Real Salt Lake to Host 2009 MLS All Star Game
Well continuing the good things being done by the new RSL front office, the latest will be publicly announced tomorrow, but as with all things the details have been leaked:
RSL: MLS All-Star Game coming to Sandy in 2009 sltrib.com
“With construction of its new stadium nearly complete, Real Salt Lake and Major League Soccer will announce Wednesday that the team will play host to the annual MLS All-Star Game next season.
Sources close to the decision confirmed it, though team and league officials declined to comment; they’re holding a press conference Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at the stadium in Sandy to make their announcement. Gov. Jon Huntsman is expected to attend, along with MLS President Mark Abbott and team owner Dave Checketts, among others.”
ON MY SOAPBOX
I know that RSL has been talking with MLS officials about the 2009 All Star match for some time, and if the rumors are correct the announcement will be made tomorrow. I say congrats to RSL’s staff, this is a big match that will allow us to showcase our new stadium not only to MLS, but to the world (if the current format of MLS vs. an international team). Now I did ask Bill Manning and the RSL leadership a couple weeks ago “If we get the All Star game, would we try to leverage our relationship with Real Madrid to get them as the opponent?”. Well of course they couldn’t answer, it is far too early to announce who will be the other team, things like how clubs finish in their own leagues, UEFA Champions League qualifying, and other matters always have to be dealt with.
Wouldn’t that make for a very attractive match up, Real Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo coming to town to face off the MLS All Stars lead by former Real Madrid poster child David Beckham? It could be a marketing persons wet dream, having two of the biggest names in soccer in town for a match up, wanna bet that you would be able to sell a couple jerseys at that match. How much would you pay for the autograph session featuring both the MLS stars and Real Madrid roster? Did you order extra season tickets yet? Well I may just have two seats available for you in section 4, row 4, seats 1 & 2.
Will this announcement give RSL the boost it needs to get the public sale of 2009 season tickets to top the 10,000 seats sold? Could this announcement, a decent season (even better if we make the playoffs), and a couple live matches at the new stadium in October put RSL over the 12,500 total? That would have to be considered a huge success by any measure. It would place RSL behind Seattle FC and Toronto FC in the total number of season tickets sold, impressive for a team that the cynics said wouldn’t survive. I have a feeling this will be the first of some exciting new announcements coming soon, look for a stadium sponsor to be announced soon, and while no DP is expected this year, I am looking forward to a couple new additions in the next couple weeks as the transfer window opens in just 6 days.
I do wish the local media would have been a little more respectful of the announcement, but what do we expect? After the Trib, Fox News announced it in their sports, so while the details will be out there tomorrow, the surprise will be gone, but it can’t stop the good news. Way to go RSL!!!
OFF MY SOAPBOX
This entry was posted on July 9, 2008 at 12:28 am and is filed under The soapbox. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.