RELEASE: Chicago Fire reveal 2014 MLS Regular Season Schedule

CHICAGO, Ill. (Monday, November 25, 2013) – The Chicago Fire Soccer Club, in conjunction with Major League Soccer and its national television partners, unveiled the 2014 regular season schedule on Monday. The Fire are slated to appear in a total of 13 nationally televised broadcasts throughout its 17^th season of MLS play. The Men in Red kick off the 2014 MLS campaign when they visit Chivas USA at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. on Sunday, March 9 at 2:00 p.m. CT (UniMas). The Fire’s full schedule can be found at //www.chicago-fire.com/schedule.
The Fire host Opening Day at Toyota Park when they welcome 2013 Supporters’ Shield winners New York Red Bulls on Sunday, March 23 at 2:00 p.m. CT (UniMas).
The Fire will appear on national broadcast partners NBC Sports Network (four games), ESPN (one game), ESPN2 (two games), Univision Deportes (one game) and UniMas (five games). The club will release its 2014 regional television schedule at a later date.
The Fire will again take part in the 10-team Eastern Conference, playing an unbalanced 34-match schedule. The breakdown of opponents is as follows:
·The Men in Red will play a total of 25 matches against other Eastern Conference clubs and a total of nine matches against Western Conference clubs.
·The Fire will face seven Eastern Conference opponents a total of three times, hosting the New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC twice at Toyota Park. In turn, the team will visit D.C. United, Sporting Kansas City, Montreal Impact and New England Revolution twice in 2014.
·The Fire will take on fellow Eastern Conference sides Columbus Crew and Houston Dynamo twice each (home and away).
·The Fire will face each Western Conference opponent one time over the course of the season, hosting FC Dallas, the LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Toyota Park, and hitting the road against Chivas USA, Colorado Rapids, Portland Timbers and San Jose Earthquakes.
Other Schedule Highlights:

• The Fire open their 17^th season on the road against Chivas USA. The Men in Red are 4-5-5 since 1998 when opening the season on the road.
• The Men in Red host Opening Night at Toyota Park against the 2013 Supporters’ Shield winners New York Red Bulls on Sunday, March 23, 2014.
• The Fire are 9-4-3 on Opening Day at home dating back to 1998. For only the fourth time in club history, the Fire will host a MLS home opener in the month of March.
• As was done in 2010 for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, MLS will take a two-week break from June 12 to June 24 to align with the group phase of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The Fire’s last match before the break will take place on Saturday, June 7, five days before the start of the World Cup.
• Breaking down the 34-game schedule by day of the week: The Fire have 17 Saturday matches, nine at Toyota Park and eight on the road, ten Sunday matches, five at Toyota Park and five on the road, four Wednesday matches, two at Toyota Park and two on the road, a Thursday evening match on the road against the Philadelphia Union, and a pair of Friday evening matches in October, one at Toyota Park and one on the road.
• August 2-3 is Rivalry Week with a number of MLS matches being played between regional foes. The Fire will welcome their Midwestern nemesis Columbus Crew to Toyota Park on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014. This will be the second and final match of the series between the two sides, with the Fire visiting Crew Stadium at 6:30 p.m. CT on May 24, 2014.
• July will mark the busiest month in league play for the Men in Red as they are slated to play six matches, three at home and three away in Kansas City (July 6), New England (July 12) and San Jose (July 23).
• Fire Head Coach and Director of Soccer Frank Yallop will face his former side when the Men in Red take on the San Jose Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium on Wednesday, July 23 at 10:00 p.m. CT. Yallop won two MLS Cups and was twice named MLS Coach of the Year in a combined nine seasons in charge of the Earthquakes.
• Fire forward and 2013 MLS Volkswagen Most Valuable Player Award finalist Mike Magee will face his former side the LA Galaxy for the first time on June 1, 2014 at Toyota Park. This is his first match against his former side since the May 25, 2013 trade that saw him return to Chicago. Since joining his hometown side, Magee made 22 MLS appearance for the Men in Red and scored 15 goals and tallied four assists.

Chicago Fire Season Tickets and Chicago Fire Holiday Packs, which give fans the opportunity to witness the Men in Red in action on Opening Day while donning the two Fire adidas Winter hats and two Fire adidas baseball hats included in the pack, are available by calling 1-888-MLS-FIRE, via Ticketmaster or by heading to the club’s official website at www.Chicago-Fire.com.
Single game tickets to Chicago Fire matches will go on sale via Ticketmasterandwww.Chicago-Fire.comstarting on Friday, Jan. 24 at 10:00 a.m. CT.
PDF versions of the Chicago Fire schedule are available for download by clicking 2014 Chicago Fire Regular Season Schedule or 2014 Chicago Fire Regular Season Home Schedule.