The Portland Thorns 2024 Schedule Is Finally Here
Portland Thorns forward Morgan Weaver (no. 22) had seven goals (and thus seven unforgettable goal celebrations) in the 2023 season.
The Kinks are tired of waiting, and so are many soccer fans. Axl Rose reminds us that all we need is just a little patience, and we’ve been trying to keep that in mind. Yet for those of us trying make summer plans that include, say, the Portland Thorns’ rivalry game vs. the Seattle Reign, our patience was getting thin. But at last, the annual and seemingly interminable wait to be able to schedule literally anything from March through October is over: the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League regular season schedule is here.
The Thorns open the season Saturday, March 16, in Kansas City's new dedicated women's soccer stadium, and play their first home game March 24 vs. Gotham FC—a rematch of their last game at Providence Park, a semifinal loss last November. And that Seattle rivalry game? The home version is May 11 (the Sounders visit to take on the Timbers the same weekend), and the Thorns travel to Seattle June 16.
The team has seen plenty of changes in the offseason, including the long-anticipated sale of the team to the Bhathal family and RAJ Sports, owners of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, for a reported league-record $63 million. The sale was another step back from the women’s side for Timbers owner Merritt Paulson and his company Peregrine Sports following a series of scandals affecting both the women’s and men’s teams that involved sexual abuse and coercion, domestic violence, and cover-ups.
Crystal Dunn, the national team star who had been with Portland for three seasons, sold her house in Ashcreek in October for upwards of $800K and announced her departure from the Thorns in November. In December, the Long Island–born Dunn signed with Gotham FC, the New York–New Jersey team whose roster is so packed with former Thorns (Midge Purce, Emily Sonnett, Michelle Betos, Abby Smith, Allie Long, Mana Shim, Yazmeen Ryan, Sinead Farrelly, McCall Zerboni) it could nearly field a starting lineup of Portland alumni.
The Thorns announced the 2024 return of Becky Sauerbrunn (no. 4) with a video of her clicking up an aisle at Powell’s City of Books in her kit and cleats.
Other player departures include defender Emily Menges, traded to Bay FC, a new expansion club, after 10 seasons in Portland (only Christine Sinclair, who’s retired from Canada’s national team but not from the NWSL, has been with the Thorns longer); midfielder Rocky Rodríguez, who will be a little closer to home after being traded to Angel City FC; Natalia Kuikka, a Finnish defender who signed as a free agent with the Chicago Red Stars; Michele Vasconcelos, a longtime NWSL player who joined the Thorns as a national team replacement in 2022 and is returning to her home state to join the restarted Utah Royals; and forward Hannah Betfort, who scored five goals in three seasons (plus a goal in a joint Timbers-Thorns friendly) and who is also Utah-bound.
Bella Bixby, the towering goalkeeper who grew up in Portland’s southeast suburbs and went to Oregon State, announced this month that she and her husband are expecting their first child, sharing an image of an ultrasound on social media with the message “came on here to say I’m a designated field player until further notice.”
Also expected to join the Thorns family this year are Canadian Jessie Fleming, who's been with Chelsea FC in the Women's Super League in England; Danish defender Isabella Obaze; and 2024 college draftees Payton Linnehan and Katherine Asman (both from Penn State), Olivia Wade-Katoa (Brigham Young), Kelsey Kaufusi (Utah State), and Katie Duong (Stanford).
The Thorns, whose preseason began this week, will play an exhibition game at the Coachella Valley Invitational on February 24. The 2024 NWSL season includes a break July 8–14, mandated by the players’ collective bargaining agreement, followed by a break from league play July 15–August 18, when some players will be in Paris for the 2024 Olympics.
Broadcast plans for this year include some Friday-evening matches on Prime Video and some Saturday-evening matches on ION (generally home to Bones, Blue Bloods, and SVU reruns—the viewership Venn diagram is going to be interesting), plus some games airing in the CBS family (Portland's KOIN, Paramount+, and the CBS Sports Network) and some in the ESPN family (which includes ABC, or Portland's KATU).
Hina Sugita (from left), Sophia Smith, and Christine Sinclair all return in 2024.
Portland Thorns 2024 Schedule
Home games in bold; Pacific time zone; subject to change
- 10 a.m. Saturday, March 16, at Kansas City Current
- 4 p.m. Sunday, March 24, vs. Gotham FC, Providence Park
- 4:30 p.m. Saturday, March 30, vs. Racing Louisville FC, Providence Park
- 4 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at North Carolina Courage
- 7 p.m. Saturday, April 20, vs. Houston Dash, Providence Park
- 4:30 p.m. Saturday, April 27, at Chicago Red Stars
- 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, at Bay FC
- 7 p.m. Saturday, May 4, vs. Washington (DC) Spirit, Providence Park
- 7 p.m. Saturday, May 11, vs. Seattle Reign FC, Providence Park
- 5 p.m. Friday, May 17, at Houston Dash
- 4 p.m. Friday, May 24, at Orlando Pride
- 7 p.m. Saturday, June 8, vs. North Carolina Courage, Providence Park
- 1 p.m. Sunday, June 16, at Seattle Reign FC
- 1 p.m. Sunday, June 23, vs. Kansas City Current, Providence Park
- 7 p.m. Saturday, June 29, at Utah Royals FC
- 7 p.m. Friday, July 5, vs. San Diego Wave FC, Providence Park
- 11 a.m. Saturday, August 24, at Gotham FC
- 7 p.m. Friday, August 30, vs. Bay FC, Providence Park
- 9:30 a.m. Saturday, September 7, at Washington Spirit
- 7 p.m. Friday, September 13, vs. Chicago Red Stars, Providence Park
- 7 p.m. Monday, September 23, at Angel City FC
- 7 p.m. Saturday, September 28, at San Diego Wave FC
- 7 p.m. Saturday, October 5, vs. Utah Royal FC, Providence Park
- 7 p.m. Friday, October 11, vs. Orlando Pride, Providence Park
- 4:30 p.m. Saturday, October 19, at Racing Louisville FC
- 7 p.m. Friday, November 1, vs. Angel City FC, Providence Park
- Possible playoffs Nov 9 & 10 and Nov 16 & 17, with the NWSL Championship on Nov 23
