Orlando City’s Full Schedule Announced for the 2023 Major League Soccer Season

The Major League Soccer schedule was released this afternoon, telling us when, where, and against whom Orlando City will play during the upcoming season. Once again Orlando will play 34 regular-season games, with 17 at home and 17 on the road. The Lions will open at home for the ninth consecutive season — each year since joining MLS — hosting the New York Red Bulls at Exploria Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. The club will close the regular season on the road at Toronto FC on Saturday, Oct. 21 at a time to be announced, although Decision Day matches are typically in the mid-afternoon.

The Lions will again be an Eastern Conference rival to Nashville SC, which switches conferences again for 2023. Every Eastern Conference team will be on the schedule twice — once at home and once away, making up the bulk of Orlando’s opponents for the upcoming season.

Orlando will face a new team in 2023 as St. Louis City SC visits Exploria Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 26. The Lions will have to wait to welcome Austin to the City Beautiful, as the newest Texas team is not on the 2023 schedule for Orlando City. In addition to Austin, the Lions will not face Portland, San Jose, Dallas, Houston, LAFC, Sporting Kansas City, or Vancouver next year. Other Western Conference teams that will visit Orlando in addition to St. Louis City include the LA Galaxy and the Colorado Rapids. The Lions will visit three Western Conference teams in 2023 — Minnesota United, the Seattle Sounders, and Real Salt Lake.

Orlando City will again play on the fourth of July in 2023, hosting Toronto FC at 7:30 p.m. Independence Day falls on a Tuesday during the upcoming season. The bulk of the games will be on Saturdays in 2023, with 26 of the 34 games taking place on that day.

The busiest months of the regular season for Orlando will be May, June, and September, with five matches each. April and September have the most home games, with three tilts at Exploria Stadium in each of those months.

In terms of Orlando’s rivalry matches, MLS has scheduled Inter Miami away on Saturday, May 20 and at Exploria Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 24. In addition, Atlanta United will visit Orlando on Saturday, May 27, with the Lions making the return trip to Atlanta on Saturday, July 15.

MLS will pause between July 15 and Aug. 20 for the July 19 All-Star Game at Audi Field (opponent to be determined) and the Leagues Cup. The Leagues Cup matches will kick off July 21.

Orlando City apparently will play through the FIFA window in June, meaning the Lions will likely be without some international players during that time, which may include as many as three regular-season games — June 10 vs. Colorado, June 17 at New England, and June 21 vs. Philadelphia — depending on travel schedules. The Lions, however, do not have any league matches during the September FIFA window.

The 2023 season will be the first under the new MLS Season Pass broadcast deal with Apple. Every match of the MLS regular season and playoffs, and Leagues Cup will all be on the new Apple platform. In addition, City will appear on the FOX family of networks three times during the upcoming season:

• Saturday, July 15 at Atlanta United
• Sunday, Sept. 24 vs. Inter Miami
• Saturday, Oct. 7 vs. the New England Revolution

Here’s the schedule breakdown in terms of games by month:

• February: 1 (home)
• March: 4 (2 home, 2 away)
• April: 4 (3 home, 1 away)
• May: 5 (2 home, 3 away)
• June: 5 (2 home, 3 away)
• July: 4 (2 home, 2 away)
• August: 3 (1 home, 2 away)
• September: 5 (3 home, 2 away)
• October: 3 (1 home, 2 away)

Here’s the schedule breakdown by days of the week:

• Sunday: 2 (1 home, 1 away)
• Monday: 0
• Tuesday: 1 (home)
• Wednesday: 5 (2 home, 3 away)
• Thursday: 0
• Friday: 0
• Saturday: 26 (13 home, 13 away)

In addition to the Lions’ league schedule, we already know that Orlando City will visit Tigres UANL on March 7 and host Tigres on March 15 in Concacaf Champions League play.

Orlando City’s 2023 Schedule:

(All games streamed exclusively on Apple unless otherwise noted below)

• Saturday, Feb. 25 vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, March 4 vs. FC Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, March 11 at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, March 18 vs. Charlotte FC, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, March 25 at Philadelphia Union, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, April 1 vs. Nashville SC, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, April 15 at Minnesota United, 8:30 p.m.
• Saturday, April 22 vs. D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, April 29 vs. LA Galaxy, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, May 6 at CF Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, May 13 at Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 17 vs. New York City FC, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, May 20 at Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, May 27 vs. Atlanta United, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, June 3 at New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, June 10 vs. Colorado Rapids, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, June 17 at New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, June 21 vs. Philadelphia Union, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, June 24 at Seattle Sounders, 10:30 p.m.
• Saturday, July 1, vs. Chicago Fire, 7:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, July 4 vs. Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, July 8 at Real Salt Lake, 9:30 p.m.
• Saturday, July 15 at Atlanta United, 7:30 p.m.*
• Sunday, Aug. 20 at Chicago Fire, 8:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Aug. 26 vs. St. Louis City SC, 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, Aug. 30 at Charlotte FC, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Sept. 2 at FC Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Sept. 16 vs. Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, Sept. 20 at New York City FC, 7:30 p.m.
• Sunday, Sept. 24 vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m.*
• Saturday, Sept. 30 vs. CF Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 4 at Nashville SC, 8:30 p.m.*
• Saturday, Oct. 7 vs. New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 21 at Toronto FC, TBD

*FS1/FOX Deportes