Galaxy to kick off 2024 season at home against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami
The Galaxy will open their 2024 MLS season by hosting Lionel Messi and Inter Miami at Dignity Health Sports Park on Feb. 25, kicking off a 34-game regular-season schedule that will include a return to the Rose Bowl on July 4 to face cross-town rival LAFC.
This year’s Rose Bowl rivalry game drew an MLS-record crowd of 82,110 and Tom Braun, the Galaxy’s chief operating officer and president of business operations, said the team is hopeful the match, which is followed by a fireworks show, can become a regular fixture of the schedule going forward.
“I think everyone can agree the success we had last year with the Rose Bowl game, it's worth doing it again,” he said. “It's good for soccer. It was good for the Galaxy. I think it was good for LAFC.
“It's worth giving it a shot. And depending on how well it goes this year, it's definitely in the cards.”
Read more: Galaxy hold off LAFC in front of record crowd at Rose Bowl
Because of the league’s unbalanced schedule — MLS has 14 teams in the Western Conference and 15 in the Eastern Conference — the Galaxy will play LAFC three times. Each team will host one game, with the third to be played at the Rose Bowl, a neutral site though the game will count as a Galaxy home match.
“To make it successful, both teams have to really lean into it right?” Braun said. “It's a lot of tickets to sell. We want LAFC’s fan base to be strong there. We want the Galaxy’s fan base to be strong there for the overall experience. So there is a partnership that goes into it. But it's a Galaxy home game.”
The other two rivalry matches in the season series will be played April 6 at BMO Stadium and Sept. 14 at Dignity Health Sports Park. The Galaxy will also face the San Jose Earthquakes three times: in San Jose on March 2, in Carson on April 21 and at Stanford Stadium on June 29.
Read more: 'This can’t happen again.' Greg Vanney faces pressure to finally fix the Galaxy
Braun said the team worked with the league to secure the Messi game as the Galaxy’s home opener. Inter Miami, which entered MLS in 2020, has never played at Dignity Health Sports Park, where a statue of its owner, former Galaxy midfielder David Beckham, towers outside the main entrance.
“We pushed hard and lobbied for it,” Braun said. “We felt that it was important to make a really big splash in having Miami here to open our season. The league dictates the schedule, but we certainly push[ed] hard to get it on our schedule this year. We're fortunate that they agreed.”
Landing a game with Inter Miami early in the season was key because Messi’s international duties with Argentina could force him to miss as many as 10 weeks of the MLS season between late March and mid-October. Braun said the Galaxy will use a dynamic pricing model for the Inter Miami game, meaning tickets will be priced based on demand.
According to StubHub, tickets on the secondary market for LAFC's home game with Miami last season were the most expensive in MLS history, going for around $800, more than five times higher than normal.
Fans wishing to buy Messi tickets without going on the secondary market can purchase season tickets now. Single-game tickets for the season opener and July 4 won't go on sale until next year.
Starting Thursday at 10 a.m., fans can purchase a six-game ticket plan for as low as $59 per seat/game. All three available ticket plans include the Miami match and LAFC at the Rose Bowl. The Gold Pack also includes the LAFC match at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The Galaxy’s busiest month of the season will be May, when they will play six games, three at home and three on the road. There is just one MLS game scheduled in August to make room for the return of the Leagues Cup with Mexico’s Liga MX.
Read more: MLS commissioner isn't adding fourth designated player after 'most successful season'
In addition to Inter Miami, the Galaxy will play Eastern Conference foes New York City and Atlanta United at home and travel to Nashville, Charlotte and Chicago.
The schedule is once again crowded, with the Galaxy playing 12 times with fewer than five days' rest between games. The regular season will conclude Oct. 19 in Houston after a two-week pause necessitated by the October international break.
The 2024 Galaxy schedule
(all times Pacific)
Feb 25: vs. Inter Miami, 5:30 p.m.
March 2: at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.; March 10: at Nashville, noon; March 16: vs. St. Louis, 7:30 p.m.; March 23: at Sporting K.C., 1 p.m.; March 30: vs. Seattle, 7:30 p.m.
April 6: at LAFC, 4:30 p.m.; April 13: at Vancouver, TBD; April 21: vs. San Jose, 4 p.m.; April 27: at Austin, 10:30 a.m.
May 5: at Seattle, 3:30 p.m.; May 11: vs. Real Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m.; May 15: at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m.; May 18: at Charlotte, 4:30 p.m.; May 25: vs. Houston. 7:30 p.m.; May 29: vs. Dallas, 7:30 p.m.
June 1: at Chicago, 5:30 p.m.; June 15: vs. Sporting K.C., 7:30 p.m.; June 19: vs. New York City, 7:30 p.m.; June 22: at Real Salt Lake, 6:30 p.m.; June 29: vs. San Jose at Stanford Stadium, 5:30 p.m.
July 4: vs. LAFC at the Rose Bowl, 7:30 p.m.; July 7: vs. Minnesota United, 7:30 p.m.; July 13: at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.; July 17: vs. Colorado, 7:30 p.m.; July 20: vs. Portland, 7:30 p.m.
Aug 24: vs. Atlanta, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 1: at St. Louis, 11:30 a.m.; Sept. 14: vs. LAFC, 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 18: at Portland, 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 21: vs. Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.
Oct 2: at Colorado, 6:30 p.m.; Oct. 5: vs. Austin, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 19: at Houston, 6 p.m.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
