Start with the host city, not a fixed offset
North America uses several time zones, and their UTC offsets can change during the year. Treat labels such as ET, CT, MT and PT as regional time-zone families—not permanent UTC numbers. First identify the host city and match date, then use a time-zone-aware converter. Avoid saving a one-off “ET is UTC−5” rule because Eastern Time commonly switches between standard and daylight time.
A dependable three-step conversion
- Copy the date, local kickoff time and host city from the competition or club’s official fixture page.
- Resolve the city to an IANA time-zone identifier, such as
America/New_YorkorAmerica/Los_Angeles. - Convert that dated time to your own city and add it to a calendar with the zone attached.
A dated conversion is safer than manually adding hours. Calendar software can then recalculate correctly if a fixture moves.
Why city names beat abbreviations
Abbreviations can be ambiguous internationally. “CST,” for example, is used for more than one region. A city plus a date removes that ambiguity. Arizona is another reason to avoid blanket assumptions: most of the state does not observe daylight saving time, while rules elsewhere can differ.
Before matchday: verify once more
Broadcast listings are useful discovery tools, but the competition organiser or participating club should be the final authority for a changed kickoff. Recheck the official fixture page 24 hours before the match, especially after a venue change, weather disruption or broadcast selection.
Primary references
Rules and platform policies can change. These links were checked on 2026-08-01.