San Jose Earthquakes 2015 MLS Regular Season Schedule

The 20th season of Major League Soccer kicks off in 2015, and the San Jose Earthquakes will open their 34-game schedule with a road trip to FC Dallas on Saturday, March 7 (and, interestingly, end their season with a road trip to FC Dallas on Sunday, October 25). The Quakes will play the inaugural MLS regular season game at the brand-new Avaya Stadium on Sunday, March 22, against the Chicago Fire.

A printable poster of the schedule courtesy of CLS photographer Joe Nuxoll is available here: www.flickr.com/photos/joenuxoll/16039112688

Of its 17-game home schedule, San Jose will play 15 times at 18,000 seat Avaya Stadium, while it will play two home games at local football stadiums, same as it did in 2014. On Sunday, May 24, the Quakes will host expansion side Orlando City, with its Brazilian superstar Kaka and former Quakes head coach Mark Watson in tow, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. And for the fifth season in a row, the Earthquakes will venture up the Peninsula to Stanford Stadium to host the LA Galaxy on Saturday, June 27.

10 of the Quakes' 17 home games will be featured on national television in 2015 -- a huge jump over last season -- with a mix of appearances on Fox Sports 1, UniMas, Univision Deportes, and ESPN 2. Because the new MLS television contract calls for exclusive broadcasting windows on Fridays and Sundays, the Earthquakes 2015 home schedule is bereft of matches on the traditional Saturday night docket. In all, 10 of the Quakes' 17 home games will be on either Friday (4) or Sunday (6) rather than on Saturday.

In fact, Friday soccer for San Jose will be very common in 2015. In addition to the 4 home games, the Quakes will feature in 4 Friday away games. The eight total games, of which seven will be nationally televised by either UniMas or Univision Deportes as part of the networks' 32 announced regular season schedule, matches the most in MLS this season along with the Houston Dynamo and FC Dallas. The Chicago Fire follow that up with seven Friday appearances.

In total, the Earthquakes will make 14 appearances on national television, the same number as expansion side New York City FC and second only to the 16 games scheduled for Orlando City and the New York Red Bulls across all television partners of MLS.

New head coach Dominic Kinnear will lead San Jose against his former club the Houston Dynamo on three occasions in 2015 as part of the new MLS regular season format and the move of the Dynamo to the Western Conference. The first encounter will take place on the road on Tuesday, May 5 -- interestingly, the only Tuesday night game on the entire 340 game MLS regular season schedule -- with the return leg scheduled at Avaya Stadium on Friday, July 10. The season rubber match takes place in Houston on Saturday, August 8.

While the Earthquakes will not host NYCFC in 2015, and fans will thus miss out on the opportunity to see superstars David Villa and (if he ever joins MLS) Frank Lampard, San Jose will see the LA Galaxy's newly minted Designated Player, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, at Avaya Stadium on Friday, August 28. Stevie G's MLS debut is expected to come when the MLS summer transfer window opens on July 8, and the Earthquakes will be on the road to take on the Galaxy at the StubHub Center on Friday, July 17 on what could be that debut.

For those that plan on following the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup this summer, the Earthquakes will play at Portland on the same day as the World Cup Final. The Quakes will kick-off at Providence Park at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 5, while the women's final starts at 4:00 p.m. at BC Place in Vancouver. While not conducive to a road trip, the double-header will make for a great viewing party experience -- perhaps the Quakes can be convinced to host one at Avaya Stadium?

Unlike the last couple of seasons, the Earthquakes will play the majority of their games at home during the final two months of the season. Starting with the August 28 game against the Galaxy, the Quakes will play 5 of their last 7 regular season games at Avaya Stadium. The last game of the regular season will be on the road at FC Dallas on Sunday, October 25, and will part of MLS' "Decision Day," when all five Western Conference games will kick-off simultaneously at 4:00 p.m.

The 2015 San Jose Earthquakes regular season schedule (home matches in bold)