It's been just 11 days since the conclusion of the 2023 MLS season, and it's already time to start circling those dates and booking those flights in 2024.
On Wednesday, Major League Soccer released the 2024 MLS regular season schedule, with Sporting once again set to take the field on 34 occasions as the team looks to make it back-to-back appearances in the MLS Cup Playoffs. The schedule includes 17 matches at our home, Children’s Mercy Park, and 17 on the road from coast-to-coast. To secure your seats for the upcoming campaign, visit SportingKC.com/tickets.
The 2024 season marks Sporting's 29th campaign as a MLS charter member, along with year two of MLS Season Pass on Apple TV with all 34 matches airing in English and Spanish on the no-blackouts service. Below, we take a crack at a rapid-fire rundown of all 34 regular season matches.
Saturday, Feb. 24 at Houston Dynamo FC | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
Sporting’s season-opener at Houston will mark the earliest start to an MLS regular season in league history. It will also give the club an immediate chance to avenge the loss in the MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference Semifinal with the squad returning to Shell Energy Stadium at the first possible opportunity. Just 91 days will have passed by the time Sporting returns to Houston looking for revenge.
Saturday, March 2 vs. Philadelphia Union | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
Can't ask for a more formidable opponent in the club's home opener than the Philadelphia Union. Led by the second-longest tenured active coach in MLS, Jim Curtin, the Union have been a powerhouse over the last four seasons, racking up a league-leading 223 combined points since the start of 2020.
Saturday, March 9 at LAFC | 9:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
The season-opening gauntlet continues in Week 3 as Sporting pays a visit to MLS Cup runners-up LAFC. Steve Cherundolo's squad, led by superstar forward Denis Bouanga who had 38 goals in all competitions in 2023, will be on the hunt for more silverware in 2024 - though Sporting has a sneakily solid 2-3-1 record all-time at BMO Stadium.
Saturday, March 16 vs. San Jose Earthquakes | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
It's a rematch of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference Wild Card Match. Boy, that's a mouthful. Sporting, who prevailed in a dramatic penalty shootout that night in late October, is unbeaten in their last seven home matches against San Jose in the regular season, putting up a dominant 6-0-1 record since the start of 2016.
Saturday, March 23 vs. LA Galaxy | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
Armed with a pair of open DP spots heading into this offseason, the Galaxy are bound to be new and improved in 2024 after finishing second-to-last in the West this past season. Star midfielder Riqui Puig will continue to pull the strings as LA enters a new era following the departure of Mexican striker Chicharito.
Saturday, March 30 at Toronto FC | 6:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
The 2023 version of Toronto provided the perfect example of how nothing is won on paper in this sport. Despite boasting some of the best attacking talent in all of MLS with Italian duo Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi, Toronto languished throughout the season and finished dead last in MLS with a 4-20-10 record. Boosted by the arrival of former Canadian National Team head coach John Herdman, TFC will be expecting a bounceback season far more aligned with the quality of their roster in 2024.
Sunday, April 7 vs. Portland Timbers | 12:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass & FOX
In our first nationally televised match of the season, Sporting continue a series with Portland that typically sees the home team come out on top over recent years. Portland has not won a regular-season match in Kansas City since 2013 while Sporting likewise has not tasted victory at Providence Park since 2017. Last season went chalk, with Portland winning 1-0 at home in the season opener before Sporting responded with a 4-1 victory at Children's Mercy Park in May.
Saturday, April 13 vs. Inter Miami CF | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
The GOAT is coming to Kansas City. What else is there to say?
Saturday, April 20 vs. St. Louis | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
The first installment of our rivalry series with cross-state foes St. Louis comes on 4/20 in a match likely to bring all the smoke. After St. Louis was unceremoniously dumped out of the MLS Cup Playoffs by Sporting to curtail their "historic" expansion season, all eyes around the league will be fixated on what is rapidly becoming one of the must-watch matchups in MLS.
Saturday, April 27 at Minnesota United FC | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
From a fierce rival one week to a friendly rival the next. Sporting and Minnesota will resume niceties with one another for the first of three meetings in 2024 when the two teams face off at Allianz Field in St. Paul. The match marks the first of several drivable Roaddrons in 2024, we'll see and hear you there!
