The Cosmos will kick off their 2017 North American Soccer League season at Puerto Rico FC March 25 before hosting Miami FC at their new home, MCU Park in Brooklyn, April 1 at 7 p.m.

 The league’s split-season schedule will feature a 16-game Spring season and a 16-game Fall season. Within each season, the Cosmos will play each of its seven opponents home and away, plus two additional matchups. As in the past, the Spring season champion and Fall season champion will each earn a spot – and semifinal hosting rights – in The Championship, the league’s four-club postseason tournament.

The remaining two postseason spots will go to the two clubs that collect the most combined points over the course of the overall 32-game competition (Spring and Fall seasons).

The Cosmos are reigning champions of the NASL, having won their second consecutive league title and eighth overall last November, with a 4-2 win on penalties over Indy Eleven in The Championship final.

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.