Real Salt Lake will begin their title defense on the road in 2010. (Getty Images)

The schedule has been out for nearly a month now but as the preseason starts to come to a close and the real games get going we need to take a look down the road to see which games are going to be more important. This is the first of a few Major League Soccer season previews that I am going to do in the coming weeks before the new season by the way.

Today it is all about the schedule. Most of you know I am a big believer in how a good schedule can go a long way in predicting a teams success and failure. Instead of going through each club’s schedule like I used to do on here I’ll go another direction and throw out some key games each month for you to pay attention to.

If for some reason I missed a game you think is worth talking about here, feel free to mention it below. Continue Reading…

The long wait is over, the 2010 Major League Soccer schedule is out. For the first time in League history, every team will play each of the other 15 clubs once at home, once away, for a balanced, 30-game season and a total of 240 matches.

Some of the highlights of this year’s schedule as passed on by the league:

• All 240 games will be televised
• One third of the games will be broadcast live by a national TV network:
  • 25 games will air live in high definition on ESPN2, and all of those, plus one game onESPN, will be simulcast on ESPN360 and in Spanish ESPN Deportes. This is the fourth year of an eight-year partnership between MLS and ESPN.
  • 31 games will be televised live in high definition on Fox Soccer Channel (FSC) and feature 30-minute pre- and post-game shows for a three-hour programming window. Most games on FSC will be simulcast in Spanish on Fox Sports en Español (FSE) in a two-hour broadcast window. Fox’s MLS schedule includes four Sunday matches from July 18 to Aug. 8.
  • 23 games will be broadcast live on TeleFutura, most on Saturdays starting at 4 p.m. ET.
• 75 percent of games will be played on Saturdays; 85 percent of games will be played on weekends.
• A two-week break in the MLS season aligns with the group phase of the FIFA World Cup. The last match before this break is D.C. United at Seattle Sounders FC at 10 p.m. ET (ESPN2).
• Red Bull Arena will host its first League match March 27 when the New York Red Bulls face the Chicago Fire at 7 p.m. ET (live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN360.com).
• The first MLS game to be played on natural grass at BMO Field in Toronto will be Toronto FC’s April 15 match against Philadelphia Union at 7 p.m. ET (live on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN360.com).
• On Sunday, June 27, Philadelphia Union will open the ninth stadium built specifically for an MLS club. The grand opening of the venue in Chester, Pa., will be a match against Seattle Sounders FC at 5 p.m. ET (live on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN360.com).
• SuperLiga 2010 will take place this summer with the Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, Houston Dynamo, and the New England Revolution representing MLS alongside four clubs from Mexico’s Primera A. Full details of the tournament will be announced in the coming weeks.
• he 2010 MLS All-Star Game will showcase top players from both conferences against a popular international club at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas in late July or early August. The date and opponent for the game will be announced at a later date, but it will be broadcast live by ESPN2 and TeleFutura.

I won’t go into each team’s schedule just yet, that will be a rundown later on here as the season comes closer. I am a big believer in what the schedule means for each club. Some of the weeknight games do upset me in markets like Dallas, Colorado, and New England. I point those clubs out because it always seems like they struggle at the gate on week night games more than others (though I’m always willing to be proven wrong if someone can point out someone worse).

What do you make of your club’s schedule? Love it? Hate it? Let’s hear it.

We’ve known about a couple games that would kick off the 2010 season for a couple days now but the rest of the home openers have now been announced by the league as of today. For the second straight season Qwest Field will be home of the first game of the MLS season in 2010 as the Sounders will host the new expansion side Philadelphia Union on ESPN2.

Yes, the first home game for Union will be at Lincoln Financial Field and not the new Chester Stadium. Union officials said yesterday that they went ahead and booked the Linc for their home opener instead of working out a way to spend the first few weeks of their expansion season on the road. A trade off indeed but it works out.

I love the league going to some rivalry games to kick off the new season next year. Dallas and Houston along with games like New York and Chicago from the new Red Bull Arena should be a good way to start a new season. Plus what seems to be an annual thing now between Columbus and Toronto is also on the First Kick menu.

Below are the rest of the home openers throughout the league.

REGULAR SEASON – WEEK 1
First Kick presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods – Thursday, March 25, 2010
Philadelphia Union at Seattle Sounders FC, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2/Deportes, ESPN360.com)

Saturday, March 27, 2010
Toronto FC at Columbus Crew, 4 p.m.
Chicago Fire at New York Red Bulls, 7 p.m. (ESPN2/Deportes, ESPN360.com)
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/Fox Sports en Español)

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

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/Fox Sports en Español)
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.

The Philadelphia Union will become the 16th MLS club at the start of next season and will play in the new Chester Stadium. But news came out this morning that their first game could be in another venue.

Philadelphia’s front office are keeping their options open as to the site of the first kick in 2010. Right now the likely destination for the first Union game will be at a NFL venue, Lincoln Financial Field.

This stadium hosted both Gold Cup and international friendlies this summer and is no stranger to soccer. Sure its disappointing to hear that Union won’t be in their new stadium at the start of next year but if they can pack in a good chunk of fans at this venue like Seattle did to open their expansion season this year it could be a good thing.

Word has it the opening kick schedule for next season could be out in a couple weeks too. Steve Goff reported this morning that it has undergone a couple different revisions as of late.

News that may finally get some folks off the MLS front office executive’s backs for a little bit. Today the league announced that next year’s schedule would include a two week break during the World Cup in South Africa.

The two week break will be during the group phase of the World Cup starting June 11 through the June 25. MLS does not plan to schedule games on the days of either World Cup Semifinal nor the World Cup Final.

“The decision to stop League play during the group phase of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is part of MLS’ commitment to deepen its connection with the millions of soccer fans in the United States and Canada,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “The World Cup will be a focal point for all MLS fans and several MLS players will compete with their national teams at the tournament.”

The league also announced something that most of us expected all along for next year since the league would be at an even 16 clubs with Philadelphia joining the fold. We will now have a balanced schedule with clubs facing one another twice, one home and one away.

And another nugget the league dropped on us the season will start March 25 and run through October 24. The MLS Cup Playoffs will culminate in the championship match, MLS Cup 2010, on November 21.

Back to the short break in action next year though. A lot of folks have been hammering MLS for not breaking during big international dates but it looks like the league was able to finally be able to get some time off during the sport’s most important tournament.