A Game Changer for a Myriad of Reasons

Frankly with the coverage that Real Salt Lake has received lately, it is difficult for me to write a thorough X’s and O’s preview of the match tomorrow night. The amount of publicity that the Royals are getting is astonishing to this fan and you’ve probably already read and analyzed it all this week (if you have been living under a giant soccer ball, click here (seriously, the Wahl article is amazing), here, here, here, here, audio here and here, and video here and here). So I’m going to take this match preview in a little different direction- I am going to discuss why this is a game changer for the club, the league, and soccer in the US in a number of different ways.

Here are the immediate game changers for the match tonight:

1. Captain Kyle Beckerman is out with yellow card accumulation. The importance of him missing the match isn’t being discussed as much as it should be. Beckerman is the heart and soul of the club and will be missed more than people are figuring. Expect Ned Grabavoy or Jean Alexandre to fill in and play adequately.  

2. It is cold in Salt Lake City. It snowed in many areas on Tuesday and is expected to warm up, but gametime temps will probably be in the 40’s or 50’s with an 8:00 P.M. local start time. This isn’t huge for MLS players who go from a snowy spring to ridiculous summer heat and then a cold fall, but for guys who have almost never played in conditions like this it is a big deal. There was a picture of one of the Monterrey players arriving in Salt Lake City yesterday and he looked a bit surprised at the weather.

Here’s the mid range and long term game changers that you haven’t heard much about yet:

1. Rarely do MLS teams get to be involved in a final that is played in front of their home fans. Seattle played for the US Open Cup last year in front of their home crowd and despite the way most US soccer fans view the USOC, that final was taken seriously in Seattle and it was a hostile environment (and record crowd) for the Crew. Galaxy fans got to experience a final in their territory in 2000 for the old CONCACAF Champion’s Cup, but it just doesn’t happen that often.

The buzz around Salt Lake City surrounding this match is excellent. Not since the Jazz finals years has a Utah pro team hosted such an important event. The hype surrounding this match is partially due to RSL’s inventive ticket policy for this match (only season ticket holders could purchase tickets for a time, but they could purchase more than just their season tickets for others who may want them), but it’s also due to the fact that the final match of this tournament will be played at Rio Tinto Stadium in front of a great crowd. People are excited to possibly be in attendance to see RSL win such an important trophy. When the Royals won the MLS Cup in 2009 the match was in Seattle and while it was a blast for most of us seeing our team hoist the cup live on TV, it just isn’t the same as possibly being in attendance for the same thing (and yes, many RSL fans did go to the match, but not the 20 thousand that will see the CCL final).  

The prospect of seeing RSL win a meaningful trophy on their home field is very, very exciting and meaningful. The crowd has been encouraged to arrive early and be loud…which they will.

2. The winds of change are brewing in the Utah sports scene. The Jazz have dominated this market for years. BYU and recently Utah football also get good coverage. RSL has received adequate coverage throughout their history, but you rarely turn on the radio or TV and hear the media intelligently discussing soccer in an in depth fashion.

This match, however, has captured the imagination of the sports media here in Utah like soccer has never been able to do. You see TV reports on them on most of the local channels where before good coverage was usually limited to one station (KUTV). Sports radio guys who have no idea about soccer are attempting to discuss the sport. The radio station that does discuss soccer intelligently, KALL 700, has stepped up their coverage to an extreme level. The papers are writing feature pieces as well as news and notes on an almost daily basis. Even topical mid-morning stay-at-home-mom shows are discussing the match.  

The Royals have a chance to grab significant market share in the Utah sports scene with this final. They already have (see previous paragraph), but winning it would send their relevance in this market to an exciting and never-before-seen level.  

Really it’s the perfect time for this to happen. The Jazz aren’t good this year. Usually the NBA playoffs are all the talk here this time of year, followed by more NBA summer talk, then right into college football fall camps. If people want to follow RSL then they have the entire summer to do it.  

The local market could change dramatically with this match.

3. According to this speculative tweet by James Edwards of the Deseret Morning News, Real Salt Lake could and have been making a lot of $$$ against Monterrey besides the prize money given to the winning team. Let’s review the attendance numbers from the CONCACAF Champions League so far (excluding tomorrow):

Tomorrow’s match could be the highest attended soccer match at Rio Tinto Stadium. Obviously they didn’t charge as much for all the CCL matches, but they have still probably made a pretty penny off of these matches in addition to the cool half-million they could make tomorrow night. The club should be greatly rewarded for taking this competition seriously where MLS clubs in the past have not done so quite as much.  

More money for the club means (hopefully) more investment into the club and also clubs in the future attempting to do the same.

So there you go…This writer will have a hard time focusing on ANYTHING today until game time tonight. Be sure to catch the match on FSC at 10 EST/7 PST or streaming on the CONCACAF website. Also follow me on Twitter at @MLSConvert for in-game thoughts.

(image courtesy of Getty Images)