Match Preview

Preview: Sporting Kansas City hosts the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday in MLS home opener

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Sporting Kansas City vs. San Jose Earthquakes
2025 MLS Regular Season | Match 2
Saturday, March 1 | 7:30 p.m. CT (7:40 kickoff)
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas

Sporting Kansas City will host the San Jose Earthquakes at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Children's Mercy Park in the club's highly anticipated MLS home opener.

Tickets for the match are available on SeatGeek and college students can take advantage of the Sporting U Pass to purchase $15 Supporters' Stand tickets. In addition, the Blue Hell Pack and Golden State Ticket Pack each include SKCvSJ tickets at a discounted rate.

Fans in attendance can take home the team's 2025 schedule magnet courtesy of a postgame gate giveaway and SportingStyle retail stores at Children's Mercy Park will be offering free customization with the purchase of the club's new One KC primary jersey.

The Western Conference match-up will feature a pair of two-time MLS Cup champions going head to head with two of the most successful coaches in MLS history on the sidelines in Bruce Arena and Peter Vermes. Arena is in his 20th season as an MLS coach -- previously leading D.C. (1996-98), New York (2006-07), LA (2008-16) and New England (2019-23) -- while Vermes is in his 17th season with Sporting KC (2009-present) as the longest tenured head coach with one club in league history.

MLS Coaches: Most Regular Season Wins
1. Bruce Arena with 263 wins (five teams)
2. Sigi Schmid with 240 wins (three teams)
3. Peter Vermes with 203 wins (Sporting KC)

Arena's arrival in San Jose came amidst an active offseason for the Earthquakes, who finished 2024 with the fewest points (21) and most goals conceded (78) in MLS. San Jose traded for Designated Player Cristian "Chico" Arango - an MLS All-Star last season who has seven goal contributions (four goals, three assists) in seven regular season appearances against Sporting KC -- and signed former MLS MVP Josef Martinez, who sits seventh on the league's all-time goal scoring chart and has the third most goal contributions (136) among active MLS players.

The club's 2025 campaign got off to a dream start with a 4-0 win over Real Salt Lake last weekend in a result that was not only the largest victory by any MLS team on Matchday 1 but also the biggest opening day victory in club history. Brazilian goalkeeper Daniel leads all MLS goalkeepers with seven saves in the shutout while Designated Player Cristian Espinoza recorded a pair of assists and continued his impressive run of 110 consecutive games played -- the longest active streak in MLS and the second longest all-time among field players.

Sporting Kansas City is set to play a fourth match in just 11 days to start the season and will be looking to snap a streak of eight straight losses that spans across three different competitions dating back to September 2024. However, SKC will now play five of its next season matches at home and will welcome an Earthquakes side that Sporting swept in 2024 with a pair of 2-1 victories.

Sporting has prevailed in 20 of 22 home matches against San Jose since August 2004 with a 17-1-4 record that includes successful shootouts in the 2017 U.S. Open Cup semifinal as well as the MLS Cup Playoffs in 2020 and 2023. The Earthquakes lone win in Kansas City in the last 20 years came nearly a decade ago in August 2015 and Sporting is 7-0-4 at home against San Jose in all competitions since with a 7-0-1 record in the regular season.

Newly acquired Designated Player Dejan Joveljic has eight goal contributions (six goals, two assists) in nine regular season appearances against San Jose and his six goals versus the Earthquakes are his most against any MLS opponent. The Serbian striker joined Sporting earlier this month in a $4-million move from the LA Galaxy after contributing 21 goals and eight assists in all competitions for the MLS Cup champions in 2024.

Saturday's showdown will be available to watch live in English (Josh Eastern and Jamie Watson) and Spanish (Carlos Mauricio Ramirez and Max Cordaro) with an Apple TV+ or MLS Season Pass subscription. MLS Season Pass is available through the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes and game consoles as well as on the web at tv.apple.com. Fans can sign up for MLS Season Pass for $14.99 per month or $99 for the full season and, through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share the subscription.

Sporting KC Season Ticket Members receive a free subscription to MLS Season Pass. T-Mobile customers can also redeem a complimentary subscription to MLS Season Pass for a limited time via the T-Life app, while Xfinity and DIRECTV customers can enjoy a free preview of MLS Season Pass on Saturday.

Pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network will show all of the action from SKCvSJ, including a watch party at No Other Pub in the Kansas City Power & Light district featuring $4 domestic drafts, $5 wells and 50% off chicken nachos for fans in SKC gear starting at 5:30 p.m.​​​​​​