SALT LAKE CITY / SANDY, Utah (Wednesday, January 17, 2018) – All 33 of Real Salt Lake’s non-National 2018 regular season matches will air locally in Utah on KMYU (2.2 over air / 12 satellite / 643 Comcast HD), as coordinated by Sinclair Broadcast Group (Nasdaq: SBGI), RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen and KUTV / KMYU General Manager Kent Crawford announced today. The extension of the entities’ multi-year broadcast carriage partnership, ensures that each three-hour Real Salt Lake game window is available in 100% of the Utah homes on free, over-the-air television for the 14th consecutive season. RSL games will continue to air across the Intermountain West in other regional markets for the fourth straight year.
“I’m very excited for our club to continue to align itself with Salt Lake’s KMYU/KUTV, as we have worked cooperatively on a successful promotional partnership for the last several years, one which meshes perfectly with our diverse demographics,” said RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen, noting that the club’s option for KMYU extends through the 2020 MLS season. “As the broadcast and technological landscapes change, the continuity and reliability of our KMYU delivery for fans to consume the RSL brand of live-action, reality television – along with the star-building and storytelling surrounding our teams and our facilities, and the overall legacy for the sport in Utah – is critical.”
Real Salt Lake’s 2018 MLS Regular Season kicks off on Saturday, March 3, 2018, the Claret-and-Cobalt visiting Toyota Field in Frisco, Texas, to face Western Conference rival FC Dallas, with KMYU coverage kicking off at 5:30p MT.
In the continued arrangement with Sinclair Broadcast Group, parent company of KMYU/KUTV in Utah, all 33 regional RSL games will feature a 30-minute pre-game show as well as a 30-minute post-game wrap-up. In addition to each live three-hour game window, KMYU’s Thursday Night “Talkin’ Real” – is now extended each week at 10:35 p.m. MT to a full half-hour for the 2018/19 seasons, focusing on all things RSL; this season’s first show will be Thursday, Feb. 22. Hosted once again by KUTV sports personality David James and RSL analyst Brian Dunseth, the combined KUTV/KMYU coverage will dedicate nearly 125 hours of annual RSL content to the entire Utah DMA and surrounding region. For 2018, sideline reporter Rebecca Cade arrives as a new addition to the RSL broadcasts, which will once again be produced by Ken Neal, as they have since 2006.
“We are very excited to extend our partnership with Real Salt Lake and Major League Soccer to continue to bring these games to all the passionate fans and viewers,” said Kent Crawford, General Manager of KMYU MY UTAH TV/ KUTV 2 NEWS. “RSL has always been a great community asset to the state of Utah, one that is obviously growing at a fever pitch. The Real brand grows in strength with every game played, each team born and each facility built, and we take the responsibility of serving fans, viewers and the ever-growing youth soccer movement very seriously. We are proud to remain together with such a terrific organization to help promote, broadcast and showcase this wonderful franchise, driven by Dell Loy’s passion and inspiration.”
All 33 of Real Salt Lake’s non-National TV games are expected to appear live on Sinclair-owned affiliates in neighboring states, including Nevada, Idaho and Arizona, the historic home of the club’s revered youth academy (prior to a recent move to Herriman in the Salt Lake Valley, just 15 minutes from Rio Tinto Stadium) and the center of RSL’s continued youth development initiatives for boys and girls in conjunction with the Grand Canyon State’s elite Sereno Soccer Club.
Returning once again for 2018 is the cornerstone of all TV and radio broadcast, digital and social Real Salt Lake coverage, Brian Dunseth. Known affectionately to fans worldwide as “Dunny,” the 2000 U.S. Olympic captain, former MLS player and author of RSL’s first-ever home goal appears daily on SiriusXM FC’s “CounterAttack” as well as on ESPN and Fox Sports coverage of international and domestic soccer broadcasts, in addition to his local Salt Lake media appearances.
KUTV sports anchor David James partners with Dunseth on the RSL games, providing the play-by-play again in 2018 as he has for five of the previous eight years, all on KMYU. A veteran of nearly 30 covering Utah sports, James has been named Utah’s “Sportscaster of the Year” by local fans several times, including the 2017 honor bestowed most recently by City Weekly.
Augmenting the RSL broadcasts this year on KMYU is the first-ever implementation of a sideline reporter, as Rebecca Cade joins Dunseth and James with pertinent and live information and updates surrounding established and emerging storylines throughout the three-hour show. Cade joins the RSL broadcasts following 24 months hosting prominent local television and radio news and entertainment shows, as the University of Alabama graduate now enters her third year in the Beehive State.
Coordinating the symphony of pictures, sound and analysis emanating from each KMYU broadcast is Ken Neal, the foremost authority on producing the sport of soccer for television. Regularly consulted by multiple teams, leagues, federations and networks for his long track record of efficiently coordinating technological, archival and event needs, Neal has called Real Salt Lake television one of his many homes over the last 12 seasons of his 30-year television broadcast career. Prior to the season’s kickoff, Neal and RSL will unveil various new audio/video enhancements to assist as Dunseth, James and Cade visually tell each week’s story.
Discussions are underway with KMYU for Real Salt Lake’s two related professional clubs – Utah Royals FC, which kicks off its inaugural NWSL season this Spring at Rio Tinto Stadium, and Real Monarchs SLC, the 2017 USL regular-season shield champions, whose highly-anticipated move into the Herriman-based Zions Bank Stadium on March 31 kicks off its home campaign – to feature regularly in 2018 on KMYU, pending full release of the NWSL and USL schedules.
