Real Salt Lake Announces First Two Regular Season Games Of 2021 Calendar Year
Mar 10, 2021, 1:16 PM | Updated: 1:36 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Real Salt Lake will begin its season on April 24th with a road game against Minnesota United before facing arch-rivals Sporting Kansas City a week later in the club’s first home game of 2021.
Originally, RSL was anticipating its first game of the season to occur on the weekend of April 17th. However, today the club announced that the first test of 2021 will take place on the road against Minnesota United on April 24th.
RSL fans within the state of Utah will be able to watch their beloved team compete on the field for the first time in 2021 when they welcome Sporting Kansas City on May 1st.
Our season officially begins in @spidadmitchell many days
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) March 10, 2021
It remains unknown if RSL will allow fans in 2021. In 2020, RSL limited capacity to a few thousand fans per home game. That number is expected to rise due to the dwindling COVID-19 numbers in Utah, however, nothing has been made official yet. Despite the uncertainty, tickets are available for as low as $14 a game
“The club is working with the State of Utah Department of Health and Major League Soccer to finalize plans to safely brings fans into the stadium this season and will provide more information on attending matches as soon as the safety protocols and procedures are approved,” the club said in a statement.
RSL enters its 17th season in Major League Soccer having earned a 6-1-9 record all-time in home-opening matches dating back to its inaugural season in 2005 and is 5-1-6 all-time in home-openers held at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Wouldn't have it any other way tbh pic.twitter.com/Dv6LxNBh11
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) March 10, 2021
The 2021 season will hopefully bring a return to the playoffs for RSL who missed out on any post-season play in 2020 for the first time in three years. Manager Freddy Juarez returns for his second season at the helm and is optimistic the lessons learnt following his debut managerial season will help him secure more victories this year.
Despite no ownership update, RSL has been operating as though they had an owner. President John Kimball, along with the Front Office, has been communicating with the league office daily to ensure stability within the organization.