SANDY, Utah (Wednesday, August 10, 2022) – The window for general public ticket sales is now open for next month’s Leagues Cup Showcase match. For the first time in RSL history, the Claret-and-Cobalt will host Mexican power Atlas FC as part of this year’s Leagues Cup Showcase, which serves as a preview to the highly-anticipated 2023 Leagues Cup between all 29 MLS and 18 Liga MX clubs next Summer.
Tickets for the RSL v Atlas FC match in Sandy, Utah to be played the evening of Thursday, September 22 are now available to the general public via www.RSL.com/tickets. RSL season ticket members can still take advantage of their preferred pricing for additional tickets.
“Real Salt Lake is proud of our vast history of competing against international opponents, whether that be in CONCACAF Champions League, international friendlies or the 2019 Leagues Cup,” said RSL President John Kimball, nearing his 2nd full year at the Club’s business helm. “Welcoming Atlas FC in September to Utah for the 42nd RSL game against 30 different international opponents from 16 various countries will no doubt serve as a fantastic reward for our incredible supporters, who have long proven to value international pathways to prestigious regional hardware. We cannot wait to host this year’s Leagues Cup Showcase, and we look forward to providing Atlas a sense of the best Utah has to offer.”
Welcomed to Utah by RSL, MLS and the Utah Sports Commission, Atlas FC is the current LIGA MX Campeón de Campeones – the overall Mexican league champion – given the club’s back-to-back Apertura 2021 and Clausura 2022 season wins.
"We are very happy to be able to participate in Leagues Cup Showcase. The United States has always been a very important market to us, and we are pleased to join this great effort led by MLS and LIGA MX,” said Atlas FC Executive President José Riestra. “It is a privilege to be able to play in Salt Lake City against a team that has marked an era in MLS and hopefully we can continue to join forces to be able to satisfy our fans in the United States. It is a pleasure and an honor for Atlas to be able to participate in this match, which I am sure will be a success."
An MLS club with a deep-rooted history, Real Salt Lake joined the League in 2005, debuted its scenic Rio Tinto Stadium in 2008, hoisted the Philip F. Anschutz trophy as an MLS Cup champion (2009), and has participated in multiple Cup finals, including the U.S. Open Cup (2013), and additional MLS Cup (2013) and the Concacaf Champions League (2010/11).
Atlas FC will become the ninth Mexican opponent to visit Utah and appear opposite Real Salt Lake, which has competed against Monarcas Morelia, Santos Laguna, Cruz Azul, Club America, CD Guadalajara, Monterrey, Xolos de Tijuana and UANL Tigres a combined 16 times across international friendly or CONCACAF Champions League play, as well as the Leagues Cup 2019. All-time, RSL is just 3-6-4 (W-L-T) against Mexican visitors, while the Utah side owns an 18-12-11 overall international record. Both records include RSL’s home 1-0 loss to Tigres in 2019.
This year’s Leagues Cup Showcase will serve as a preview to the highly anticipated 2023 Leagues Cup, the annual month-long official tournament between MLS and LIGA MX. All 47 MLS and LIGA MX clubs will participate next summer, with the tournament champion earning automatic qualification for the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) Round of 16. In addition, clubs finishing second and third in Leagues Cup starting in 2023 will qualify for the Opening Round of the CCL.
MLS and LIGA MX – which entered a partnership in 2018 rooted in the on-field rivalry as well as the true spirit of collaboration off the field – will pause their respective seasons for one month during the Summer of 2023 to play Leagues Cup, showcasing the soccer infrastructure and capabilities in the region in the years leading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico – the first World Cup to feature 48 countries.
The Leagues Cup Showcase, sponsored by BODYARMOR, will be broadcast on Univision and ESPN platforms in the United States, and TUDN platforms in Mexico. In addition to the RSL v. Atlas contest in September, FC Cincinnati (MLS) will receive Club Deportivo Guadalajara (Liga MX), while Nashville SC (MLS) will host Club América (Liga MX). These three matches join the previously competed August 3 doubleheader in Los Angeles featuring LA Galaxy (MLS) vs. Chivas and LAFC (MLS) vs. Club América.
Leagues Cup Showcase 2022
Date Game Time (ET) Stadium
Wed., Sept. 21 FC Cincinnati vs. Club Deportivo Guadalajara TBD TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Wed., Sept. 21 Nashville SC vs. Club América TBD GEODIS Park, Nashville, TN
Thu., Sept. 22 Real Salt Lake vs. Atlas FC TBD Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, UT
LEAGUES CUP Media Assets
Click here for Leagues Cup Showcase assets, including soundbytes, Club logos, stadium photography, and more.
About Major League Soccer
Headquartered in New York City, Major League Soccer features 28 clubs throughout the United States and Canada, in addition to an expansion team in St. Louis beginning play in 2023. For more information about MLS, visit www.MLSsoccer.com.
About LIGA MX
LIGA MX is Mexican soccer’s first division, comprised of 18 clubs throughout the country and headquartered in a sporting complex in Toluca, Mexico. Visit www.LigaMX.net for more information.
ABOUT REAL SALT LAKE
During the first week of January 2022, the RSL compendium of properties was acquired by global sports entrepreneur David Blitzer – who boasts interests in the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), the New Jersey Devils (NHL), the Cleveland Guardians (baseball) and six European soccer entities, including Crystal Palace (England), FC Augsburg (Germany), Estoril (Portugal), ADO Den Haag (Netherlands), Alcorcón (Spain) and SK Beveren (Belgium). The Blitzer group partners with Utah-based Smith Entertainment Group (SEG), which owns the Utah Jazz (NBA), led by Ryan Smith and including Dwayne Wade, among others.
Real Salt Lake kicked off its 18th Major League Soccer season this February, its first full season under Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni, who led the Utah side for the final 100 days last year, advancing RSL to the 2021 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the 11th time in the last 14 years.
The Club's MLS Cup 2009 victory marked the state of Utah's only major professional championship in nearly 40 years, the title preceding an historic run to the 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League Final. Buoyed by a passionate base boasting several thousand season ticket holders, RSL has enjoyed a prominent RioT-field advantage – posting a dominant 154-47-49 (Win-Loss-Draw) record across all competitions on Utah soil (2.06 points per game for a 0.719 win pct.) – since building its permanent Rio Tinto Stadium home in Sandy 13 years ago.
In 2015, the club expanded its development pyramid with the addition of Real Monarchs SLC, one of several MLS-operated clubs playing in the USL Championship, the United States' Division II setup. The Monarchs boast a pair of titles in its brief history, as the 2017 USL regular-season champions, later winning the USL Final in 2019. For the 2022 season and beyond, Real Monarchs will compete in the newly launched “MLS NEXT Pro” as part of a joint United States and Canada endeavor to complete the professional player pathway by connecting youth academies in MLS NEXT to first teams in Major League Soccer.
The entire RSL pyramid, which includes the RSL Academy’s U-15 and U-17 teams, calls the expansive Zions Bank Training Center in Herriman, Utah their daily training home. With five world-class grass fields, two indoor turf fields, a residential dormitory, the STEM-based RSL Academy High School and the 5,000-seat Zions Bank Stadium located on a 42-acre campus, Utah’s sporting future is bright.
The RSL Community Foundation was established in 2016, created with the goals of being active in the community year-round, utilizing the popularity and reach of RSL and the Monarchs in promoting health and wellness in children throughout the region, engaging supporters of soccer to raise funds and volunteer time for various local initiatives.
2022 RSL Half-Season Ticket Packages & Mini-Plans are now on sale at www.RSL.com or by calling 844.Real.Tix.