ABOUT KUTV / KMYU / KJZZ: 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 home of Real Salt Lake. KMYU is also home to Friday Night Rivals High School Football, its signal is a full-market HD station found on 2.2 over-the-air, 12 on Dish and DirecTV, 22, 643 on COMCAST HD and 20 on Baja Cable (St. George, UT).
Real Salt Lake’s 2018 Major League Soccer regular-season schedule follows, with broadcast window times and carriage listed:
RSL enters the 2018 season, the club’s 14th campaign, after finishing last year as one of the hottest teams in MLS, with an 8-3-4 W-L-D record over the final 15 matches, kickstarted by emphatic July road wins at LA Galaxy (6-2) and Portland Timbers (4-1). With a mixture of youthful phenoms and savvy veterans, RSL was among the more exciting teams over the final half of the season and sets up for a dynamic squad under Head Coach Mike Petke’s guidance in 2018.
Petke enters his first full preseason returning numerous dynamic players from last season’s roster, including the young trio of DF Justen Glad, FW Brooks Lennon and DF Danny Acosta, who earlier this week received their first-ever calls to the senior U.S. Men’s National Team. Another trio of returning young RSL players also feature for their international sides, as playmaker Albert Rusnák (Slovakia), forward Joao Plata (Ecuador) and Jefferson Savarino (Venezuela) look to continue their chemistry- and talent-driven attacking exploits.
Glad, Lennon and Acosta were joined at last year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup by 2018 teammates Sebastian “Bofo” Saucedo and DF Aaron Herrera, the roster dotted by a glut of Academy-developed homegrown players that includes veteran MF Jordan Allen, recent Pac-12 Co-Player of the Year Jose Hernandez (UCLA) and three-time NCAA champion FW Corey Baird (Stanford).
Veterans returning for 2018 include DF Marcelo Silva, who joined the club in August; 11-year icon Tony Beltran, fifth-year MF Luke Mulholland, third-year MF Sunday Stephen, and experienced Major League Soccer players in DF Demar Phillips, MF Luis Silva and DF David Horst. Joining that group are a trio of players who matriculated to the first team from the 2017 USL regular-season champion Real Monarchs: MF Nick Besler, GK Connor Sparrow and a Salt Lake City native, DF Taylor Peay.
Two weeks ago, RSL announced the acquisition of Spanish FW Alfredo Ortuño, with other re-signings and new acquisitions expected to be completed prior to the 2018 MLS SuperDraft this Friday, Jan. 19 and the commencement of the club’s preseason next week in Herriman, Utah.
RSL’s March 10 home opener against expansion side LAFC kicks off an early-season run with three of its first five games at its Rio Tinto Stadium home, where the Utah-based side has enjoyed a prominent home-field advantage since permanently moving in Sandy, boasting a dominant 105-26-44 mark in the world-class venue since opening in October, 2008.
2018 TICKETS: All 2018 packages, which start at just $280 for lower bowl seating, allow extraordinary access to RSL at Rio Tinto Stadium. All 17-game packages include every RSL regular-season game and additional events, which historically have included CONCACAF Champions League participation and/or Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup contests.
The 2018 RSL season – which starts on March 3 at Dallas and ends in late October – boasts a Saturday-heavy home slate, with ZERO Sunday home games – and includes an RSL bye in the 23-team league on the Sun., Oct. 28 MLS “Decision Day” finales – and just two non-holiday midweek home contests (Wed., May 30 v. Houston, and Thurs., Oct. 18 v. New England).
As previously announced, Real Salt Lake opens Rio Tinto Stadium against Western Conference expansion side Los Angeles FC (“LAFC”) at 1:30 p.m. MT on Saturday, March 10. Visitwww.RSL.com or call 844.Real.Tix now to access 2018 Season Tickets and Flex Vouchers. Individual seats for the March 10 opener, starting at $25 and up depending on location, in the heavily-anticipated kickoff go on sale this Monday, Jan. 8, along with 2018 RSL “mini-packs.” The remainder of the 2018 RSL slate will be available on an individual basis starting in February.
For more information about the venue’s numerous premium seating options – Toyota 100 Lions Club, suites, Audi Executive Club options, field-level or ledge boxes, the Zions Bank Club Seats and more – please call 801.727.2700 and ask for Kathy, Adri or Renee. 2018 season tickets, customized mini-packs or individual tickets for the March 10 home opener against expansion side LAFC can also be ordered the RSL website: www.RSL.com/tickets.
The Rio Tinto Stadium box office is open Mon.-Fri., 10a-6p; more information can be found online at www.RSL.com/Tickets or via the Fan Relations Hotline at 801-727-2702.
PRESEASON 2018: Petke and Real Salt Lake kick off the club’s state-of-the-art, world-class training existence one week from today on Monday, January 22 in Herriman, Utah, at the Zions Bank Real Academy, in advance of preseason trips to warmer climes on Jan. 31 (Tucson) and Feb. 11 (Orlando). Detailed preseason rosters, schedules and details will be released in the near future. For up-to-the-second information on all things Real Salt Lake, please visit the team’s official web site atwww.RSL.com or join the conversation and interact with fans on any of the team’s social platforms.
