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Now that all of the labor unpleasantness is behind the players and owners, it’s time for some soccer. MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced that MLS will soccer this year beginning on April 17.
MLS commissioner Don Garber says season will now open on April 17. Preseason report date not yet finalized; when the season was scheduled to start on April 3, preseason was slated to start on Feb. 22.
— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) February 10, 2021
Garber says he hopes to have schedule out by early March.
No exact word on when pre-season will begin at this point. That said, Atlanta United may not kick off that weekend. The Concacaf Champions League is set to begin for the team with the Round of 16 starting with the first leg on April 6-8 and the second leg April 13-15. That either means Atlanta will be faced with needing to rotate its squad for the MLS season opener or perhaps the league will give CCL participants a bye.
According to the tweet above, the exact MLS schedule will not be released for a few more weeks. In recent years the league has announced opening week matches ahead of the full schedule, so stay tuned for word on who Atlanta’s first opponent will be.