Soccer season
MLS teams take the pitch once again
It’s a busy week in the sports world, with NASCAR kicking off a new season with the Daytona 500 (airing live on Fox) on Feb. 19 — the same day the NBA holds its annual all-star game, which will be carried live from Salt Lake City on TSN. Major League Baseball spring training also begins on Friday, Feb. 24, with several Cactus League and Grapefruit League games scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 25 (check local listings).
But coming off the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and the recent FIFA Club World Cup, soccer seems poised to have a big year — especially with the launch of the MLS Season Pass (paid) subscription service on Apple TV. Having access to all 493 regular season matches should be good news for fans of Major League Soccer (MLS), which kicks off a new season (its 28th) Saturday, Feb. 25.
If you don’t have Apple TV, fear not: the opening match between Nashville SC and New York City FC will be broadcast live on Fox the same day.
Both clubs are top performers with solid track records. NYCFC, which won its first MLS Cup title in 2021, can count on the talents of emerging MLS superstars Talles Magno and Gabriel Pereira. And Nashville, back in the East Conference after a one-year stint in the West, should be competitive again in 2023, thanks to a core roster that includes midfielder Hany Mukhtar, winner of the 2022 Landon Donovan MLS MVP and Golden Boot presented by Audi awards; and defender Walker Zimmerman, fresh off his performance with the U.S. men’s national team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and ready to once again anchor Nashville’s backline.
Elsewhere around the league, many teams faced questions going into this new season. Will the additions of veteran centreback Matt Hedges (formerly with FC Dallas) and goalkeeper Sean Johnson (formerly with NYCFC) make Toronto FC a Cup contender? How will the Seattle Sounders — the MLS’s first FIFA Club World Cup competitor — fare this season, after finishing in 11th place in the West? And will the expansion St. Louis City SC be a first-season success story, similar to LAFC and Nashville SC? We’ll find out once the 2023 MLS Soccer season gets underway Saturday, Feb. 25.