The Crew announces 2022 MLS regular season schedule

Columbus Crew fans knew the 2022 season was set to begin on Feb. 26, but the rest of the schedule was a mystery. That changed on Wednesday when Major League Soccer announced its full schedule for the upcoming year.

As part of the 2022 MLS regular season schedule, all 28 teams will play 34 games — 17 at home and 17 on the road. The Crew will take on each Eastern Conference opponent twice. The Black & Gold face eight Western Conference opponents once, including the Vancouver Whitecaps, the San Jose Earthquakes, Nashville SC, Sporting Kansas City, LAFC, Real Salt Lake, the Colorado Rapids and the Portland Timbers.

Columbus opens the new season at home at Lower.com Field against the Whitecaps in the earlier MLS regular season game in team history. That game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 26. The Crew will then go on the road to face the Earthquakes at PayPal Park.

Some of the marquee games of the year include two games against New York City FC, the newly-crowned MLS Cup champions. The Black & Gold’s first meeting with NYCFC is set to take place at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, March 20 before the Cityzens come to Lower.com Field for the penultimate game of the year, Saturday, Oct. 1.

The week prior to welcoming City, Columbus hosts the Portland Timbers, who fell in penalty kicks to New York City in the MLS Cup Final last weekend. Additionally, the Crew will face expansion side Charlotte FC both home and away. MLS’s newest club comes to Lower.com Field on Saturday, June 18 before a return trip on Saturday, July 30.

Columbus will face rivals FC Cincinnati twice during the 2022 MLS regular season. Cincinnati, with new head coach Pat Noonan, comes north for a Sunday, July 17 match, which will air on FOX Sports 1. The Crew then travel to TQL Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 27. The Black & Gold do not face Austin FC, run by former Columbus investor-operator Anthony Precourt, after traveling to Texas a year ago.

In addition to the home game against Cincinnati, the Black & Gold are scheduled to have three more nationally televised games. The first will be the home match against LAFC on Saturday, May 21 on UniMas. After the rivalry game with FC Cincy, Atlanta United’s Sunday, Aug. 21 trip to Lower.com Field will also air on FOX Sports 1. The game against the Timbers on Sunday, Sept. 18 with air on ESPN.

Columbus plays just one non-Saturday match through the first three months of the season — the Sunday, March 20 trip to NYCFC. Come the summer, however, the Crew’s schedule gets more congested with four mid-week matches and spread from late June until August.

The 2022 MLS regular season will end on Decision Day on Sunday, Oct. 9. The Black & Gold will be on the road to take on Orlando City SC.

A complete local broadcast schedule and full kick off times will be released in the near future.