HERRIMAN, Utah (Thursday, January 25, 2024) – In conjunction with the National Women’s Soccer League, Utah Royals FC today unveiled its 2024 NWSL schedule – comprised of 26 total regular-season matches (13 home, 13 away) with the expansion side’s “Return of Royalty” campaign stretching from the Club’s opener on Saturday, March 16 – when it hosts the Chicago Red Stars – through the reg. season finale on Friday, November 1, hosting the star-studded reigning NWSL champions Gotham FC.
Various Royals FC season ticket and other packages for the 2024 RSL season are now available at https://www.rsl.com/utahroyals/tickets/, with individual games going on sale roughly a month prior to the March 16 home opener at America First Field, the 15th professional soccer season to kick off in Sandy and the NWSL’s first since 2019.
The 2024 Utah Royals FC season sees the expansion side kick off with three of its first four contests at home – along with five of its first seven – as Head Coach Amy Rodriguez’ side lays the foundation on the Wasatch Front from the March 16 opener through Friday, May 3, with an Angel City FC visit to America First Field that night highlighting the early-season slate.
Six of Utah’s next nine games are away over the next two months prior to the CBA-mandated summer break on July 8. The NWSL’s two newest clubs, Bay FC and the Utah Royals FC, will square off Sunday, June 16 at PayPal Park in San Jose in a match featuring the No. 1 and No. 2 picks from the 2024 NWSL Draft, presented by Ally, in UNC products Ally Sentnor (Utah) and Savy King (Bay FC). At 19 years and 18 years old, respectively, the pair are two of the youngest talents to be drafted in league history. That match will air live on CBS Sports Network.
URFC will enjoy two bye weekends during the first half of the season, with no games the weekend of April 6 as well as being off on the weekend of June 1.
Following both the NWSL international tourney in July / August as well as the Paris Summer Olympics, Utah Royals FC plays the final 10 of its 26-game season slate with an even five-home / five-away split from August 23 through November 1. This period includes two Sunday afternoon ESPN2 appearances – Sept. 22 at Gotham FC (11:00 a.m. MT) and Oct. 13 v Seattle Reign (3:00 p.m. MT) – along with four nationally-televised Scripps Sports matches televised on ION (channel 16 in Utah via antenna / channel 648 / 1016 on Xfinity).
The return to League play commences on Fri., August 23 against fellow 2024 expansion side Bay FC, one day prior to RSL hosting San Jose. This particular weekend is the final one of three weekends that see both Utah Royals FC and Real Salt Lake share home matches at their America First Field home (April 27/28, URFC v Houston Dash + RSL v Vancouver; and May 3/4, URFC v Angel City + RSL v Sporting KC).
That October 13 nationally-televised home match against Seattle Reign – led by former URFC coach Laura Harvey – marks Utah’s lone Sunday home game, with 12 of the 13 matches at America First Field hosted on either Friday (five games) or Saturday (seven games).
Six of Utah’s 13 road games will be played away on Sundays, including a pair of East-Coast 11:00 a.m. MT kickoffs (Sun., March 31 at Washington; Sun., Sept. 22 at Gotham FC). On only one occasion this year will Utah Royals FC play a Wednesday match, on the road at San Diego Wave FC on May 8, nationally-televised on CBS Sports Network; this match kicks off a three-game road run that sees URFC also travel to Chicago on Sun., May 12 and North Carolina on Sat., May 17.
The 2024 NWSL regular season concludes on Sunday, November 3 ahead of the NWSL playoffs. As part of the league’s expanded postseason format, eight clubs will qualify for the Quarterfinal round taking place the weekend of November 9-10. The semifinal round kicks off the weekend of November 16-17 ahead of the NWSL Championship on November 23.
Comprised of a balanced 26-match schedule, the 182-match NWSL regular season will be played over 25 weeks. The schedule has been formatted to avoid staging NWSL matches during FIFA windows and maintain flexibility for the league’s top players as they compete with both club and country.
In addition to the CBA-mandated league break from July 8 to 14, the NWSL will break from league play from July 15 to August 18 while the Paris 2024 Olympics are staged. During this time, the league will organize a tournament, featuring international participants and all 14 NWSL clubs, beginning the weekend of July 19-21. Additional details regarding the competition and format are forthcoming.
The 2024 campaign marks the beginning of the NWSL’s landmark four-year domestic media rights agreements with CBS Sports, ESPN, Prime Video and Scripps Sports that will see 121 matches, including 113 regular season contests, all seven playoff fixtures and the 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup, featured on national platforms throughout the season.
CBS and Prime Video will have rights to one quarterfinal each while ESPN/ABC will air the remaining pair of quarterfinal matches. CBS and ESPN/ABC will also host one semifinal contest each. For the third consecutive season, the NWSL Championship will air live in primetime on the CBS Television Network and stream on Paramount+.
Throughout the 2024 season, 121 NWSL matches will be distributed across the following partner platforms:
• The NWSL will begin each regular season weekend with Friday night matches on Prime Video.
• Each Saturday night that follows will include an NWSL double-header on Scripps-owned ION network, available over-the-air in 123 million homes.
• A package of regular-season matches will air on The CBS Television Network and stream live on Paramount+, with additional matches airing on CBS Sports Network.
