Real Salt Lake kept an attention to detail

A few months ago, Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts took a tour of the then generically named Sandy Stadium to monitor its construction progress. Immediately, something didn't seem right.

In walking around he just didn't believe the East Side patio entrance was going to be striking enough with the soon-to-be-poured thousands and thousands of square feet of concrete. He ordered a last-minute change of plans calling for decorative sidewalk pavers to be laid instead.

He wanted to make sure the fans' entrance into the stadium was special one, not the equivalent of walking into a neighborhood supermarket.

Such attention to detail is one of the many, many ways according to RSL president Bill Manning that Checketts didn't cut corners with Rio Tinto Stadium, ensuring local fans could proudly view RSL's home as the best in Major League Soccer.

"It's hard to find specifics because everywhere around the stadium is first class. There really aren't areas where they scaled back," said Manning. "It would've been foolish of us to come out with a stadium and cut corners. Dave has done it right."

One of the biggest features of Rio Tinto Stadium — something none of the other six soccer-specific stadiums in MLS can boast— there are no bleachers. Every seat in the stadium is an actual chairback seat.

"That's what was needed. It upgrades the experience I think when you're not sitting on a bench," said Rio Tinto Stadium general manager Mike Steele, who oversaw the construction as project manager with Icon Construction. "To have seats for all our fans was very important to Mr. Checketts."

The 20,000 chairback seats are one of many areas in which RSL didn't cut corners in constructing its $110 million stadium.

While the casual fan will appreciate the subtleties of quality food from Levys Restaurants — the same concessionaire at Wrigley Field in Chicago as well as Lambeau Field in Green Bay — along with fantastic sight lines from every seat in the house, perhaps the greatest attention to detail at Rio Tinto Stadium is catered to the rich.

The 32 luxury suites were constructed and decorated with top-notch amenities, including flat-screen HDTVs and leather couches. The 900 club seat holders will have access to the breathtaking club restaurant, with its patio located just nine rows up from field level in the southwest corner of the stadium.

"That's a feature that's breathtaking over there. To watch a soccer match, or see something else or even have a function there is going to be a great feature," said Steele.

For the 96 fans who'll pay top dollar to sit in the Center Circle, their $7,500 season ticket cost puts them directly behind the team benches along with countless other amenities and access.

"Those fans are going to be our best customers. They're going on a road trip with us to Colorado. They have their own private meet the team event. They walk out where the players walk out, they have their own private club. It's a high-priced ticket, but they will be treated like rock stars," said Manning.

Steele and Manning both stressed that the family man and woman weren't ignored in the equation. Seats in the entire upper deck are $15 apiece, less than the cheapest tickets at Rice-Eccles Stadium were.

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E-mail: jedward@desnews.com

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