Schedule Analysis

So far its all quiet on the player front.  There are a couple of rumors about players coming and going out there, but nothing confirmed.  In light of that, on to the delayed schedule analysis.

First of all we now know that the Rapids will play their first round CCL games on February 17th (in Guatemala) and 23rd (at the Dick).  Looks like kickoff on the 23rd will be at 6:30pm, which means things are going to be...cold by the end of the game probably.

After those two its into the  MLS season.  We already know we're starting on the road at LAFC before coming home to play Atlanta, one of 8 Eastern teams we're playing next year.  The Rapids did not get a favorable Eastern Conference schedule, playing 5 of the 6 2021 playoff teams, plus Nashville (who's moving to the West).  The only playoff team we miss is New England.  We also get DC and Columbus, the two teams just outside the playoffs.  We do get expansion Charlotte but otherwise we have to play the teams that finished 2nd through 9th in the East in 2021.

Outside of that we  know we're playing everyone in the West twice.  So its really a matter of when we play them.  The first one to look at is always FSL, who we get at home on April 2nd and in Sandy on July 9th.  I have to look but it feels like more often than not we finish the RMC in Utah, which seems an unfair benefit to them.  Its certainly happened 3 years in a row now.  We get Dallas very early, April 9th, in Dallas but then don't see them again until the last home game of the year in October.  Gary Smith and the rest of the 2010 Rapids gang return to Colorado over Memorial Day weekend.

As far as frequency of games go, our first 3 game week is in late May when LAFC and Seattle at home on the weekends have a trip to KC in-between them.  That's as light a 3-game week as the Rapids can have when it comes to travel.  After that Memorial Day game the Rapids don't play at home again until the 4th of July, with only two games total in June, both on the road.  In the two weeks starting on 4th of July the Rapids have 4 games, all but the RMC match in Sandy at home.  Again, another light travel for short rest games.

Getting into the back half of the season there's another 3-game week in August, with two home games around a trip to Vancouver.  Not as easy as KC and Sandy but it could be a lot worse.  Then after a week off there's another 3-game week finishing on Labor Day weekend, this time all on the road in Philly, Nashville, and DC.  I fully expect (COVID permitting) the Rapids to set up for a week in the Philly/DC area instead of flying back to Denver after all 3 games.  So travel won't be that big of a deal that week.  Then again after another week break it's 3 more games in a week, this time with the first two at home before a trip to LA-LA land to play the Galaxy.  The team gets two full weeks off before the final two games, the aforementioned home finale against Dallas and then a trip to Austin to finish the regular season.

That 3-game East Coast swing before Labor Day is the only time we have more than 2 home or away games in a row.  As you can see by that tight end of the season schedule (9 games in 5 weeks) its going to be important to build up a bit of a buffer in the first 2/3rds of the season while we're more well-rested.  Twice we have long road trips between games, but they're both a week apart.  We go between NY and the Northwest on both of them, first from NYCFC to Portland, then Seattle to RBNY the second time.

Overall the pacing and the travel in this schedule is fairly favorable.  Of course we don't know how much added travel and subtracted rest we might get early in the season with our CCL play.  The real negative on this schedule is getting all the tough Eastern teams and not getting teams like Miami, Chicago, and Cincinnati.