In conjunction with Major League Soccer, Real Salt Lake announced its 2015 regular season schedule on Friday, setting the club’s 34-game slate for its 11th MLS season. The 17-game home calendar features fireworks games on Independence Day (July 4) and Pioneer Day (July 24), the first of three matches against the defending MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy on May 6 and a Labor Day Weekend return of former Head Coach Jason Kreis with New York City FC.
Real Salt Lake will open the season on the road on March 7 against the Portland Timbers with the home opener on March 14 against the Philadelphia Union. The remaining calendar features eight nationally televised matches, three Sunday home games and two Friday night contests.
The 2015 schedule has RSL playing six teams in the Western Conference three times and the other three in the West twice. As in previous seasons, RSL will face each team in the Eastern Conference once, with five matches at home and five on the road.
RSL will play four out of five matches on the road in both May and September, but will also play four out of five at home from June 27-July 24.
The Rocky Mountain Cup against the Colorado Rapids will feature one match on June 7 at Rio Tinto Stadium and two on the road at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on July 12 and October 3.
RSL will play three matches each against the LA Galaxy, Colorado Rapids, San Jose Earthquakes, Portland Timbers, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Sporting Kansas City, with two home matches each against LA, Portland and Kansas City. Among Western Conference opponents, Salt Lake will play two matches – one home and one away – against Seattle Sounders FC, FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo.
Rio Tinto Stadium will play host to both expansion clubs – NYCFC and Orlando City SC – the Columbus Crew, Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC. Meanwhile, RSL will play road matches against the Chicago Fire, Montreal Impact, New York Red Bulls, D.C. United and MLS Cup finalists the New England Revolution.
RSL enters the 2015 season – the club’s 11th campaign – owners of the longest active playoff streak in MLS, currently at seven seasons, riding a league-record five consecutive years with 15 or more wins and 50+ points. Real Salt Lake has enjoyed a pronounced home-field advantage since building its permanent Rio Tinto Stadium home in Sandy, boasting an 82-16-23 mark in the building since its opening in October, 2008.
Head Coach Jeff Cassar returns 17 players from last season’s roster, including Major League Soccer’s active leaders in games played/started and minutes, Captain Kyle Beckerman and GK Nick Rimando, the league’s all-time leader in shutouts (115); perennial starters Tony Beltran, Chris Schuler and Javier Morales; young starlet Luis Gil; and forwards Alvaro Saborio, the club’s all-time leading scorer, and Joao Plata, the club’s 2014 Golden Boot winner, the 22-year old now a regular for the Ecuadoran National Team.
The club’s 12-1-7 overall home mark a year ago was no doubt buoyed by the continued growth of season-ticket holders – expected to surpass 15,000 in 2015 – as RSL finished 2014 with a streak of 16 consecutive sellouts at Rio Tinto Stadium (capacity: 20,238), 18 of 20 games sold out last season and 22 capacity crowds in its last 27 games dating back to Aug., 2013.
Real Salt Lake is now taking reservations for group outings in 2015. Group tickets are available on a first come first served basis. Due to tremendous support and the number of Pride Season Ticket holders, seats are extremely limited. Filling out a priority web form will guarantee you are at the top of the contact list for group seats in the 2015 season. Please fill out the form on the following link if you are interested in bringing out a group of 20 or more to a match this season. A group sales representative will be in touch shortly.
https://www.realsaltlake.com/tickets/groups/webform
Click here for the full 2015 MLS schedule. As dates are finalized for the 2015 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and the 2015/16 CONCACAF Champions League tournaments, changes to the 2015 RSL calendar will be reflected on the “SCHEDULE” page of www.RealSaltLake.com.
REAL SALT LAKE 2015 SCHEDULE
DAY DATE MATCHUP TIME (MT) TV NOTE:
Sat. March 7 @ Portland Timbers 8:30 RSL opens at raucous Providence Park
SAT. MARCH 14 PHILADELPHIA UNION 7:30 Home Opener
SUN. MARCH 29 TORONTO FC 5:00 FOX First Sunday regular season home game in club history
Sun. April 5 @ San Jose Earthquakes 3:00 ESPN RSL’s first visit to new Avaya Stadium
Sat. April 11 @ Sporting Kansas City 6:30 A rematch of the 2013 MLS Cup
SAT. APRIL 18 VANCOUVER 7:30 RSL is 3-0-3 all-time against the ‘Caps at Rio Tinto Stadium
Sat. April 25 @ New England Revolution 5:30 RSL meets the East champs
FRI. MAY 1 SAN JOSE 8:00 UNIMAS RSL has shutouts in 4 out of 7 games vs. SJ at Rio Tinto Stadium
WED. MAY 6 LA GALAXY 7:30 RSL in revenge mode against MLS Cup champs
Sat. May 9 @ Chicago Fire 1:00 RSL hasn’t lost at Toyota Park since 2009
Sat. MAY 16 @ Montreal Impact TBD All 6 of Montreal’s wins in ’14 came at home
SAT. MAY 23 NEW YORK CITY FC 8:00 Homecoming for Kreis, Wingert, Grabavoy and more
Wed. May 27 @ LA Galaxy 8:30 RSL has won 3 of the last 5 regular season games vs. LA at the StubHub Center
Sat. MAY 30 @ Vancouver Whitecaps FC TBD Finishing a stretch of 4-out-of-5 matches on the road
SUN. JUNE 7 COLORADO RAPIDS 3:00 ESPNews First match of the Rocky Mountain Cup
SUN. JUNE 21 SPORTING KANSAS CITY 8:00 FOX The last four matches vs. SKC have all been decided by 1 goal or less
Wed. June 24 @ New York Red Bulls 5:30 The last two RSL-RBNY matches at Red Bull Arena have totaled 11 goals
SAT. JUNE 27 COLUMBUS CREW 8:00 3 games in 7 days ends at home against the Crew
SAT. JULY 4 ORLANDO CITY SC 8:00 Fireworks Extravaganza to end annual July 4th contest
Sun. July 12 @ Colorado Rapids 5:00 FOX Only road match in 5-game stretch
SAT. JULY 18 HOUSTON DYNAMO 8:00 Houston’s first RTS visit back in the Western Conference
FRI. JULY 24 SPORTING KANSAS CITY 9:00 UNIMAS Pioneer Day celebration with fireworks display
Sat. August 1 @ DC United 5:00 RSL looking for first ever win at RFK
Sat. August 8 @ Vancouver Whitecaps FC TBD Last of 3 trips to Canada for RSL
SAT. AUGUST 15 PORTLAND TIMBERS 8:00 Borchers returns to Rio Tinto Stadium
SAT. AUGUST 22 SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC 8:00 Defending Supporters’ Shield winners make first trip to SLC
Sat. August 29 @ FC Dallas 7:00 First leg of the Texas two-step
Sat. September 12 @ Houston Dynamo 6:30 Back to the scene of Javi’s hat-trick last year
SAT. SEPTEMBER 19 LA GALAXY 7:30 Gerrard’s first trip to Rio Tinto Stadium
Sun. September 27 @ San Jose Earthquakes 5:00 FOX RSL was 4-4-3 at Buck Shaw, will Avaya provide a home field advantage for the quakes?
Sat. October 3 @ Colorado Rapids 7:00 Can RSL hoist the RMC for 7th time in 8 years?
WED. OCTOBER 14 PORTLAND TIMBERS 7:30 First of 2 home games in 4 days
SAT. OCTOBER 17 FC DALLAS 7:30 Regular season home finale
Sun. October 25 @ Seattle Sounders FC 5:00 Decision Day in MLS on the final day of the regular season
