Sporting Kansas City will kick off the 2019 MLS season with a visit to Los Angeles Football Club on Sunday, March 3, Major League Soccer announced today. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT at Banc of California Stadium as two of the top three Western Conference teams from 2018 square off in Week 1.
The following Sunday, March 10, Sporting KC will host Philadelphia Union at 2 p.m. CT in the club’s first MLS home match at Children’s Mercy Park.
Tickets for Sporting KC’s 2019 MLS home opener will go on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. CT on SeatGeek.com. Sporting KC Season Ticket Members will have access to an exclusive pre-sale for the match beginning today at noon CT and can contact their Client Services Executive for more information. Single-game tickets for the first half of Sporting KC’s 2019 home schedule will go on sale in January.
MLS on Thursday unveiled the 2019 home openers for all 24 MLS clubs. The full MLS regular season schedule — including kickoff times and national television lineups for the United States and Canada — will be announced next month.
Led by 2018 MLS Coach of the Year finalist Peter Vermes, Sporting KC will commence the 2019 campaign against a pair of clubs that advanced to the MLS Cup Playoffs this fall. LAFC became the fifth expansion side in league history to earn a postseason berth in their inaugural season, placing third in the West with 57 points and a 16-9-9 record. Philadelphia, meanwhile, set a club record with 15 regular-season wins en route to a sixth-place finish in the East and reached the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final for the third time in five seasons.
Sporting KC finished atop the Western Conference standings in 2018, but only after beating LAFC 2-1 in the regular season finale on Oct. 28 at Children’s Mercy Park. Vermes’ side ended the year with 62 points and an 18-8-8 record, good for the second-most points and wins in team history. Sporting KC enjoyed a two-game sweep of LAFC in 2018, handing head coach Bob Bradley’s men their first-ever home loss at Banc of California Stadium with a 2-0 triumph on Aug. 11.
Sporting KC and Philadelphia have battled to an even series over the last decade, splitting their 18 meetings with six wins and six draws apiece in all competitions. The teams notably faced off in the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final at Talen Energy Stadium, when Sporting KC prevailed 7-6 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw through regulation. Union head coach Jim Curtain steered his side to a 2-0 home win when the clubs last met on Sept. 23.
The 2019 MLS regular season will see each club play 34 games, including 17 home games and 17 away games. Sporting KC will play each Western Conference club twice and each Eastern Conference team once.
