The Coachella Valley Invitational just released the schedule for the 2026 edition of the preseason tournament, which will take place from February 7 to 21. A total of 12 Major League Soccer clubs will participate, including New York City FC, with each playing two to three games over four matchdays from February 7 to 14. Then, nine National Women's Soccer League clubs will play one to two games over two matchdays on February 15 and 21.
All games will be played at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA, close to Palm Springs. Neither Red Bull New York nor Gotham FC will be at the tournament this year.
New York City FC will play three matches, facing LAFC, Sporting Kansas City, and San Jose Earthquakes. The Kansas City game will be the first edition of the David Lee Derby, and will see NYCFC competing against the team's former sporting director for the first time since he left the club.
New York City FC Schedule
• New York City vs LAFC
Sun, February 8, 3 pm ET
• New York City vs Sporting Kansas City
Wed, February 11, 4:30 pm ET
• New York City vs San Jose Earthquakes
Sat, February 14, 4 pm ET
Passes for all matchdays are currently on sale, and can be purchased at the official Coachella Valley Invitational website. An all-day general admission ticket starts at $34.
There's no word yet on how those who can't make it to California will be able to watch the games from home. Just two days before the start of last year's tournament, New York City announced that all of the club's matches would be live-streamed on newyorkcityfc.com and broadcast on WWOR Channel 9, the Fox affiliate licensed in Secaucus, NJ. Those games were called by NYCFC Radio announcer Glenn Crooks.
Andrew Leigh
Also of note to New York City fans: Former head coach Nick Cushing will be at the tournament with Denver Summit FC, the NWSL expansion side that brought him back to the women's game. The Empire Polo Club will be a familiar stomping ground for Cushing, who took NYCFC to Coachella in 2023 and 2024.
You can watch Cushing talk about the tournament on Soccerwise with host David Gass below.
