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Major League Soccer has released its schedule for the upcoming 2013 season. As previously known, this year sees the MLS season kick off at its earliest data ever of March 2nd. Additionally, many of you will notice that the 2013 schedule follows the same unbalanced schedule of 2012. This means three games played against Western Conference rivals and only one against Eastern Conference clubs.
Here's the full schedule:
March, 2013
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
3/3 4:30PM PST
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
 |
 |
New York
|
ESPN2
|
||
|
3/9 7:30PM PST
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
 |
Montreal
|
|||
|
3/16 TBD
MLS Regular Season
at CenturyLink Field |
Seattle
|
 |
|
Portland
|
NBC Sports
|
||
|
3/30 3:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at Dick's Sporting Goods Park |
Colorado
|
 |
|
Portland
|
|||
April, 2013
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
4/6 7:30PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
 |
Houston
|
|||
|
4/14 5:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
 |
San Jose
|
NBC Sports
|
||
|
4/21 8:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at Buck Shaw Stadium |
San Jose
|
|
|
Portland
|
UniMas
|
||
|
4/27 5:30PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park |
Sporting KC
|
 |
|
Portland
|
|||
May, 2013
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5/2 7:30PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
 |
New England
|
|||
|
5/8 6:00PM PDT
|
FC Dallas
|
 |
|
Portland
|
|||
|
5/12 3:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
 |
UniMas
|
|||
|
5/18 TBD
MLS Regular Season
at BC Place |
Vancouver
|
 |
|
Portland
|
|||
|
5/25 4:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at RFK Stadium |
 |
|
Portland
|
||||
June, 2013
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
6/8 5:30PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at Toyota Park |
Chicago
|
 |
|
Portland
|
|||
|
6/15 2:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
|
FC Dallas
|
ESPN
|
||
|
6/19 TBD
MLS Regular Season
at The Home Depot Center |
Los Angeles
|
 |
|
Portland
|
|||
|
6/23 4:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
|
Colorado
|
NBC Sports
|
||
July, 2013
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
7/7 2:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at Crew Stadium |
Columbus
|
 |
|
Portland
|
|||
|
7/13 8:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
|
Los Angeles
|
NBC Sports
|
||
|
7/20 4:30PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at PPL Park |
Philadelphia
|
 |
|
Portland
|
|||
|
7/27 7:30PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at Buck Shaw Stadium |
San Jose
|
|
|
Portland
|
|||
August, 2013
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
8/3 8:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
|
Vancouver
|
|||
|
8/17 8:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
|
FC Dallas
|
|||
|
8/21 8:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
 |
||||
|
8/25 7:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at CenturyLink Field |
Seattle
|
|
|
Portland
|
ESPN2
|
||
|
8/30 7:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at Rio Tinto Stadium |
Real Salt Lake
|
|
|
Portland
|
NBC Sports
|
||
September, 2013
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
9/7 8:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
 |
||||
|
9/14 7:30PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at The Home Depot Center |
Chivas USA
|
|
|
Portland
|
|||
|
9/20 7:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
|
Colorado
|
NBC Sports
|
||
|
9/29 12:30PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
|
Los Angeles
|
NBC
|
||
October, 2013
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
8/6 TBD
MLS Regular Season
at BC Place |
Vancouver
|
|
|
Portland
|
|||
|
10/13 6:00PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
|
Seattle
|
ESPN
|
||
|
10/19 7:30PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at JELD-WEN Field |
Portland
|
|
|
Real Salt Lake
|
|||
|
10/26 7:30PM PDT
MLS Regular Season
at The Home Depot Center |
Chivas USA
|
|
|
Portland
|
|||
As you can see, retaining the Cascadian Cup trophy through 2013 is looking a bit more challenging than in 2012 with only two home games total for the series, one against the Seattle Sounders on October 11th and the other against the Vancouver Whitecaps on August 3rd.
The flip side of the coin is that teams the Portland Timbers often struggle against, like the LA Galaxy, and Colorado Rapids, are now reversed from 2012 where we'll host them each twice in Portland in 2013. It should make for an overall easier ride throughout the season, if nothing else.
Other notes:
- The Portland Timbers have 13 nationally televised games this year, 11 if you don't include UniMas.
- The Timbers will be aired on ESPN for home games against FC Dallas and the Seattle Sounders.
- The Timbers will be aired on NBC for one of our home games against the LA Galaxy.
All in all it would appear to me that MLS and the television networks highly value the Portland Timbers and the atmosphere we create here.
Schedule Breakdown:
Home Dates by Day of the Week:
Wednesday (1), Thursday (1), Friday (1), Saturday (8), Sunday (6)
Road Dates by Day of the Week:
Wednesday (2), Friday (1), Saturday (10), Sunday (4)
Home Dates by Month:
March (2), April (2), May (2), June (2), July (1), August (3), September (3), October (2)
Road Dates by Month:
March (2), April (2), May (3), June (2), July (3), August (2), September (1), October (2)
Western Conference Opponents Played Twice at Home:
Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas, LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake
Western Conference Opponents Played Twice Away:
Chivas USA, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Eastern Conference Opponents at Home:
Houston Dynamo, Montreal Impact, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, Toronto FC
Eastern Conference Opponents Away:
Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, Sporting Kansas City, Philadelphia Union – Timbers do not travel to an Eastern Conference opponent after July 20.
National TV Matches (13):
ESPN (2), ESPN2 (2), NBC (1), NBC Sports Network (6), UniMás (2)
Were there any surprises for you in the schedule?