Minnesota United will play first game at Allianz Field on April 13

Minnesota United will open its $250 million, soccer-specific Allianz Field on Saturday, April 13 with a 4 p.m. game against New York City FC.

"You've had so many special days these last couple years for Minnesota pro soccer," club Sporting Director Manny Lagos said. "There's no doubt this one will be right up there with one of the most historic days ever in the state."

Lagos predicted that the team's new St. Paul venue will be "the best stadium in the country next year."

The Loons will begin their MLS regular season on March 2 at Vancouver at 5 p.m.

The home opener, to be shown on ESPN, will occur after the NCAA men's basketball Final Four leaves town. The Loons likely will open their season with five consecutive games on the road, where it was 1-14-2 last season, through March and early April.

"There's always a lot of challenges at the start of the season," Lagos said. "There's no doubt every year has different moments of adversity when you're trying to build a competitive club. This is just one of them. … We'll be on the road longer than usual, although this club with our history is used to playing early games on the road just because of our climate."

Ticket information for Allianz Field's first game will be released later, but the team said in a statement announcing that single-game tickets will be "extremely limited." It said fans can guarantee by purchasing supporters season tickets or they can join the official season ticket waiting list, the Preserve, for access to a special presale in January.

The MLS announced home openers for all teams Thursday. Complete team schedules are to be released in early January.

The Loons played their first two seasons of MLS games at TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota.