Sporting KC’s Preseason Dates are Announced

The 2024 Major League Soccer season just came to an end this past Saturday when the LA Galaxy defeated the New York Red Bulls 2-1 in Los Angeles. Despite that, the MLS machine never stops. The offseason schedule is well underway.

A half day trade window has come and gone. Teams have already released their Expansion Draft protection lists for San Diego FC’s draft tonight. Sporting Kansas City had some stunners exposed, though it would be even more surprising to see San Diego pick up one of those contracts. Free agency starts tomorrow, along with the waiver process for young, low league tenure players, then the first of two Re-Entry Drafts Processes goes down Friday.

It’s a mad dash for Sporting KC and the rest of MLS to build a roster before the season starts. And it is starting earlier than ever with MLS opening weekend slated for February 22nd. But even earlier is the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Sporting KC have drawn Inter Miami and will play them home and away sometime in February.

To facilitate these early starts, preseason needs to start pretty early. An update from Kitman Mike Flaherty made it seem like it may be earlier than ever, but it’s not quite that dramatic.

2024 Preseason Dates

Nestled into the CCC announcement, were the dates:

• January 11th – Players report for physicals, testing and meetings
• Jan. 12th-29th – Preseason moves to South Florida
• Feb. 2nd-15th – SKC head to Southern California

In #SportingKC's announcement of the CCC game, they dropped preseason dates.Jan 11 – Players report (physicals, testing, meetings)Jan 12-29 they head to South FloridaFeb 2-15 they head to Southern California#MLSPreseason

— Chad Smith (@chadcsmith.bsky.social) 2024-12-11T01:01:02.163Z

January 11th isn’t even overly early, considering CCC could start as early as February 4th. In 2024, players reported for preseason on January 13th. Still, the offseason was stunningly short, despite Sporting KC missing the playoffs. There are a mere 84 days between their final game against FC Dallas and when it will be time to report to start the 2025 season.

The team also heads back to Florida for the second straight year after over a decade of trips to Phoenix, Arizona. Another addition is phase two of preseason landing the team in Southern California.

There have been no announcements of precise cities, a preseason schedule of games or if any of the games will be streamed or open to the public.

When do Sporting KC play Miami?

The official date and time of that game hasn’t been announced yet, though CONCACAF should have that information out soon. There are a few options per the Sporting KC press release of the schedule:

2025 Concacaf Champions Cup Schedule (subject to change)
Round One (two legs): Feb. 4-6 + Feb. 11-13; or Feb. 18-20 + Feb. 25-27
Round of 16 (two legs): March 4-6 + March 11-13
Quarterfinals (two legs): April 1-3 + April 8-10
Semifinals (two legs): April 22-24 + April 29 – May 1
Final (one leg): Sunday, June 1

While we don’t know for sure which dates Kansas City will get, the fact they are planning to head to California for preseason on February 2nd but could have a home game on the 4th, 5th or 6th, makes it seem like they’ll get the later dates. (We have been given no information from the team and this is pure speculation.)

Perhaps, preseason gets adjusted since the CCC draw was just last night. It’s hard to imagine they could play a game in three weeks after reporting. Or maybe Kansas City play three games in a week to start the season. Two CCC games with their MLS season opener jammed in between. Dare I say that’s too much soccer?

The KC Soccer Journal will bring you more on preseason and Sporting KC as it’s available.