Seattle Reign unveil 2017 schedule

Seattle Reign FC announced today its schedule for the upcoming 2017 NWSL regular season. The season will include 12 home matches — none of which conflict with Seattle Sounders FC home matches.

In fact, very few Reign and Sounders matches overlap. Aside from some days where the two teams play back-to-back, there are only two real conflicts with the Sounders schedule:

• May 27, when Reign FC travel to play the Houston Dash at 1:00 p.m. PT, while the Sounders face the Portland Timbers at home at 12:00 p.m.
• July 8, where both teams play at 1:00 p.m. PT — the Sounders in a friendly against Eintracht Frankfurt and Reign FC on the road against the North Carolina Courage.

Reign FC will kick off the season on April 15 against Sky Blue FC — a repeat match-up from the 2016 season. The full home schedule features 11 weekend matches (three on Sunday and eight on Saturday), with just one weekday match on Wednesday, June 28, against the Chicago Red Stars.

“Getting to start off at home is always nice, but we have to hit the ground running this season,” said Reign FC head coach Laura Harvey, a nod to Seattle’s rough start in 2016.

While the NWSL earlier this year announced a broadcast partnership with A+E Networks, today’s schedule release does not indicate which weekly match will be featured on Lifetime. However, we already know the NWSL Game of the Week will broadcast at 1:00 p.m. PT on Saturday, which means any of the following matches could air nationally:

• May 13 v. Washington Spirit
• May 27 at Houston Dash
• June 17 at FC Kansas City
• July 8 at North Carolina Courage
• July 15 v. Boston Breakers
• August 5 at North Carolina Courage
• August 26 v. Portland Thorns FC
• September 9 at Orlando Pride
• September 30 at Washington Spirit

NWSL Media — the league’s joint venture with A+E Networks — will produce live streams of all matches in high definition on a soon to be announced platform.

The NWSL will observe international FIFA dates three times during the 2017 season: June 10-11, July 29-30 and September 16-17. Four Seattle Reign players are currently representing their national teams in the Algarve Cup and Cyprus Cup.

Reign FC will play three teams twice — Washington Spirit, Orlando Pride, and Boston Breakers — and will face the remaining six teams three times each, including hosting Sky Blue FC, Portland Thorns FC, and FC Kansas City twice.

The club’s longest home stretch of the season is three matches over the course of just 7 days — from Saturday, June 24 to Saturday, July 1. The longest road trip is also three matches, from Saturday, May 27 to Saturday, June 17 — with a FIFA break in between.

Seattle will also play three of its last four matches on the road, which could be a tough stretch if the team is still pushing for a playoff spot. Another rough batch will be in August, when Reign FC has three matches in a week between August 13 and August 19. The squad will face North Carolina at home, then play Chicago and Sky Blue on the road.

While the offseason has felt like decades, having a full schedule makes the regular season feel all that much closer. Reign FC players and trialists report for preseason camp in just nine days, with preseason matches taking place April 4 and April 8. Let the countdown begin!