USL Championship Announces 2023 Alignment, Season Format
Published on December 20, 2022 under United Soccer League Championship (USL) News Release
TAMPA, Fla. - The USL Championship today announced its competition structure for the 2023 season. The league's 24 teams will be divided into two conferences - a balanced 12 in the Eastern Conference and 12 in the Western Conference (see lists below).
A 34-game regular season will be played from March 11 to Oct. 14, 2023. The home openers and full schedule for the 2023 USL Championship season will be announced in January 2023.
In a balanced schedule format, every team will play each of its conference foes twice - once at home, once away. The remaining 12 games of the season will be played against teams from the opposing conference, with six games at home and six away. This will result in every team in the league squaring off for the first time since the USL Championship instituted a two-conference format in 2015.
"The successful expansion of interconference play during the 2022 campaign showed the appetite both our clubs and their supporters have for a full, national schedule," said USL President Jake Edwards. "We are extremely happy to expand on that success, while also keeping the home-and-home series that make the great rivalries across the league."
At the conclusion of the regular season, the top eight teams in each conference will qualify for the 2023 USL Championship Playoffs. The USL Championship Playoffs will remain a single-elimination format and will return to a fixed bracket format, culminating in the 2023 USL Championship Final on a to be determined date between Nov. 9 and Nov. 13, 2023.
2023 USL CHAMPIONSHIP
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Birmingham Legion FC
Charleston Battery
Detroit City FC
Hartford Athletic
Indy Eleven
Loudoun United FC
Louisville City FC
Memphis 901 FC
The Miami FC
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Tampa Bay Rowdies
FC Tulsa
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
El Paso Locomotive FC
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
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