Rio Tinto Stadium
| Rio Tinto Stadium | |
|---|---|
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| Location | 9256 South State Street Sandy, Utah 84070-2604 |
| Coordinates | 40°34′59″N 111°53′35″W / 40.582923°N 111.893156°WCoordinates: 40°34′59″N 111°53′35″W / 40.582923°N 111.893156°W |
| Broke ground | August 12, 2006 |
| Opened | October 9, 2008 |
| Owner | SCP Worldwide |
| Operator | SCP Worldwide |
| Surface | Kentucky Blue Grass |
| Construction cost | $115 million ($124 million in 2012 dollars[1]) |
| Architect | Rossetti Architects |
| Structural engineer | Martin & Associates[2] |
| General Contractor | Layton-Turner Joint Venture[3] |
| Capacity | 20,507[4] |
| Field dimensions | 120 × 75 yards[5] |
| Tenants | |
| Real Salt Lake (MLS) (2008–present) |
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Rio Tinto Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium, in Sandy, Utah, that is the home to Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. The stadium opened on October 9, 2008, in a game between Real Salt Lake and Red Bull New York. The stadium seats 20,008 for soccer, but can be expanded to over 25,000 for concerts. [6][7]
The stadium hosted the 2009 MLS All-Star Game between the MLS All-Stars and Premier League club Everton F.C. on 29 July 2009. It also hosted one leg of the 2011 CONCACAF Champions League Finals between Real Salt Lake and Primera Division club Monterrey. [8]
Contents |
[edit] Financing
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2011) |
In 2005 a soccer-specific stadium for Real Salt Lake was approved for Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City. However, funding for the stadium was hard to come by. A vote in early 2006 struck down a funding proposal for the stadium. The proposal was declared "dead" by owner Dave Checketts at that point, putting the team's future in doubt. Parties from cities such as Rochester, New York, and St Louis, Missouri expressed interest in purchasing the franchise and moving it, but on the day Checketts had set as a deadline to have a stadium plan in place, a tacit agreement was put in place, and Real Salt Lake announced that they would move forward with the construction of Real Salt Lake Stadium, which would ultimately be named Rio Tinto Stadium. The groundbreaking, coinciding with the Xango Cup, Real's match against international power Real Madrid, took place that afternoon featuring elected leaders, team officials, as well as the entire rosters of both Real Salt Lake and Real Madrid.
The stadium plan was effectively killed on January 29, 2007. In response Real Salt Lake's owner announced the team would be sold and likely move out of the Salt Lake area after the 2007 season. In response to the stadium rejection, construction comapany Anderson Geneva offered the club 30 acres of land on which to build their stadium and multi use center, and offered the land for free. The land was estimated to be worth US$10 million.
A new stadium proposal was made on February 2, that would divert 15 percent, roughly $2 million a year, of the county's hotel taxes to the stadium project beginning in July until 2017. The bill was passed by the Utah State Senate.
On September 28, 2008, it was announced that the naming rights to the stadium were sold to the mining company Rio Tinto in a fifteen-year deal worth between $1.5 million and $2 million per year.[9]
[edit] Attendance Records (Soccer)
| Rank | Date | Game | Result | Attendance | Notes |
| 1 | September 28, 2011 | vs Chicago Fire | L 0-3 | 20,762 | |
| 2 | April 27, 2011 | vs Monterrey | L 0-1 | 20,738 | 2011 CONCACAF Champions League Finals |
| 3 | March 26, 2011 | vs Los Angeles Galaxy | W 4-1 | 20,507 | |
| 4 | October 19, 2010 | vs Cruz Azul | W 3-1 | 20,463 | 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League |
| 5 | October 16, 2010 | vs FC Dallas | W 2-0 | 20,236 | |
| 6 | July 29, 2009 | MLS All-Star 2009 | L 1-1 (3-4 PKs) | 20,124 | MLS All-Stars vs Everton |
| 7 | October 9, 2008 | vs Red Bull New York | T 1-1 | 20,008 | |
| 8 | November 15, 2008 | vs Red Bull New York | L 0-1 | 20,008 | 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs |
| 9 | April 10, 2010 | vs Seattle Sounders FC | T 2-2 | 19,970 | |
| 10 | September 17, 2011 | vs Sporting Kansas City | W 1-0 | 19,888 |
[edit] Concerts
The first concert held in the stadium was by The Eagles, during their Long Road out of Eden Tour, on May 9, 2009.[10]
Paul McCartney performed at the stadium during his Up and Coming Tour on July 13, 2010, marking his first ever concert in Utah.
KISS performed at the stadium on September 22, 2010 during their Hottest Show on Earth Tour, marking their first performance in Utah since the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Neil Diamond will perform at the stadium on July 28, 2012.
[edit] Access
The stadium is located near the interchange between US Highway 89 (State Street) and Utah State Route 209 (9000 South), and is easily accessible from Interstate 15; however, parking near the stadium is limited. The stadium is also accessible by TRAX via the Sandy Expo station.
[edit] References
- ^ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
- ^ http://intermountain.construction.com/features/archive/0811_cover.asp
- ^ http://intermountain.construction.com/features/archive/0811_cover.asp
- ^ http://www.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2011-03-26-real-salt-lake-vs-los-angeles-galaxy/recap
- ^ http://www.riotintostadium.com/stadium_facts.php
- ^ "RSL confirms Oct. 9 stadium opening". The Salt Lake Tribune. 2008-08-05. http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_10105238. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- ^ [1][2]
- ^ "RSL to host 2009 MLS All-Star game". MLSNet.com. 2008-07-09. Archived from the original on 2008-07-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20080713133322/http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080709&content_id=171529&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
- ^ "Rio Tinto gets naming rights to new Real soccer stadium". The Salt Lake Tribune. 2008-09-28. http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_10584048. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- ^ Template:Name="Rio Tinto Stadium - The Eagles in Concert"Rio Tinto Stadium
[edit] External links
- Stadium website
- MLS article on groundbreaking, August 12, 2006
| Preceded by Rice–Eccles Stadium |
Home of Real Salt Lake 2008 — present |
Succeeded by current |
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