Sporting Kansas City will begin the 2018 MLS season against New York City FC at Children’s Mercy Park on Sunday, March 4, Major League Soccer announced on Tuesday.
Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT as Sporting KC hosts its earliest home opener in club history against a New York City FC side that finished second in the Supporters’ Shield standings in 2017.
Tickets for Sporting KC’s 2018 curtain raiser, as well as other single-game tickets at Children’s Mercy Park, will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, Feb. 1. Sporting KC Season Ticket Members will also have access to an exclusive pre-sale for single-game tickets.
MLS has confirmed the 2018 home openers for all 23 clubs, which includes Sporting KC’s road test versus the Chicago Fire on Saturday, March 10, at Toyota Park.
SPORTING KC CONFIRMED MLS MATCHES IN 2018
<strong>Week</strong> |
<strong>Date</strong> |
<strong>Opponent</strong> |
<strong>Time (CT)</strong> |
1 |
Sunday, March 4 |
NEW YORK CITY FC |
6:30pm |
2 |
Saturday, March 10 |
at Chicago Fire |
TBD |
The full MLS regular season schedule — including kickoff times and national television schedules for the United States and Canada — will be announced in January.
As one of nine active MLS charter members, Sporting KC will kick off its 23rd season against two teams who enjoyed strong 2017 campaigns in the Eastern Conference. New York City FC notched a club-record 16 wins behind World Cup-winning forward David Villa, who amassed 22 goals and nine assists en route to MLS Best XI honors. Under the guidance of head coach Patrick Vieira, a former France international, the Blues also ranked second in MLS with six away wins.
Chicago was one of the league’s most improved teams in 2017, making a 24-point jump under second-year head coach Veljko Paunovic. Veterans Bastian Schweinsteiger and Dax McCarty anchored the midfield while striker Nemanja Nikolic won the Golden Boot with 24 regular-season goals. The Fire placed third in the East with 55 points and made their first appearance in the MLS Cup Playoffs since 2012.
Sporting KC boasts an excellent 13-2-7 all-time record in home openers, including a 2-0-5 mark at Children’s Mercy Park. Manager Peter Vermes’ men took a 3-1 victory in NYCFC’s inaugural visit to Kansas City in July 2016. Additionally, Sporting KC’s 13 season-opening victories (13-5-4) are the most in MLS history.
Each club will play 34 games during the 2018 MLS regular season, including 17 home games and 17 away games. Teams will face each of their conference opponents (10 in the East, 11 in the West) twice during the season with one game at home and one game away. Western Conference teams will play one additional intra-conference game and Eastern Conference teams will play two. All teams will face each non-conference opponent once.
