SALT LAKE CITY / SANDY, Utah (Friday, August 21, 2020) – Real Salt Lake together with KMYU and KUTV announced today an extension to a long-standing partnership that will see all of the club’s non-national regular season matches aired locally in Utah on KMYU (2.2 over air / 12 satellite / 643 Comcast HD).
All of Real Salt Lake’s non-national 2020 regular season matches will air locally in Utah on KMYU as RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen and KUTV / KMYU General Manager Kent Crawford announced a multi-year extension to its broadcast carriage and production partnership today. Play-by-play voice David James will be joined in the booth by longtime broadcast partner Brian Dunseth to call all of the action through 2022.
“We are thrilled to continue our long-term partnership with KMYU/KUTV,” RSL Chief Business Officer Andy Carroll said. “We have worked closely and collaboratively with the team at KMYU/KUTV over the past five years as true partners in promoting the game of soccer throughout Utah, and we look forward to the next three seasons. As the broadcast and technological landscapes continue to evolve, KMYU/KUTV provides us cutting edge technology in delivering a consistent world-class broadcast to RSL fans throughout the state.”
The 2020 MLS Regular Season resumes on Saturday, August 22, as Real Salt Lake takes on the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado at 7 p.m. MT. In arrangement with Sinclair Broadcast Group, parent company of KMYU/KUTV in Utah, all non-national RSL games will feature a 30-minute pre-game show as well as a 30-minute post-game wrap-up. In addition to the three-hour game window, KMYU’s Thursday Night “Talkin’ Sports” will focus on all things RSL.
“We love broadcasting Real Salt Lake games on KMYU for all Utahns, and are very are proud to be the team’s exclusive television partner with a new multi-year agreement,” said Sinclair Broadcast SVP Group Manager Kent Crawford. “RSL fans are passionate, and so are we about this great team! We will be dedicated to delivering quality broadcasts for all Utahns watch live over the air!”
Real Salt Lake is not scheduled to be featured on Major League Soccer’s English language national broadcast partners – ESPN and Fox Sports – and its nationally-broadcast matches on Spanish-language partner Univision will still feature locally on KMYU.
RSL entered the 2020 season as one of two teams in Major League Soccer to win a playoff series in each of the last two seasons. After finishing third in the Western Conference at 16-13-5 (53 points), RSL has seen improvement in the win column in each of the last three seasons. Real Salt Lake has enjoyed a pronounced home-field advantage since building its permanent Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, boasting a league-best record of 110-27-50 since its opening in October 2008. The club’s 12-4-1 home record a year ago marked the second-most home wins in MLS in 2019.
A club built on its youth system – highlighted by the Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman, Utah - Head Coach Freddy Juarez’s roster features 11 Homegrown products developed in the RSL Academy and returns 22 players from last season’s roster. That includes Major League Soccer’s active leaders in games played/started and minutes, Captain Kyle Beckerman along with the club’s MVPs of each of the last three seasons, Everton Luiz (2019), Damir Kreilach (2018) and Albert Rusnák (2017). With a core of rising stars that includes 2018 AT&T MLS Rookie of the Year Corey Baird and Olympic hopefuls Justen Glad and Aaron Herrera, RSL is poised to make its mark in the 2020 season.
ABOUT KUTV / KMYU: KUTV is the #1 station in Salt Lake City with more viewers than any other station in Utah. Additionally, Talkin’ Sports is the most watched local sports show. KMYU is the sister station to KUTV. KMYU is the My Network TV affiliate for Utah and the new home of Real Salt Lake. KMYU is also home to Friday Night Rivals High School Football and the new American Sports Network, showcasing live collegiate sports from local and regional universities. KMYU is a full-market HD station found on 2.2 over-the-air, 12 on Dish and DirecTV, 22, 643 on COMCAST and 20 on Baja Cable (St. George).