Saturday, May 4 at Real Salt Lake | 8:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
What has historically been a very difficult place to go for Sporting was flipped on its head in their last visit - a nervy 3-2 victory in an absolute must-win match in the penultimate week of the 2023 campaign. Buoyed by that result, Sporting went on to clinch a spot in the postseason on Decision Day. That victory was just Sporting's second regular-season win at America First Field since 2013.
Saturday, May 11 vs. Houston Dynamo FC | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
The first repeat opponents of the 2024 campaign. The last time the Dynamo visited Children's Mercy Park, Sporting prevailed 2-1 following a gritty and determined performance having been forced to play the final 51 minutes plus down a man on Sept. 23, 2023. That match would prove to be Houston's only loss in their final 12 regular-season games of the season and their only loss in 16 including postseason until the Dynamo eventually fell to LAFC in the Western Conference Final.
Saturday, May 18 at Austin FC | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
While Austin experienced a rather steep crash back to reality in 2023 following a high-flying 2022, make no mistake - this is still a squad with plenty of talent and led by a pair of Sporting Legends in head coach Josh Wolff and assistant coach Davy Arnaud. A raucous Q2 Stadium will welcome a Sporting side determined to change their fortunes having played three, lost three in the Texas capital.
Saturday, May 25 at Portland Timbers | 9:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
Our first trip to the Pacific Northwest comes in late May, a gorgeous time of year if anyone is considering a lengthier Roaddron... Portland are entering a brand-new era in 2024 following the midseason departure of longtime coach Gio Savarese, with Phil Neville recently appointed as the Timbers look to qualify for the postseason for the first time since falling in the 2021 MLS Cup.
Wednesday, May 29 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
The first midweek match of the year sees Sporting host the Whitecaps at Children's Mercy Park. We think Vancouver head coach Vanni Sartini will be back on the sidelines by then?
Saturday, June 1 at Minnesota United FC | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
It's back to the Twin Cities on the first day of June. Sporting clinched a spot in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs at the expense of Minnesota but would it surprise anyone to see the Loons back in the postseason with a full year of star playmaker Emanuel Reynoso?
Saturday, June 8 vs. Seattle Sounders FC | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
One of the top on-field rivalries that has developed organically over the years returns on June 8 when Sporting hosts the Sounders. Lest we forget, it was a matchup with Seattle that sparked Sporting to life in 2023, earning their first win of the season at Lumen Field on May 7 that was the genesis of a run that saw Sporting finish with the season with the best record in the West from that point forward.
Saturday, June 15 at LA Galaxy | 9:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
Nothing like a summer night in sunny So Cal, right? Sporting has lost in just one of their last six visits to Dignity Health Sports Park, most recently salvaging a 2-2 draw through Alan Pulido's late penalty on June 21, 2023.
Wednesday, June 19 vs. Real Salt Lake | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
2013 MLS Cup rematches are always spicy. Expect nothing less in this one as head coach Pablo Mastroeni brings a side full of human spirit to Children's Mercy Park this coming midsummer.
Saturday, June 22 at Columbus Crew | 6:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
Reigning champs? On the road? Bring it on. Sporting will make their first-ever visit to Columbus' new Lower.com Field to take on a free-flowing Columbus side led by stars Cucho Hernandez and Darlington Nagbe. Sporting hasn't lost to Columbus in their last five meetings, but this ain't your father's Crew.
Saturday, June 29 vs. Austin FC | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
Sporting has won two of their four home matches against Austin since the Texans joined MLS in 2021, including a dominant 4-1 win on June 10, 2023. Under new Sporting Director Rodolfo Borrell, it remains to be seen if we'll be getting the 2022 version or the 2023 version of Austin FC in 2024.
Thursday, July 4 at Colorado Rapids | 8:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
When one looks back at the 2023 campaign, two of the most head-scratching results came against the Rapids as Sporting picked up just one point out of six available with a 0-0 draw on the road and a 1-0 loss at home against what ended up being the worst team in the West and second-worst team in all of MLS. A new season gives Sporting an opportunity to put that right on Independence Day.
