SALT LAKE CITY — Real Salt Lake's 15th season will begin on March 2 at Houston Dynamo.
Seven days later, RSL will host the Vancouver Whitecaps at Rio Tinto Stadium. The 2019 Major League Soccer season will be a month shorter, and the MLS Cup playoffs will be all knock-out rounds.
The complete MLS schedule will be released at a later date.
The changes will allow the regular season to end on Oct. 6 instead of Oct. 28. This also allows the playoffs to run in their entirety without being interrupted by the fall FIFA break.
Real's minor-league club Real Monarchs will play in the newly re-branded USL Championship, which will be made up of 36 teams. They also open up the season on the road, playing at Sacramento Republic FC on March 9. They will open the second season at Zions Bank Stadium against new club El Paso Locomotive FC on March 16.