Sounders FC will open its Major League Soccer season at home for the eighth straight year in 2016, facing off against Sporting Kansas City on Sunday, March 6 (4 p.m. PT) at CenturyLink Field.
The match will be telecast on FS1. This marks the sixth time in eight seasons that the Rave Green will open its campaign on national television.
Major League Soccer is expected to announce the full regular season schedule at a later date, but the match details revealed on Tuesday offers an enticing first taste what’s to come in 2016. The match features two Western Conference playoff teams with a history that covers both MLS and the U.S. Open Cup, and pits two of the league’s most successful franchises against one other on the first weekend of the season.
The Sounders are 5-2-0 all-time in home openers, including a dramatic 1-0 win over Kansas City in March 2014. Seattle coasted to a much more comfortable and comprehensive 3-0 victory over the MLS Cup runners-up New England Revolution in their 2015 home opener in March, in front of 39,782 fans.
The Sounders are 7-2-3 all-time against Kansas City, including a 3-1-2 record at CenturyLink Field. The teams played to a scoreless draw in their only matchup at CenturyLink Field in 2015, and Kansas City won the season series, 1-0-2.
Both the Sounders and Sporting KC qualified for the MLS postseason earlier this year, with the Sounders falling to FC Dallas in the Western Conference Semifinals and Kansas City falling to the Portland Timbers in the Knockout Round.
The two teams have also met in the U.S. Open Cup, with Sporting KC topping the Sounders for the 2013 tournament title. Kansas City also won the tournament in 2015.
Both teams have since made their share of changes to their roster to keep pace in the Western Conference. Sporting KC let go of veteran defender Paulo Nagamura and added playmaker Justin Mapp, while the Sounders have traded midfielders Lamar Neagle and Marco Pappa.
Much of the firepower, however, remains on both teams. Sporting KC will welcome back 2015 MVP candidate Benny Feilhaber as well as U.S. national team regulars Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, while Seattle boasts the front line duo of Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins and veteran utility man Brad Evans.
MLS also announced Tuesday that the Sounders will play at Real Salt Lake on Saturday, March 12 in the team's first road game of the season. The teams split the season series 1-1 in 2015 after RSL posted a 2-0 win at Rio Tinto in August and the Sounders won 3-1 at home in the regular season finale in October.
Seattle opens competitive play at CenturyLink Field on Tuesday, February 23 against Club America in Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League play before traveling to Mexico City for the second leg of the series on Wednesday, March 2. Single match tickets are available for that match and are also included in 2016 Season Ticket Member packages.
