Charlotte FC 2024 schedule released

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Charlotte FC, which earned its first MLS playoff berth in 2023, will play 28 games against Eastern Conference rivals in 2024 along with six Western Conference foes.

After introducing new head coach Dean Smith on Monday and drafting four new players out of collegiate programs on Tuesday, Charlotte FC learned its 2024 MLS schedule on Wednesday.
There was some contention on whether that would include the U.S. Open Cup. The club also scored a big win on the social media pitch last week.

The first of 34 regular season games is Feb.24 and the last on Oct. 19. Once again, there will be a month-long break for Leagues Cup between July 20 and Aug. 24.

With 15 teams, Eastern Conference clubs will play each other twice (28 games), once at home and once away. The other six matches will be against Western Conference opponents. As the West has 14 teams, each team will play conference opponents twice (26 games), with a third game against one or two intra-conference opponents.  They will play six to seven matches against teams in the East.

A home opener before three on the road

The regular season will open at home against NYCFC on Feb.24. The upper deck at Bank of America Stadium will be open and tickets are available starting at $15. The Crown has had tremendous success against the five-borough-boys over the the club’s first two seasons, winning three games and drawing one.

Keeping that trend going will be critical for Charlotte as the next three matches will be on the road in difficult stadiums to play. The first two of three trips to Canada, away to the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC on March 2 and 9. Then comes a jaunt west on I-40 to play Nashville SC, which finished two places above the Crown in seventh in the East last season.

Back home for two matches to close out March, Charlotte will battle the state of Ohio with games against two of the best teams in the league, 2023 MLS champion Columbus Crew and Supporters Shield winner FC Cincinnati. From there the schedule stays pretty balanced with four two-match homestands and only two-match away situations through June.

The I-85 derby, pretty in pink, new opponents

Unlike the previous two seasons where Charlotte and Atlanta met early in the season, the first match will be in Atlanta on June 2 with the return in Charlotte on Aug. 28.

July 3 brings Inter Miami, Lionel Messi and the Barcelona beach boys back to Charlotte. That precedes a second challenging three-match road trip to Cincinnati, Columbus, and Austin.

First-time opponents include Western Conference sides Minnesota and Portland Timbers. There will be no game against LAFC this season unless the two clubs meet in the Leagues Cup or MLS final.

The full schedule can be found here: www.charlottefootballclub.com/schedule/#competition=all&date=2024-02-24

Where to watch

While all games will be televised once again on Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass, select matches will also be available on Fox networks in the U.S. Fox Sports will air 34 games, including 15 matches on Fox and 19 matches on FS1, with all Fox Sports broadcasts providing Spanish-language coverage on Fox Deportes.

To play or not to play, that is the U.S. Open Cup question

An unexpected surprise was Friday’s announcement by MLS that no league teams would participate in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament, which began in 1914.

Charlotte had a strong run in the tournament, which is likened to the F.A. Cup in the United Kingdom, respected and coveted by all teams in the Football Association, including those in the top tier Premier League.

A media release from MLS stated MLS Next Pro teams would instead compete for the cup. MLS Next Pro is a third-tier league, below USL Championship and equal to USL One, which includes the Charlotte Independence.

Evidently, MLS did not discuss the plan with the United States Soccer Federation, the nation’s governing body for soccer, to essentially abandon the nation’s oldest professional competition before issuing the release. Less than a week later, US Soccer announced it ruled against allowing MLS to remove its first teams.

“Major League Soccer has requested to allow MLS Next Pro teams to represent MLS in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup,” USSF said in a statement. “After thoughtful consideration, we have informed MLS that the U.S. Soccer staff recommendation, which was adopted by the Pro League Taskforce, is that the request be denied.”

Houston Dynamo took the Open Cup title over Inter Miami 2-1 in September. The Open Cup has been dominated by MLS teams since the league’s debut in 1996 with Rochester Rhinos the last non-MLS team to win the Cup in 1999. The last non-MLS team to reach the final was Sacramento Republic FC in 2022. Since 1999, the tournament has been named for one of U.S. soccer's most important supporters, Lamar Hunt, a founder of both MLS and the North American Soccer League.

‘The Contract’

At first glance, you would have thought someone is going to get fired. A photo session of Dean Smith allegedly signing his contract with Charlotte FC posted to Twitter was just a wee bit too clear as those who look for these kind of things were able to turn the photo upside down and enlarge it to read the text.

Turned out to be a big “gotcha!” from CLTFC’s social media team led by Eric Hansen. Terms of the contract included meeting with club mascot Sir Minty on a weekly basis, and making a Tik Tok video every month.

The Twitter post soared over 11 million impressions as media around the world picked up on the prank. Tom Rennie and Ray Hudson talked about it at length on SiriusXM FC’s “The Football Show” program, with Hudson endorsing mascot meetings for all managers.

UK outlets, The Daily Mail and SportBible, among others, also celebrated the mirth.

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