Major League Soccer reveals 2014 regular season schedule, with two-week break for World Cup

NEW YORK – Major League Soccer unveiled its complete 2014 regular season schedule on Monday, with one special wrinkle while the world turns its attention to the World Cup in Brazil.

Just as it did during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, MLS will take a two-week break between June 12-24, when a number of MLS players are expected to compete for various teams in the group stage of the World Cup.

The league’s 19th season will begin on Saturday, March 8 in Seattle, where the host Sounders will take on Sporting Kansas City at CenturyLink Field (NBCSN), followed by seven matches that evening and one on Sunday, March 9. The regular season will conclude on Oct. 26 before the MLS Cup playoffs begin the following week.

ESPN, a partner since the league’s inaugural season, continues its live coverage of MLS with 20 regular season games. Among the most compelling matches are a pair of Cascadia Cup clashes between Seattle and Portland (July 13 and August 24), and I-95 Corridor rivals Philadelphia vs. New York (July 16) and New York vs. D.C. United (Sept. 10).

• CHECK OUT THE COMPLETE 2014  SCHEDULE

ESPN will also broadcast the one match of the season between LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls on Sept. 28. The matches on ESPN and ESPN2 will also be available on ESPN Deportes, ESPN3, WatchESPN, and ESPN Deportes Radio.

In the third season of its partnership, NBC Sports Group will open its coverage of the MLS season with six back-to-back Saturday afternoon matches, aligning with NBC Sports’ EPL coverage. The broadcast package will feature MLS matches on Friday night slots on NBC Sports Network from June 27 through October 24. All told, NBC Sports Group will broadcast 38 regular season games, plus three on NBC.

The league will once again shine a light on some of the best rivalries in MLS over two weekends next season, beginning with a slate of four rivalry games on April 5-6: Portland vs. Seattle (NBCSN), Houston vs. Dallas, LA vs. Chivas USA (UniMas) and Columbus vs. Toronto FC. That weekend will also include a rematch of the upcoming MLS Cup, between Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake.

• READ: 10 matches you do not want to miss

Following the World Cup, the Aug. 2 slate of rivalry matches includes Colorado vs. Real Salt Lake, Montreal vs. Toronto, LA vs. Portland (NBC) and the first-ever event at the new Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., when the San Jose Earthquakes host the Seattle Sounders (NBCSN).

NBC Sports Network will showcase all the action on Aug. 2 on MLS Breakaway, the popular whip-around show, which returns again on Sept. 20 covering five live games.

Univision Sports’ exclusive, Spanish-language broadcasts of 28 MLS regular season games – all on Sundays on UniMas or Univision Deportes Network – begin on March 9, when Chivas USA host the Chicago Fire. The Univision Deportes broadcast package also includes live steaming of select games on Univision’s digital network UVideos.  

Nationally in Canada, TSN/TSN2 will air more than 40 matches featuring Canadian clubs in English and RDS/RDS2 will air at least 30 games in French. TSN’s first match of the season will be March 8 in Vancouver when the Whitecaps host New York. RDS will begin its regular season broadcasts on March 22 in Montreal, when the Impact host the Sounders.

• Add 2014 MLS schedule to your calendar

The complete TSN/TSN2 and RDS/RDS2 schedules will be announced in the coming weeks.

All non-national TV games will be broadcast locally and/or via subscription to Direct Kick and MLS Live, the digital streaming package for MLSsoccer.com, mobile devices and tablets.

Scheduling information for both the MLS All-Star Game and MLS Cup will be announced at a later date.

2014 MLS Home Openers

NOTE: Dates and times of matches are subject to change.