TAMPA — The USL Championship will open its 2022 season on March 12th and on Thursday the league office announced the home openers for every team. That means that the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Miami FC learned how their 2022 season will start.
Miami will host New York Red Bulls II in its home opener on the 12th, looking to open the season with a big win and make an early statement following a strong recruitment drive in the offseason.
Tampa Bay’s first home match will come a week later when the Rowdies host Indy Eleven in what should be an enthralling contest. The Rowdies will be on the road for the first week of the season when they travel to Alabama to take on Birmingham Legion on the 13th, the debut of Protective Stadium in the league. That match will be a 2021 Playoffs rematch and is the only match on the 13th raising the possibility of being part of the to be announced national TV schedule.
The 2022 season will be significantly different from the 2021 season with a return to the pre-COVID league structure of just two conferences, without divisions. This will mean seeing a wider variety of opponents, each team will only play one home game against every other team from its conference. In addition, there will be inter-conference play for the first time in several years.
Photo courtesy: New York Red Bulls
Florida Soccer Report 