The Columbus Crew today announced its 2006 season schedule along with its three national television appearances.
The Crew will open the 2006 Major League Soccer (MLS) season with consecutive road games, starting with the season opener against the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday, April 1, at 8:30 p.m. (ET) at Arrowhead Stadium. The Black & Gold will then head to Colorado to take on the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, April 8, at 9:30 p.m. (ET) at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Columbus opens it home schedule vs. Eastern Conference rival the Chicago Fire on Saturday, April 15, at 4 p.m. (ET) at Crew Stadium in a nationally televised game on ESPN2. April 15 marks the second latest home opener in team history, with only the 1999 home campaign opening later due to the construction of Crew Stadium.
The 2006 Crew season will be a 32-game slate, including 16 home games and 16 road games. The Crew home schedule will feature 13 Saturday games and three Wednesday games. The three Wednesday night games will be the popular "Johnsonville Buck-A-Brat Nights" at Crew Stadium.
Columbus will take on its five Eastern Conference foes four times each (two home, two away), while playing the six Western Conference teams twice (one home, one away).
Eastern Conference rival D.C. United visits Crew Stadium twice, on Saturday, May 20 and on Saturday, July 8. Fellow East rival the Chicago Fire also travels twice to Columbus, for the opener on Saturday, April 15, and Saturday, September 9.
"Although it requires starting the season with two games on the road, we value the mid-April home opener," said Crew General Manager Mark McCullers. "It provides a hedge against the weather, gives us extra time to promote the home opener and avoids the NCAA basketball tournament, which are all positives. Overall, I like this schedule because it's evenly spread throughout the season. There are also some very compelling matchups throughout the season which should be extremely exciting for our fans."
The MLS All-Star game is scheduled for Saturday, July 29, at 3:30 p.m. on ABC Sports, with MLS Cup capping off year 11 on Sunday, November 12, at 3:30 p.m. on ABC. The site of the All-Star game has yet to be named, while MLS Cup will be played for the second year in a row at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, the soccer-specific home of FC Dallas.
The HDNet, Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español national television schedules, The Crew's regional television schedule, and the MLS Direct Kick season package on cable and satellite will be announced in the coming weeks.
Fans can become Crew Soccer Nation members by purchasing full season ticket packages or partial plans, starting as low as $30 for the new Crew 3-Packs. Group tickets are also available for all 16 home games as well as a "Put out the Fire" Home Opener Pack for just $60, which includes four midfield vouchers. All ticket packages or plans are available through TheCrew.com and 614-447-CREW.
