NEW YORK – With two new expansion clubs joining the fray in 2011, Major League Soccer will expand its regular season schedule to 34 games from the current 30-game season.

The 2011 campaign will kick off on Saturday, March 19, 2011, and the 34 matches will be played in the span of 32 weeks with the regular season coming to a close on October 22.

The league also announced that it will not break for the CONCACAF Gold Cup or any other international competitions next year. In 2010 there was a two-week hiatus in MLS league play during the World Cup group stage.

The 2011 postseason format, the date for MLS Cup 2011 and the format for the 2011 regular-season schedule will be announced by MLS at a later date.