• ESPN will air a package of matches across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes (Spanish). All NWSL matches on ESPN platforms and on ABC will stream live on ESPN+ in English and Spanish. The package also includes English, Spanish and Portuguese-language rights in Latin America.
The remaining matches will be available on NWSL+, the league’s first-ever direct-to-consumer streaming platform. NWSL+ is free to all fans tuning in to matches across the U.S. and available to download on all iOS/Android devices, as well as streaming TV distributors Apple TV, Fire TV and Roku. In addition to match coverage, highlights, select replays and additional league and club content will also be available for free on the app.
Details regarding both local Utah Royals FC and international NWSL distribution will be announced in the coming weeks.
The full 2024 regular season schedule can be seen at www.NWSLsoccer.com, with the current 2024 Utah Royals FC preseason roster and Club-specific schedule below.
\2024 – UTAH ROYALS FC REG. SEASON SCHEDULE / KEY DATES \
(as of 22 January 2024)
(all times MT; HOME GAMES IN BOLD; potential PLAYOFFS IN BLUE; INTERNATIONAL TOURNEY / BREAK IN RED;
ALL SUBJECT TO CHANGE;_ visit _[www.NWSLsoccer.com_\for](http://www.NWSLsoccer.com%5D(http//www.nwslsoccer.com/)for) additional info / details)_
DAY / DATE OPPONENT TIME TV NOTE:
TUE 01/23/2024 URFC PLAYERS REPORT TO HERRIMAN Medical evaluations & fitness testing prior to on-field work
THU 01/25/2024 URFC MEDIA DAYS Afternoon Photo / Video / Interviews at America First Field
MON 01/29/2024 DEPART UTAH FOR MEXICO
MON 02/05/2024 RETURN TO UTAH
SAT 03/16/2024 Chicago Red Stars 5:30 ION Royals kicks off against same inaugural opponent as 2018
FRI 03/22/2024 North Carolina Courage 7:30
SUN 03/31/2024 at Washington Spirit 11:00a
SAT 04/06/2024 URFC BYE WEEKEND
FRI 04/12/2024 Orlando Pride 7:30
SAT 04/20/2024 at Racing Louisville FC 3:00 ION
SAT 04/27/2024 Houston Dash 5:30
FRI 05/03/2024 Angel City FC 7:30
WED 05/08/2024 at San Diego Wave 8:00 CBSSN
SUN 05/12/2024 at Chicago Red Stars 3:30
FRI 05/17/2024 at North Carolina Courage 6:00 Prime Video
SAT 05/25/2024 Kansas City Current 8:00 ION
SAT 06/01/2024 URFC BYE WEEKEND
SAT 06/08/2024 Washington Spirit 5:30 ION
SUN 06/16/2024 at Bay FC 8:00 CBSSN
FRI 06/21/2024 at Orlando Pride 6:00 Prime Video
SAT 06/29/2024 Portland Thorns FC 8:00 ION
SUN 07/07/2024 at Seattle Reign 4:00
MON 07/08/2024 NWSL BREAK CBA MANDATED BREAK ENDS SUN 07/14/2024
FRI 07/19/2024 OLYMPIC BREAK
SUN 07/21/2024 PARIS OLYMPICS KICK OFF Pre-tourney camps run from July 10; final is August 10
WED 07/31/2024
SAT 08/03/2024
WED 08/07/2024
SAT 08/10/2024 OLYMPIC GOLD-MEDAL GAME
WED 08/14/2024
SAT 08/17/2024
WED 08/21/2024
FRI 08/23/2024 Bay FC 7:30
SAT 08/31/2024 at Houston Dash 7:30 ION
SAT 09/07/2024 at Kansas City Current 5:30 ION
SAT 09/14/2024 San Diego Wave 8:00 ION
SUN 09/22/2024 at Gotham FC 11:00a ESPN2
SAT 09/28/2024 Racing Louisville 5:00
SAT 10/05/2024 at Portland Thorns FC 8:00 ION
SUN 10/13/2024 Seattle Reign 3:00 ESPN2
SUN 10/20/2024 at Angel City FC 5:30
FRI 11/01/2024 Gotham FC 7:30
2024 NWSL PLAYOFF DATES _(subject to change)_
SAT 11/09/2024 NWSL QUARTERFINAL WEEKEND – Single-Elimination
SAT 11/16/2024 NWSL SEMIFINAL WEEKEND – Single-Elimination
SAT 11/23/2024 NWSL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
KEY UPCOMING NWSL DATES:
- Mon., Jan. 29 – Latest possible preseason report date
- Fri., March 15 – NWSL Challenge Cup – Gotham FC v San Diego Wave FC
- Sat., March 16 – NWSL Regular Season Kicks Off
- Mon., July 8 – Sun., July 14 – CBA-mandated League Break
- Mon., July 15 – Sun., Aug. 18 – Reg. Season Hiatus Due to Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
- Fri., July 19 – Sun., July 21 – Summer Tournament Kickoff
- Nov. 9/10 – NWSL Playoff Quarterfinal Stage
- Nov. 16/17 – NWSL Playoff Semifinals
- Nov. 23 – NWSL Championship 2024
