Messi Gets Opening Night as MLS Sprint Season Ushers In Huge Change

Lionel Messi will get the first spotlight in Major League Soccer’s biggest calendar shake-up in decades. Inter Miami will host FC Cincinnati on February 19, 2027, at Nu Stadium to open the MLS Sprint Season , a one-off competition designed to bridge the gap between the league’s traditional spring-to-fall schedule and its new summer-to-spring calendar. The change will reshape when American soccer is played, bringing MLS closer to the schedule used by Europe’s leading leagues. The standalone Miami opener kicks off at 8 p.m. ET, with the rest of the opening weekend scheduled for February 20 and 21.