The National Women's Soccer League dropped its regular season schedule for 2019. The schedule sees the reigning NWSL Champions and NWSL Shield winners the North Carolina Courage, take on the Chicago Red Stars at WakeMed Soccer Park on opening day, April 13th. The final match of the season will see Utah Royals FC host the Houston Dash on October 12th.

The NWSL will take a break during the group stages of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, which will run from June 3rd to June 14th. The league will resume its schedule on June 15th.

The Reign will face their arch rivals on July 5th for the first time in 2019 | Source: Diego Diaz/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
The Reign will face their arch rivals on July 5th for the first time in 2019 | Source: Diego Diaz/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

Key dates for the 2019 schedule

Reign FC (formerly Seattle Reign FC) will make their official league debut at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma against the Orlando Pride on April 21st. The Reign will be playing in Cheney Stadium for the first time in their history after their move from their home for the past five seasons, Memorial Stadium. The opener will much anticipated by both Reign fans and neutrals alike. The Reign will participate in the first clash of the Cascadia derby when they travel to Portland to face Portland Thorns FC in the soon-to-be expanded Providence Park on July 5th and the reverse fixtures in Tacoma will take place on August 19th and September 29th.

The Thorns will face the Courage for the first time since the 2018 NWSL Championship on June 15th at WakeMed Soccer Park while the always riveting matches between the Orlando Pride and Utah Royals FC will be set for April 27th, May 25th and August 17th.

The Pride and the Royals provided an enthralling season opener last year | Source: nwslsoccer.com
The Pride and the Royals provided an enthralling season opener last year | Source: nwslsoccer.com

A new streaming platform will be in place for this season

As previously reported, the NWSL will no longer be broadcast on Lifetime and other A+E Network affiliates. Fans within the United States of America will be able to watch all of the regular season matches on Yahoo!Sports while international fans will still be able to view the games on the NWSL app and NWSLSoccer.com.

Although not ideal, the NWSL has committed to maintaining availability to all matches for anyone who wants to view them and will hope that the league will gain a boost of viewership from the World Cup when the NWSL returns to action in June.