HARRISON, N.J. – The Red Bulls announced Tuesday that the club will participate in the 2018 Mobile Sun Mini Cup in Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz. before opening the season with CONCACAF Champions League matches for the second successive year.

The Red Bulls will participate in the Mobile Mini Sun Cup, previously the Desert Diamond Cup, along with Phoenix Rising FC (United Soccer League) and several other MLS teams. Tucson FC (Premier Development League) will co-host the tournament along with Phoenix.

The Red Bulls will also hold exhibition matches prior to the tournament, with dates, opponents and broadcast info announced at a later date.

New York’s first competitive matches of 2018 will be the CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 series, scheduled for Leg One in the window of Feb. 20-22, and Leg Two between Feb. 27-March 1.

The CONCACAF Champions League live draw will take place in Miami Dec. 18.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.