Major League Soccer announces full 2018 Columbus Crew SC schedule

After the reveal of Columbus Crew SC’s first two matches, at Toronto FC on March 3 and home against the Montreal Impact on March 10, in mid-December the rest of the 2018 Major League Soccer Schedule was released on Thursday.

With the addition of Los Angeles Football Club, MLS now has 23 teams, all of which will play 34 matches. To accommodate the new team, each MLS team will play every team from it’s own conference twice, two teams from its own conference three times and every team from the opposite conference once.

From the Western Conference, Crew SC will go on the road to play the Seattle Sounders, Sporting Kansas City, LAFC, LA Galaxy, FC Dallas and the Portland Timbers. Columbus fans will get to see the Vancouver Whitecaps, San Jose Earthquakes, Real Salt Lake, Houston Dynamo, Colorado Rapids, and Minnesota Untied at MAPFRE Stadium.

Vancouver’s match at MAPFRE on March 31 will mark the return of former Black & Gold players Tony Tchani and Kei Kamara.

Crew SC’s game against Minnesota on October 28 will both be the first trip the Loons make to MAPFRE and the last regular home match for Columbus in 2018.

From the Eastern Conference, the Black & Gold play a home and away series with Toronto, Montreal, D.C. United, the New England Revolution, Atlanta United, New York City FC, Orlando City and the New York Red Bulls.

Crew SC play both the Chicago Fire and Philadelphia Union three times each, with two of the Chicago matches being played at Toyota Park and two of the Philadelphia matches played at MAPFRE.

At least two of Columbus’ matches will be on national television, at Kansas City on May 27 (Fox Sports 1) and at home against the Red Bulls on June 9 (ESPN).

Despite the United States not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, MLS will still take a World Cup break during this season. The Black & Gold’s last match before the break is on July 28 in New York and the team’s first match back is on Aug. 11 against Houston at home.

Crew SC have a relatively uncrowded match schedule, having only two weeks with two matches, with all four of those matches coming at MAPFRE. The first two-match week is May 9 against the Union and May 12 against the Fire. The second two-match week looks to be the most difficult for Columbus, facing the Red Bulls on June 9 and Atlanta United on June 13.

Full Crew SC Regular Season Schedule (home games in bold)
Date Opponent Time
March 3 Toronto FC 1 PM
March 10 Montreal Impact 1 PM
March 17 Philadelphia Union TBD
March 24 D.C. United 6 PM
March 31 Vancouver Whitecaps 3 PM
April 7 Chicago Fire 8:30 PM
April 14 D.C. United TBD
April 21 New England Revolution 7:30 PM
April 28 San Jose Earthquakes 7:30 PM
May 5 Seattle Sounders 4 PM
May 9 Philadelphia Union 7:30 PM
May 12 Chicago Fire 7:30 PM
May 19 New England Revolution 7:30 PM
May 27 Sporting Kansas City 6 PM
June 2 Toronto FC 7:30 PM
June 9 New York Red Bulls 5 PM
June 13 Atlanta United 7:30 PM
June 23 Los Angeles Football Club 10:30 PM
June 30 Real Salt Lake 7:30 PM
July 7 LA Galaxy 10:30 PM
July 14 New York City FC 7 PM
July 21 Orlando City 7:30 PM
July 28 New York Red Bulls 7 PM
Aug. 11 Houston Dynamo 7:30 PM
Aug. 19 Atlanta United 4 PM
Aug. 25 Chicago Fire 8:30 PM
Sept. 1 New York City FC 8 PM
Sept. 15 FC Dallas 8 PM
Sept. 19 Portland Timbers 10:30 PM
Sept. 22 Colorado Rapids 7:30 PM
Sept. 29 Philadelphia Union 7:30 PM
Oct. 6 Montreal Impact 3 PM
Oct. 21 Orlando City TBD
Oct. 28 Minnesota United 4:30 PM