The Charleston Battery announced Tuesday the dates and opponents for the club’s 2026 USL Championship and the Prinx Tires USL Cup season. The schedule maps out the Battery’s 34th season in club history.
Charleston will kick off the 2026 campaign on March 7 against the defending league champions, Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, in Week 1. It’ll be an all-90s affair for the 47th all-time meeting between the Battery and the Hounds. The Battery swept the Hounds last year with a pair of 2-1 victories.
The Battery’s second league match will be at home against Birmingham Legion FC on March 21 in Week 3, after a bye in Week 2 and midweek action in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
In 2026, Charleston will play a 34-match schedule across 34 weeks from early March through late October. The schedule is comprised of 30 regular season contests and four Prinx Tires USL Cup group stage matches.
Each club in the Eastern Conference will play 24 or 25 games against in-conference opposition, and 5 or 6 games against Western Conference opposition to complete the 30-game regular season schedule.
Looking at the Prinx Tires USL Cup, the Battery will compete in Group 6. There, they are set to travel to face Loudoun United FC (USLC) on April 25 and the Richmond Kickers (USL1) on May 16, and host Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (USLC) on June 6 and Charlotte Independence (USL1) on July 11.
Single-game tickets will be on sale in the coming weeks, but fans can lock in their spot for all 17 home matches now with a Season Membership, with plans starting as low as $16 per game.
The Battery are aiming to build upon the success sustained in 2025, when the team finished second in the USL Championship standings and set a new single-season regular season wins record for the third year in a row.
A pair of newcomers join the league in 2026 in Brooklyn FC and Sporting Club Jacksonville. Charleston will face Brooklyn on April 11 (A) and August 1 (H), and Jacksonville on May 2 (H) and June 20 (A).
The Battery will host the reigning Western Conference champions, FC Tulsa, on June 13, and the Players’ Shield holders, Louisville City FC, on October 10.
Among other Western Conference clubs, Charleston will face New Mexico United on May 23 (A), Sacramento Republic FC on July 18 (H), Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on July 25 (A), Las Vegas Lights FC on August 29 (A) and Monterey Bay FC on September 19 (H).
The home rematch of last season’s playoff duel against Rhode Island is slated for September 26 in the Lowcountry.
It will be a set of rivalries renewed when Charleston face Richmond and Charlotte in the Prinx Tires USL Cup. The Battery and Kickers, both teams founded in 1993, have not met since 2018, when the Battery claimed a 3-0 victory in July of that year for the most recent meeting. Meanwhile, Charleston and Charlotte, former Southern Derby foes, last faced each other in 2023 during the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, a 1-0 Charleston win after extra time.
The Battery are set to face Pittsburgh and Loudoun at least three times in 2026, twice in the regular season and once in the Prinx Tires USL Cup group stage.
Charleston will look to capitalize on home field advantage during the business end of the season, when four of the final six regular season matches will be played at Patriots Point.
Of Charleston’s 17 home USL matches, 15 are on a Saturday. Two contests will be played on a Wednesday at Patriots Point: June 24 against Loudoun United FC and September 2 against Hartford Athletic.
There are two additional away Wednesday games, against Rhode Island FC on April 22 and the Tampa Bay Rowdies on June 10, and one road Sunday match, against Birmingham on September 13.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the top eight teams in each conference will qualify for the 2026 USL Championship Playoffs, which will kick off on the weekend of Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2026.
The 2026 USL Championship season will be the third in the league’s four-year broadcast agreement with CBS Sports, with games also set to air nationally on ESPN Networks, ESPN+, CBS Sports Network, CBS Sports Golazo Network and TUDN. A full broadcast schedule will be announced following the release of the 2026 USL Championship schedule.