MLS Releases Full 2015 Regular Season Schedule

While Major League Soccer released the first home games for each team a few weeks back, the entire 2015 MLS schedule was announced on Wednesday. Among the full announcement, there were a few highlights to point out.

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First, MLS revealed that the final week of games within the respective conference will occur at the same time. This is being called “Decision Day” by the league as it will most likely decide who makes it and who misses out on the 2015 MLS Playoffs. Eastern Conference games will be played at 5 p.m., while Western Conference games will be played at 7 p.m. these games will take place on October 25th. For the former games, Fox Sports and UniMas will each air a game; ESPN and Univision Deportes will each air one game from the Western Conference games. Unlike in past years, these games will be those most meaningful to the fans and the playoffs.

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Another added feature to the 2015 MLS Season is flex scheduling. For the second-to-last week, the tv networks will get to flex games, which will affect the playoff race the most or those that will draw the most interest from the fans. This is different from past years will non-meaningful games drew the national television spotlight, because it was decided before the season started. This means meaningful games were on no television network at all.

Lastly, MLS officially announced that the league playoff will expand. 12, an increase of two teams of last year’s 10 playoff teams, will earn a playoff berth. For the first time ever, all playoff games will be featured on national television. Starting with Wednesday, October 28 and Thursday, October 29, four knockout round games will take place. This means the No. 1 and No. 2 seeded teams in the respective teams will earn a first round bye. The preliminary playoff dates and format are listed below. Away goals will once again serve as the tiebreaker in two-legged rounds. More details will follow later in the season from the league.

"“The Conference Semifinals will take place over two consecutive weekends, Oct. 31–Nov. 1 and Nov. 7–8. Following a FIFA break from Nov. 9–17, the Conference Championship matches will begin on Nov. 21-22 and close out Nov. 28–29. The Conference Semifinals and Conference Championship matches will again be a two-game aggregate goal series with away goals serving as the tiebreaker. Of the two clubs that reach MLS Cup, the team with the better regular season record will host the championship game, on Dec. 5–6 or Dec. 12–13. Full playoff schedule details will be announced at a later date.” (Courtesy MLS press release)"

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As a reminder, Orlando City SC and NYCFC enter the league in 2015 bringing the total teams to 20. As a result, Sporting KC and the Houston Dynamo have relocated to the Western Conference. Each team will play a total of 34 regular season games. According to the league’s press release, “clubs will play each team in the opposing conference once for five home and five away matches; each of their nine conference opponents at least twice (one home, one away); and six additional intra-conference games — three home and three away versus different opponents.”

LA Galaxy and the New England Revolution will face-off in a 2014 MLS Cup Final rematch on Sunday, May 31st at 7 p.m. EST. The game will be aired on Fox Sports 1. The San Jose Earthquakes will debut their new soccer-specific stadium, Avaya Stadium, on Sunday, March 22nd at 7 p.m. EST on Fox Sports 1.

For full list of the 2015 MLS Schedule, you can click here. What are your thoughts on the new schedule? Which games are you most looking forward to? Respond in the comments section below.

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