It’s finally here. At long last, you can stop alienating your friends and families by refusing to commit to any plans from March – October. We have the 2025 season schedule for Rhode Island FC in the USL Championship.

What changed for 2025?

In 2024, each team played 34 regular season games. Home and Away against each team in their conference (for a total of 22 inner-conference games), and Home or Away against each team in the other conference (12 out-of-conference games).

This season, with the introduction of the Jägermeister Cup, each team will play only 30 regular season games, plus at least four games – via the group stage of the tournament – against their group – two home, and two away.

So for the 30 regular season games, each team will continue to play Home and Away against each inner-conference team (22 games), and then play four home and four away against eight out of the twelve remaining other conference teams.

Personally I don’t love having an unbalanced schedule across the league – but I don’t think the league was left many options. They were thrown their fair share of curve balls as far as the conference structure and scheduling with Memphis 901 folding in the west, Lexington SC self-promoting to the Championship, and Brooklyn FC postponing their league debut to 2026. Ultimately, I think the Jägermeister Cup will be a great addition and help to smooth over any awkwardness with the schedule.

What are they key matchups for 2025?

For a lot of the sicko’s who would read (or write) this blog, every one of the 34 matches might as well be the Super Bowl. But for the regular people who don’t care if we can do it on a cold, rainy night in El Paso, these are some of the matchups that I think will be appointment viewing – whether at a watch party, or at Tidewater Landing.

The Grand Opening

Saturday, May 3 – San Antonio FC (Home)

This is the big one. The day we’ve all been waiting for – for years, in some cases. For the 17 times that we all schlepped out to Bryant last year, THIS is what it was all for. The grand opening of the Tidewater Landing Stadium. This is personally the most important date on my calendar next year, period – and I don’t think I am alone in that.

As for the football itself, it’s not the sexiest opponent for the stadium opening… but it’s a team we should beat. We’ll take it! It’s also a good opportunity for the club to get a sell out against a team that otherwise may not have attracted as many casual fans.

The Playoff Rematches

Saturday, August 30 – Charleston Battery (Home)

Saturday, September 6 – Louisville City FC (Home)

Saturday, September 13 – Indy Eleven (Home)

Alright, the schedule-makers cooked when they put together this run.

This run of games, this late in the schedule, is going to make and break teams playoff chances – and with this particular group of teams – probably home playoff chances.

As I think many of us learned last year, in our introduction to the USL, every single Eastern Conference game matters a LOT. The first tiebreaker in USL Championship is head-to-head record, so it’s absolutely imperative to hold your tiebreakers against inner-conference competition when it comes playoff time. Just think, last year, we would’ve hosted a playoff match if we had our tiebreaker against Indy Eleven.

We played difficult, intense matches against each of these teams in the regular season last year, so the energy in Tidewater is going to be electric – and the quality of football should be top notch as well.

The Championship Rematch

It doesn’t exist. Biggest bag-fumble of the entire schedule. This could have been a national broadcast game, easily.

The Derby Days

Saturday, July 19 – Shartford Athletic (Home)

Saturday, July 26 – Hartford Pathetic (Home) / Jägermeister Cup

Saturday, August 23 – Shartford Pathetic (Away)

Alright, this is incredible. Hosting Hartford back-to-back weekends in a league game, and then a Jägermeister Cup game, is going to be great. Not even a month later, we get to drive on down the road and beat them a third time in their own building.

The first Hartford derby at Tidewater was already going to be one of the biggest matches of the season. To get to do it twice in a row is just too good.

The Best of the West

Saturday, March 22 – Phoenix Rising FC (Away)

Phoenix Rising only makes this category because they are just two years removed from being USL Champions in 2023. With that said – they were nothing special last year, and we lost a very winnable home game 3-1 against them.

Saturday, June 21 – Sacramento Republic FC (Home)

Last year’s 2-2 home draw against Sacramento Republic was one of the best games at Beirne, and one of the first games where we really saw the potential of this team.

Saturday, October 5 – Las Vegas Lights (Home)

Home game against good competition very late in to the season – this should be a great, and meaningful game for both teams.

Saturday, October 25 – New Mexico United (Away)

In 2024, we finished our season with a lay up of a game against Miami FC at home. In 2025, we will do the exact opposite and play on the road against last years Western Conference regular season point leaders to close the season.

I Just Don’t Like Them

Saturday, April 5 – Oakland Roots SC (Away)

This game won’t hit the same now that Paul Blanchette is no longer with the team. But I think there’s enough leftover frustration from us Rhode Island fans towards the team in general – even without their primary villain – to make it a fun one.

Saturday, April 19 – Detroit City FC (Away)

Waaaah, waaah – I can’t wait to hear the DCFC fans act like they don’t care about losing Maxi Rodriguez to us and act like he wasn’t a crucial part of their team. I hope we batter DCFC in both fixtures next year, since we played very poorly in both matchups against them last year.

Wednesday, August 6 – Detroit City FC (Home)

This match is going to be a banger, so it’s a bit of a shame that it’s on a Wednesday night. Hopefully the club can use the fact that it’s a heated Eastern Conference rival, and a game that was nationally broadcast last year, to drum up some additional mid-week interest.