We’ll have to keep waiting to know the full schedule, but the dates of two Nashville SC games have been released: The Boys in Gold will host expansion club Loudoun United (DC United’s new USL affiliate) March 9 on the league’s opening weekend, and will also serve as the home debut for Ottawa Fury April 6.
NSC opened the regular season on the road in Louisville in its inaugural USL season, falling 2-0 to the eventual USL champions. The home opener came the following weekend against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, with Nissan Stadium serving as the home venue for a 0-0 draw. NSC earned its first road and home wins, respectively, in the subsequent games with a 1-0 victory over Bethlehem Steel and 2-0 result over Charlotte Independence at First Tennessee Park.
The opening weekend of the season has moved up a week to accommodate for a second-straight 34-game season with fewer midweek fixtures required (the regular season will span 33 weeks next year). Other home teams for the weekend are:
- Atlanta United 2 (v. Hartford Athletic)
- Birmingham Legion (v. Bethlehem Steel)
- Charleston Battery (v. Ottawa Fury)
- Memphis 901 FC (v. Tampa Bay Rowdies)
- New York Red Bulls II (v. Swope Park Rangers)
- North Carolina FC (v. Louisville City)
- St. Louis FC (v. Indy Eleven)
Assuming – certainly unfairly – that returning teams are better than newly established clubs, and that the table will work out reasonably similarly to how it did in 2018, Nashville SC stands a decent chance to begin 2019 atop the Eastern Conference table. Charleston Battery is the only other Eastern Conference team with a home game against a team that did not make the playoffs last year.
Club and Country 