The Sounders will open their 2023 MLS season Feb. 26 against the Colorado Rapids at Lumen Field, the league announced Tuesday.
The 34-match schedule will feature six Cascadia games against Portland and Vancouver and a doubleheader with NWSL side OL Reign.
But before opening the league slate, the Sounders will participate in the seven-team FIFA men’s Club World Cup in Morocco from Feb. 1-11. Soccer’s governing body hasn’t released match dates, but the third-place game and final were played on the last day in past iterations of the tournament, which could make Seattle’s transition to MLS play tight.
“This tournament is awkward in a sense that it doesn’t give us a whole lot of runway before we have to play our first [Club World Cup] match, which is certainly going to be tough,” said Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer, whose team will open training camp Jan. 4 at Starfire Sports in Tukwila. “We’re really trying to just prepare the guys for the first match of the Club World Cup, and however we come out of that, whenever we get back into the United States, we’ll try to formulate the rest of that time to be prepared for the MLS season.”
The league will kick off its 27th season Feb. 25 with a match between Nashville SC and the New York City Football Club. The league’s 29th team, St. Louis City SC, will also make its debut, playing at Austin FC.
Seattle has two home matches to start the season. In addition to the opener against Colorado, the Sounders will host Real Salt Lake on March 4 at Lumen Field. The first road match is March 11 at FC Cincinnati.
The Cascadia matches at Lumen are scheduled for June 3 and Sept. 2 against Portland. The Sounders will host Vancouver on Oct. 7 at Lumen.
Reigning MLS Cup champion Los Angeles FC will play its sole match at Lumen on March 18, and the Sounders will welcome St. Louis on decision day, which is Oct. 21. Details for the doubleheader with the Reign haven’t been finalized.
MLS will hold its All-Star Game on July 19 at Audi Field, home of D.C. United. The league will also pause from July 15-Aug. 20 for the revamped Leagues Cup tournament. The combined 47 clubs from Mexico’s Liga MX and MLS will play in a World Cup-style event that’s sanctioned by CONCACAF.
The 2023 season is the debut of MLS Season Pass, a subscription service with Apple that will broadcast all 493 MLS regular-season matches, the postseason, and Leagues Cup tourney in one place with no blackouts. Access is through the Apple TV app, Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes, game consoles and the web at tv.apple.com.
One free subscription to MLS Season Pass is included in 2023 Sounders season-ticket membership accounts. For $110 the Sounders will provide access to their new digital membership that allows North American fans to subscribe to MLS Season Pass before the 2023 season and have other perks such as discounted merchandise, presale for playoff matches and benefits within the new Sounders FC mobile app.
More ticket purchasing information and details regarding MLS Season Pass can be found by emailing [email protected] or calling 877-657-4625.
Select MLS matches will also air on the Fox networks in the U.S. Seattle is slated to have six matches on the network, beginning with the season opener against Colorado on FS1/Fox Deportes.
The Sounders missed the postseason in 2022 for the first time since the club’s inaugural MLS season in 2009. Seattle was 11th in Western Conference standings, the 12-17-5 finish set a franchise record for losses in an MLS season.