HARRISON, N.J. – The Red Bulls will be heading south and west for their preseason again this year.

They will hold two camps, first in Pinellas County, Fla. and in Tucson, Ariz. before opening the season with CONCACAF Champions League matches for the second succesive year.

New York will open camp Jan. 22, when players report and travel to Oldsmar, Fla., north of Clearwater Beach. The club partnered with Visit St. Pete/Clearwater to establish the travel destination as a preseason training site. The deal also made Visit St. Pete/Clearwater an official Red Bulls marketing partner.

The team will train through Saturday, Feb. 3, before returning to the Red Bulls Training Facility in Hanover, N.J.

In Florida, the team will train at the Oldsmar Sports Complex and play a series of exhibition matches:

* Jan. 27 – University of South Florida – Oldsmar Sports Complex, time TBD

* Jan. 31 – New England Revolution – time, place TBD

* Feb. 3 – Philadelphia Union – 11 a.m., Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex

After a short stint home, the Red Bulls head to Tucson for training and the Mobile Sun Mini Cup, previously known as the Desert Diamond Cup.

The match schedule:

* Feb. 10 – at Phoenix Rising FC – Phoenix Rising Soccer Complex, 9 p.m. ET

* Feb. 14 – Sporting Kansas City – time TBD, Kino Sports Complex, 7 p.m. ET

* Feb. 17 – Houston Dynamo – time TBD, Kino Sports Complex, 8:15 p.m. MST

* Feb. 21 – Portland Timbers – time TBD, Kino Sports Complex, 4 p.m. MST

* Feb. 24 – Opponent TBD based on results – Time TBD, Kino Sports Complex

Matches in the Mobile Sun Mini Cup will be available via livestream. Additional match details, including broadcast information for matches in Florida, will be announced in the coming weeks.

The Red Bulls will remain active in the preseason tournament while focusing on the CONCACAF Champions League, which begins Thursday, Feb. 22 against CD Olimpia (Honduras).

Last a mixture of reserve and NYRB II players earned valuable preseason experience in the Desert Diamond Cup while the first team met Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the SCCL quarterfinals.

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.