Say hello to the MLS 2006 schedule

At long last MLS fans now know who is going to play and when. The MLS, along with the ABC broadcasting family, released the full MLS schedule today. The season will run from April 1 - October 15th. The playoffs start on Oct 22 and come to an end in Dallas on the 12th of November.

ABC will begin their broadcast campaign on April 1 with the FC Dallas - Chicago Fire match. Later that evening ESPN2 will air the 2005 MLS Cup rematch live when the Revolution travel out to LA to face the Galaxy.

All and all, ESPN2 will broadcast 23 games throughout the season (plus 3 playoff games) while ABC will carry the opening and final match along with the All-Star Game (July 29).

The makeup of the schedule is the same as last year with each team playing the teams in the conference 4 times while only getting 2 shots at non-conference opponents.

Houston will get their first taste of Major League Soccer during opening weekend when the Colorado Rapids come to town on Sunday, April 2. Houston will also be one of the six teams to host a match on July 4th (the others being Chicago, FC Dallas, Colorado, Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles).

The other big news is the opening of the Chicago Fire's brand new stadium in Bridgeview. The first game will take place on June 25th when the Fire takes on the MetroStars.

During the World Cup, ESPN2 will only broadcast 2 MLS games.

No word on what games will air on Fox Soccer Channel. Each MLS club's regional television schedule, and the MLS Direct Kick season package on cable and satellite will be announced in the coming weeks.

Here is the full list of matches on ABC and ESPN2 (home team listed first, all times EST):

ABC
FC Dallas - Chicago Fire (April 1 @ 4), MLS All-Star Game (July 29 @ 3:30), MLS Cup (Nov 12 @ 3:30)

ESPN2
LA - NE (April 1 @ 11), DC - Chivas (April 8 @ 4), Columbus - Chicago (April 15 @ 4), Chivas - LA (April 15 @ 11), MetroStars - DC (April 22 @ 4), FCD - KC (April 23 @ 5), RSL - LA (April 29 @ 4)

NE - LA (May 6 @ 4), FCD - Houston (May 13 @ 4), Houston - Chicago (May 20 @ 4), RSL-Colorado (May 27 @ 4)

LA - Chivas (June 8 @ 10)

NE - MetroStars (July 1 @ 6), Houston - Chivas (July 8 @ 5), Chicago - FCD (July 15 @ 4), Columbus - LA (July 22 @ 4), NE - DC (July 26 @ 7)

Chicago - Columbus (Aug 5 @ 6), Houston - FCD (Aug 12 @ 8:30), DC - Colorado (Aug 19 @ 4), Chivas - Houston (Aug 26 @ 11)

Chicago - DC (Sept 17 @ 4)

DC - Chicago (Oct 15 @ 5), MLS Playoff game (Oct 22 @ 3), MLS Playoff game (Oct 29 @ 6)

MLS Playoff game (Nov 5 @ 4)