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MLS releases 2010 schedule
As expected, Major League Soccer is throwing fuel on the increasingly heated Rapids-Real Salt Lake rivalry by scheduling the teams to meet, again, in the season finale. This year, the teams finish the regular season October 23 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
The league released its 2010 schedule on Wednesday, and the Rapids won’t meet defending champion (gag, cough) Real Salt Lake until the final two months of the season. The Rapids travel to Utah for their first meeting, on September 25. After that match, there will be only four fixtures remaining (one of which is against RSL).
There’s no way to tell which team would benefit from such scheduling. If one or the other has fallen out of contention by that point, would the other be able to climb in the standings because of these two games? Or would the also-ran be able to successfully play the role of spoiler?
The only thing that’s certain is the history between these clubs is growing more bitter by the year. And the two late dates have the potential to be important in the standings and the playoff race, and that’s no doubt how MLS would like it. 2010 marks the fourth consecutive year that the teams have finished against each other.
The Rapids play a 30-game schedule, two games each (one home, one away) against 15 other clubs. The opener, as we already knew, is March 26 against Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The home opener is April 3 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park against Chicago.
We also knew the league would take a two week break, June 11-24, for the World Cup.
Here’s what we learned:
The Rapids got a Fourth of July match again, this one against the Red Bulls. The Fourth falls on a Sunday, so there’s no reason this one shouldn’t sell out (unless casual fans aren’t able to forget the fireworks fiasco of ‘09).
The expansion Philadelphia Union (with former Rapids defender Jordan Harvey) will make its first visit to Colorado on July 21.
Oddly, the Rapids will face the Red Bulls on September 11 in New York. That could be a surreal setting on the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Colorado has no more than two consecutive road games and no more than two straight at home.
MLS runner-up Los Angeles will visit on May 5. Will David Beckham make his second appearance in uniform at Dick’s?
To see the full schedule, check out our Schedules/Results page, updated for 2010.
To see all the Rapids, W-League and college results from Colorado in 2009, go here.
Single-game 2010 Rapids tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. February 16 at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Park box office, at 303-53-HORSE or at ColoradoRapids.com. Rapids full-season ticket holders will have an opportunity for a special advance sale of single-game tickets, beginning at 10 a.m. February 8.
Other highlights of the MLS schedule:
- Seventy-five percent of all MLS games will be played on Saturdays; 85 percent of MLS 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 Red Bulls face Chicago.
- The first MLS game to be played on natural grass at BMO Field in Toronto will be April 15.
- 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.
- The 2010 MLS All-Star Game will be at Reliant Stadium in Houston in late July or early August.
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