Sunday, July 7 vs. FC Dallas | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
While Kansas City in July is no picnic, let's just be thankful this one isn't taking place in a perpetually steamy Frisco, Texas.
Saturday, July 13 at San Jose Earthquakes | 9:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
Sporting fans know all about how infuriating matches against Luchi Gonzalez-coached teams can be, with the former national team assistant enjoying unprecedented success against Sporting with his dark-arts tactics while guiding FC Dallas from 2018-2021. We had the last laugh in 2023, let's keep that going.
Wednesday, July 17 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 9:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
One of two trips we'll take north of the border in 2024, we head back to the Pacific Northwest to take on a sneaky good Whitecaps side that finished sixth in the West in 2023. In a rare feat across MLS, Sporting actually has a winning record in Vancouver (5-4-3) but is winless at BC Place in their last three.
Saturday, July 20 vs. St. Louis | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass & FS1
The final match before the Leagues Cup break is a doozie. Also airing nationally on FS1, Sporting will host St. Louis for the second time in 2024 in front of a jam-packed Children's Mercy Park. Let's send those fans in pink back across I-70 in a state of misery once again, shall we?
Saturday, Aug. 24 vs. Orlando City SC | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
The first two matches coming out of the Leagues Cup break sees Sporting engage in some inter-conference action. First up is a home match against high-flying Orlando City SC who just re-signed head coach Oscar Pareja after their terrific 2023 campaign that saw the Floridians finish second in the Supporters' Shield standings, six points behind runaway leaders FC Cincinnati.
Saturday, Sept. 7 at New York Red Bulls | 6:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
Two proud MLS charter teams are set to battle it out in early September as Sporting pays a visit to the Big Apple (adjacent?). Sporting last traveled to Red Bull Arena for the 2021 season opener, earning a 2-1 victory behind goals from Gadi Kinda and Daniel Salloi. Both Sporting and the Red Bulls have won 22 games apiece in the all-time regular-season series, so there'll be some bragging rights on the line here.
Sunday, Sept. 15 at Seattle Sounders FC | 6 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass & FS1
The final opportunity for a regular-season Roaddron to the Pacific Northwest comes in mid-September and a return to Lumen Field to face Seattle. While the Sounders have been a perennial powerhouse in MLS the past decade and more, Sporting has routinely been the one team to give Seattle fits. Road teams have gone 51-141-52 at Lumen Field since the Sounders joined MLS in 2009, but Peter Vermes' side is a dead even 6-6-2 up in Washington.
Wednesday, Sept. 18 vs. Colorado Rapids | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
The countdown to the end of the regular season continues with a home match against Chris Armas' new (and maybe improved?) Rapids. Sporting are 23-7-6 all-time against Colorado at home and have lost just two of their last eight meetings at Children's Mercy Park. Thankfully, the man who scored the winner in both of those losses - old friend Diego Rubio - moved on from Colorado this offseason.
Saturday, Sept. 21 vs. Minnesota United FC | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
Minnesota returns to their personal house of horrors, visiting Children's Mercy Park where Sporting has gone 9-0-0 against the Loons in MLS regular-season play - outscoring their northern foes 25-3 in the process.
Saturday, Sept. 28 at St. Louis | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
Back down I-70 we go for our first visit to Citypark since the 4-1 demolition job by Peter Vermes' and the boys in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. That result marked the only win by the road team across 5 games between the two sides in 2023, with Sporting holding a 3-2-0 edge in the all-time series following that postseason rout.
Saturday, Oct. 5 vs. LAFC | 7:30 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
The home finale could not be much tastier. If 2022 and 2023 are anything to go by, LAFC will be a force to be reckoned with once again in the new year. Sporting began the series against LAFC on the front foot, going 4-2-0 in their first six meetings but are 0-4-1 in their last five so this will be one to watch as the playoff race reaches fever pitch.
Saturday, Oct. 19 at FC Dallas | 8 p.m. CT | MLS Season Pass
As dramatic and exhilarating as 2023 Decision Day was for Sporting, let's not leave it to the last second again shall we? Sporting will head south to face off against a Dallas side that Sporting has gotten the better of just three times in their last 12 meetings.
