams with match-ups against Philadelphia, New England, Montreal, Chicago, Miami and Nashville – who re-join the East after a year in the West.
Beyond the MLS regular season, MLS will host the 2023 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target on July 19 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. and Sporting KC will compete for trophies – as well as a berth in the Concacaf Champions League – during the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and the reimagined Leagues Cup. Sporting’s participation in the U.S. Open Cup will begin in the Third Round (April 18-19) with the single-elimination competition to continue with the Round of 32 (May 9-10), Round of 16 (May 23-24), Quarterfinals (June 6), Semifinals (Aug. 23) and Final (Sept. 27) as the winner secures entry into the Concacaf Champions League.
In a new chapter for North American soccer, all 47 MLS and LIGA MX clubs will compete in Leagues Cup 2023 and the MLS regular season will pause following matches on July 15 for the annual World Cup-style tournament from July 21 to Aug. 19. The Leagues Cup champion, as well as the second and third place finishers, will qualify for the Concacaf Champions League.
In preparation for the upcoming campaign, Sporting will begin the club’s 2023 preseason presented by Children’s Mercy on Jan. 6 when players report to Kansas City for entrance physicals, testing and meetings. The team will travel to Arizona from Jan. 9 to Feb. 8 and from Feb. 15 to Feb. 24 with Sporting’s schedule of preseason matches set to be announced in early January.
