First Kick 2009 Schedule Revealed

Major League Soccer will kick off its 14th season during the week of March 19-22, with 7 games scheduled for First Kick 2009; only Real Salt Lake will be inactive during the schedule's first week. MLS also revealed the date and opponent of each club's home opener for next season, with the full schedule expected to be unveiled sometime in February.

Each team will play a 30-game regular season. Of the 15 teams that will compete in 2009, seven will be in the Eastern Conference and eight will be in the Western Conference, where Seattle Sounders FC is the newest addition. Each team will play every other MLS team home and away, for a base of 28 games. Two additional games against intra-conference rivals will complete each team's 30-game schedule. The regular season ends on October 25th.

Thursday, March 19th, 2009
- New York Red Bulls at Seattle Sounders FC, 9 p.m. (ESPN2/Deportes)

Saturday, March 21st, 2009
- Columbus Crew at Houston Dynamo, 8 p.m. (Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Sports en Español)
- Chicago Fire at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
- Toronto FC at Kansas City Wizards, 8:30 p.m.
- Colorado Rapids at Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m. (Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Sports en Español)
- New England Revolution at San Jose Earthquakes, 10:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009
- DC United at Los Angeles Galaxy, 3 p.m. (TeleFutura)

Other games announced

Saturday, March 28th, 2009
- Toronto FC at Columbus Crew, 4 p.m.
- San Jose Earthquakes at DC United, 7:30 p.m.
- New England Revolution at New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
- Kansas City Wizards at Colorado Rapids, 9:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
- Columbus Crew at Real Salt Lake, 9 p.m. (ESPN2/Deportes)

Saturday, April 4th, 2009
- Seattle Sounders FC at Toronto FC, 3 p.m.
- FC Dallas at New England Revolution, TBD

Sunday, April 5th, 2009
- New York Red Bulls at Chicago Fire, 3 p.m. (TeleFutura)