Major League Soccer schedule release day is a milestone of every offseason. In a sense it marks the start of a new year, despite coming just shy of January 1st itself, and creates a sense of energy and understanding for what is to come in the coming season.
It’s not a perfectly complete look at 2025 – Cup Competitions will settle themselves neatly into this calendar – but it is the most complete piece of the puzzle to be added. There is still plenty of work to be done in the offseason, but let's look to the future for a moment for some marquee matches, themes, and interesting tidbits to pull from today’s schedule release.
Hell is Real
The first thing the eyes hunt for when a new list of fixtures is released is, of course, the biggest rivalry games.
There is no greater set of rivalry matchups in all of Major League Soccer than the two games separated along I-71. The Hell is Real derby.
Lower.Com Field will host the first match of the series in 2025, where FC Cincinnati will look to return and emerge victorious again on Saturday May, 17st. The Orange and Blue stormed into Columbus last season and snagged their first ever win on the road in Hell is Real with a 2-1 result. The matchup in Cincinnati will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. at TQL Stadium on Saturday July 12th.
Of note, both matches will come as the middle game of a three game swing. The trip to Columbus in May is the second of a three game road swing that will also feature trips to Toronto and Atlanta. Whereas the home match is the middle of a three game home stand where Chicago Fire FC and Inter Miami CF will come to Cincy around the Hell is Real match.
Opening at Home
While FC Cincinnati’s first game of the year will technically come in Concacaf Champions Cup play, they will kick off MLS play at TQL Stadium for the third year in a row.
FCC will host well known Eastern Conference rivals and MLS Cup Finalists New York Red Bulls on February 22nd with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.
The Red Bulls will be the most split up opponent of the season as there will be 224 days between the season opener, and the penultimate game of the season when they return to Red Bull Arena on October 4th.
First Time West Coast Visits
There are three west coast trips on the calendar this season, with two trips to cities The Orange and Blue have never before visited.
The first is to Real Salt Lake on July 19th, a repeat visit from 2022 and the third time the two clubs will meet all-time. Last time FCC visited Utah, they came away with the 2-1 victory in come from behind fashion. Kick-off is set for 9:30 p.m. Cincinnati time.
The second trip out west will come on August 16th when FCC trek out to The Beaver State. It will be the third matchup all-time with the Portland Timbers, but first ever visit to historic Providence Park.
The third and final Western Conference road trip will see FC Cincinnati visit the reigning MLS Cup Champions in Los Angeles Galaxy. Kickoff is set for 10:30 p.m. Cincinnati time on September 20 at Dignity Health Sports Park. FCC have only ever faced Galaxy once before, taking a 2-0 loss during the clubs inaugural MLS season in 2019.
FCC will be hosting three Western Conference opponents as well. Austin FC will be making their first trip to Cincinnati on May 10th, as will FC Dallas on May 28. Sporting KC will round out the bunch but are familiar foes for FCC in Cincy. SKC’s April 26 visit to TQL Stadium will be the fourth time the two clubs have faced off, with all four being played in Cincinnati.
Home to close it out
The 2025 season has some challenging portions that will make parts of the calendar seem more brutal than others. A five-game stretch in July may be the notable of those stretches as FCC will take on Chicago Fire FC, the Columbus Crew and Inter Miami CF in matches at TQL Stadium over the course of eight days, then travel to Real Salt Lake and again to Inter Miami in the 10 days following that.
But with so many challenges to start the season, FC Cincinnati will close out 2025 at home. The final match of the regular season, Decision Day 2025, comes on October 18 against CF Montreal at 6 p.m.
In fact though, most of the second half of the season, as FCC looks to secure another Supporters’ Shield Crown, will be played at TQL Stadium. The Orange and Blue will play five of their final seven games at home, and nine of their final 13 games at home as well.
Conversely, nine of the first 15 matches to start the MLS season will be played on the road for FCC. The first time Pat Noonan and his squad hit the road in regular season play is March 1 at Philadelphia Union, and the final road trip of the season comes October 4 against New York Red Bulls
Other Notes and Notables
- FC Cincinnati will have afternoon kickoffs three times this season, all at 2:30 p.m. and all at home, doing so against Atlanta United FC on March 22, Sporting KC on April 26, and Orlando City SC on September 27.
- The return visit to Atlanta United FC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium will also have a unique start time as the game will kick off at 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 25th in the Peach State. Another two Sunday matches will come later in the year, the first on May 4th at NYCFC, and the second at TQL Stadium when FCC host Charlotte FC on August 10 at 6 p.m.
- The Leagues Cup Organizing committee announced that the 2025 edition of the official Concacaf tournament between LIGA MX and Major League Soccer will be played July 29 to August 31, 2025. More details regarding the schedule will be announced early in 2025.
- FC Cincinnati’s schedule does not feature a home game in the month of June, but there will be plenty of Soccer in Cincy that month. TQL Stadium will host four matches in the new and expanded FIFA Club World Cup. German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, reigning Concacaf Champions Cup winners Pachuca [MEX], Red Bull Salzburg [AUT], Auckland City FC [NZL] and more visit TQL Stadium in June.
- FC Cincinnati opens the season against nine consecutive Eastern Conference opponents.
- In addition to their Sunday matchup, FCC will play four times on Wednesday’s in regular season play. Twice at home and twice on the road.
