SANDY, Utah (Thursday, March 2, 2017) – Real Salt Lake kicks off its 13th Major League Soccer season Saturday afternoon against defending Eastern Conference champions Toronto FC, with kickoff slated for 2:30 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy. Visit www.RSL.com or call 844.Real.Tix to access the few thousand remaining seats, starting at $25 and up, depending on location, in the heavily-anticipated matchup.
Fans are encouraged to arrive at Rio Tinto Stadium early – gates open at 1:00 p.m. MT, with Carnival Real at 12:30 – in order to soak in the atmosphere in the run-up to the 2017 campaign, the club’s 9th season at the world-class Sandy venue.
The game will be televised via KMYU with David James and Brian Dunseth on the call, and can also heard via RSL outlets 100.7 FM (English, Spencer Warne, Jay Nolly & Jeremy Horton) & 102.3 FM / 1600 AM (Spanish, Fernando Hortal, Nelson Moran & Jamison Olave). Pre-game coverage on 100.7 FM airs live locally at 1:30 p.m. MT.
Real Salt Lake – which returns nine of 11 starters (including club icons Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando, as well as leading scorers Yura Movsisyan and Joao Plata) from 2016 and a core of 17 players for Head Coach Jeff Cassar, after qualifying for the postseason for the eighth time in nine seasons last year – is excited to celebrate the debut of Slovakian playmaker Albert Rusnák, the return from Mexico of versatile attacker Luis Silva, and the arrival of several other new, young faces, as well as the inclusion of eight homegrown players on the 2017 roster.
Saturday’s date against Toronto will mark the club’s earliest non-CONCACAF Champions League opener in its 13 seasons. All-time, RSL is 5-0-7 in its previous 12 home-opening MLS matches, including a 4-0-4 mark at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, dating back to 2009. Only once before – back on March 29, 2008 at Rice-Eccles Stadium – has RSL opened its MLS season with a contest on Utah soil.
RSL boasts an all-time 7-1-0 mark at home against Toronto FC, outscoring the “Reds” 19-8 and amassing seven consecutive victories since losing 1-2 on a late Collin Samuel penalty kick on July 4, 2007, at Rice-Eccles Stadium. In the clubs’ lone 2016 meeting, RSL dropped an 0-1 decision at remodeled BMO Field, as FW Toussaint Ricketts scored his first MLS goal for the 68’ game-winner.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake v. Toronto FC
- Coverage Begins: 2:00 p.m. MT on SATURDAY
- Local TV: KMYU – David James and Brian Dunseth
- English Radio: 100.7 FM (1:30 p.m. MT) –Spencer Warne, Jay Nolly & Jeremy Horton
- Spanish Radio: 102.3 La Gran D FM / 1600 AM – Nelson Moran, Jamison Olave & Fernando Hortal
- Online: The @RSLmatchday Twitter feed provides updates
Game Guide for Saturday’s RSL v. Toronto FC Available Online
The link to the Adobe PDF version of the Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC will be available this evening by clicking HERE.
Season Tickets for Real Salt Lake's 2017 campaign at Rio Tinto Stadium remain on sale; please visit www.RSL.com/tickets/royalty or call 844.Real.Tix for more information. The Rio Tinto Stadium box office is open Mon.-Fri., 10a-6p; more information can be found online at www.RSL.com/Tickets. Current or interested RSL Royalty Season Ticket Members can purchase extra tickets at preferred pricing or gain assistance via the Fan Relations Hotline at 801-727-2702.
The 2017 Real Monarchs / USL season kicks off on March 25, with the first game at Rio Tinto Stadium under Head Coach Mike Petke and company on April 1. Season Tickets for the Real Monarchs third season in 2017 are now on sale; please call 844.Real.Tix for more information. Coming in late Summer, 2017, Real Salt Lake's regional training center opens in Herriman, Utah, approximately 20 minutes southwest of Rio Tinto Stadium.
The $60 million facility will serve as the daily training home beginning in 2018 for both of the club's professional teams – RSL (MLS) and Real Monarchs (USL) – while centralizing the club's U-18, U-16 and future U-14 development academy youth selections. The Herriman campus will provide adjacencies for an on-site charter school opening in Fall, 2018, with STEM disciplines (Science/Technology/Engineering/Math) for nearly 300 boys and girls.
In mid-November in North Logan, Utah, RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen broke ground on the first of a half-dozen regional training centers across Utah and Arizona to be built in the next 2-3 years. Each $5 million RTC houses a classroom, as well as an indoor and outdoor field, dedicated to fulfilling a curriculum consistent with the club's vision and mission for youth soccer training and education, and the continued development of both recreational and competitive pre-Academy (ages 7-12) initiatives across Utah and Arizona.
