Real Salt Lake: Sizing up Rio Tinto Stadium vs. rest of the league
Three months ago, when MLS president Mark Abbott was in town to announce the MLS All-Star Game, he declared the yet-to-be-named stadium the best in MLS.
Rio Tinto Stadium, with a construction cost of $115 million, is the seventh soccer-specific stadium in MLS. Other teams who have their own home are: Colorado, FC Dallas, Columbus, Chicago and Toronto, with the L.A. Galaxy and Chivas USA sharing the Home Depot Center.
New York is scheduled to move into its new stadium in 2010, while expansion club Philadelphia will begin in 2010 in a new stadium as well.
RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman has been with the team throughout the construction process, and he's thrilled to open the stadium on Oct. 9 in a nationally televised game against the New York Red Bulls.
"It's the best in the league, and they seemed to maybe learn from the other stadiums," said Beckerman. "It's perfect. It's everything you could want in a soccer stadium. It's all the way around and there's no bleacher seats."
Crew Stadium
Columbus, Ohio
Home of the Columbus Crew
Opened May 15, 1999
Cost — $28.5 million
Capacity — 20,145
Media Guide Note — The first stadium built in MLS, it took just nine months and one day to complete. Built on land leased from the Ohio Expositions Commission.
RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman's take — "It's the first soccer stadium, you give them that. They kind of built it like a high school football stadium, a nice one. That's what I take from it. It's an American football stadium more than a soccer stadium."
Home Depot Center
Carson, Calif.
Home of the L.A. Galaxy and Chivas USA
Opened June 1, 2003
Cost — $150 million
Capacity — 27,000
Media Guide Note — Part of a larger complex that includes an 8,000-seat tennis stadium, a 10,000-seat track & field stadium, a 2,450-seat indoor velodrome, 18 tennis courts and 10 soccer fields. Designated as an "Official U.S. Olympic Training Site," the HDC is the nation's most complete training facility for Olympic, amateur and professional athletes.
RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman's take — "For a while that was the best one in the country. It's nice. The grass isn't very good right now. The grass is definitely on the lower side of the league. The way you come out in the stadium isn't the best. Everything in the stands was done really well."
Recent comments
sweet stadium, congratulations RSL! next time i am in utah during…
dfunkt | Oct. 15, 2008 at 12:01 a.m.
Somebody above called soccer "feminine." Let's do a run-down:…
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