ST. PETERSBURG, FL – On Tuesday, the USL Championship announced its competition structure for the 2022 season. The league’s 27 teams will be divided into an Eastern Conference and a Western Conference again, with the Rowdies competing in the East’s 14-team conference. Along with the traditional Eastern Conference foes of the past few seasons, the Rowdies will also face a newcomer to the USL, Detroit City FC.
A 34-match regular season awaits each team in 2022, set to kick off on March 11 and culminate on October 15. The home openers and full schedule for the 2022 season will be announced in January.
In 2022, each team will face off with their conference opponents twice – once at home and once away. The remaining eight matches for all Eastern Conference teams will be against Western Conference opposition – four at home and four away. For the 13 teams of the Western Conference, they will fill out their ten remaining matches with a combination of five interconference and intraconference matchups – five at home and five away.
The top seven teams from each conference in the regular season will qualify for the 2022 USL Championship Playoffs. The top seeds from each conference will earn a bye to the Conference Semifinals of the playoffs. Following the Conference Quarterfinals, the bracket will be reseeded to ensure the first overall seed in each conference plays against the lowest-seeded remaining opponent. The USL Championship Playoffs will remain a single-elimination format, culminating in the 2022 USL Championship Final on a to be determined date between Nov. 10 and Nov. 14, 2022.
“We are pleased and eager to see the Championship in a traditional two-conference alignment in 2022,” said USL President Jake Edwards. “This regular season format increases the importance of each intra-conference match while also providing the variety and intrigue of more cross-conference matchups. The schedule footprint allows our teams time to compete in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and finish the playoffs prior to call-ups for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.”
2022 USL CHAMPIONSHIP CONFERENCE ALIGNMENT
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlanta United 2
Birmingham Legion
Charleston Battery
Detroit City FC
Hartford Athletic
Indy Eleven
Loudoun United FC
Louisville City FC
Memphis 901 FC
The Miami FC
New York Red Bulls II
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Tampa Bay Rowdies
FC Tulsa
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
El Paso Locomotive FC
|LA Galaxy II
Las Vegas Lights FC
Monterey Bay F.C.
New Mexico United
Oakland Roots SC
Orange County SC
Phoenix Rising FC
Rio Grande Valley FC
Sacramento Republic FC
San Antonio FC
San Diego Loyal SC
