Utah Royals FC unveil balanced 26-game slate for 2024 NWSL regular season
The relaunched Utah Royals FC will kick off the 2024 season hosting the Red Stars, the team announced in conjunction with the NWSL schedule release Thursday afternoon.
Utah’s “Return of Royalty” will officially kick off March 16 against Chicago.
The relaunched Utah Royals FC will kick off the 2024 season hosting the Red Stars, the team announced in conjunction with the NWSL schedule release Thursday afternoon.
Head coach Amy Rodriguez’s side will play five of their first seven contests at home, including a Friday Night Futbol contest May 3 against Angel City FC.
Six of the club’s next nine games will be on the road, leading up to a CBA-mandated summer break July 8. That includes a June 16 encounter with fellow expansion side Bay FC at PayPal Park in San Jose, California, when the No. 1 and No. 2 overall draft picks — and former North Carolina teammates — Ally Sentnor and Navy King will face off live on CBS Sports Network.
Utah’s two bye weeks will come the weekend of April 6 and the weekend of June 1, and return to league play following the NWSL international tournament and the Paris Summer Olympics with the final 10 game slate that includes ESPN 2 appearances Sept. 22 against Gotham FC and Oct. 13 against the Seattle Reign.
See the full schedule here.
The league will broadcast 121 matches through four broadcast packages, including a weekly Friday night game on Amazon’s Prime Video, Saturday doubleheaders on ION Network, a package of games on CBS Sports Network (including the NWSL championship live on CBS in primetime), and featured matches across the ESPN Family of Networks.
The remaining matches will air on NWSL+, the league’s first-ever direct-to-consumer streaming platform available free to fans in the United States via live-steaming apps on Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku and iOS/Android mobile devices. In addition to mach coverage, NWSL+ will feature highlights, select replays and additional league- and team-produced content for free on the app.
Here’s a look at the Royals’ preseason roster, as of Jan. 22 — the first day of team orientation/preseason training camp.