MLS announces 2010 season openers

The MLS recently announced the home openers for the 2010 season for each team. 2010 will kick-off on March 25th when the Seattle Sounders host the new expansion Philadelphia Union in Quest Field. This game will  air live on ESPN2 at 9:30pm ET). This is a great decision by the MLS front office. First game of the season, on national television, Seattle (the leagues highest attended team) will bring a great crowd, and the MLS will get to introduce the new Philly team. The only downside to this match-up is that if Philly struggles (as most teams do, except Seattle), it may not help kick-off strong support for the Union at the start of the season. The remaining week 1 match-ups look like this:

Saturday, March 27, 2010
Toronto FC at Columbus Crew, 4 p.m.
Chicago Fire at New York Red Bulls, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
D.C. United at Kansas City Wizards, 8:30 p.m.
Houston Dynamo at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
Real Salt Lake at San Jose Earthquakes, 9 p.m.
New England Revolution at LA Galaxy, 11 p.m. (Fox Soccer Channel) 


Sunday, March 28, 2010
Colorado Rapids at Chivas USA, Time TBD (TeleFutura) 


Three TV games in the first two days of the season is a good start for the MLS. The New England vs. LA game most likely will be more entertaining than the Fire vs. Red Bulls, but unfortunately LA's game doesn't kick off until 11pm ET which will hurt the ratings. 


The MLS also announced the home openers for each team which is playing on the road week 1, and for a few teams week 2 as well. 

REGULAR SEASON - WEEK 2

Saturday, April 3, 2010
Chicago Fire at Colorado Rapids, Time TBD
New England Revolution at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
Kansas City Wizards at Houston Dynamo, 8:30 p.m.

REGULAR SEASON - WEEK 3

Saturday, April 10, 2010
D.C. United at Philadelphia Union, 3 p.m. (Fox Soccer Channel)
Toronto FC at New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m.
San Jose Earthquakes at Chicago Fire, 8:30 p.m.
Seattle Sounders FC at Real Salt Lake, 9 p.m. 


Philadelphia Union will kick-off their season playing against DC United in the Eagles stadium, with a 3pm start time and Fox Soccer Channel broadcasting. One final note of interest for the 2010 season is that for the first time ever, the MLS will take a two week break from June 11th to June 25th while the FIFA World Cup Group stages are taking place next summer in South Africa. This is a step in the right direction for US Soccer and the MLS which has always been at odds with the FIFA calendar.