Real Salt Lake: RSL wants friendly success

SANDY — Since its inception, Real Salt Lake has strived to provide a variety of soccer to its fans by hosting exhibition games against clubs from around the world. Nine teams from three different continents have journeyed to Utah through the years, with that number jumping to 10 this weekend when RSL hosts Club America out of Mexico.

Interestingly enough, this weekend's match might be the first that makes sense on all fronts. With a near sell-out crowd expected, Real Salt Lake figures to turn a profit at Rio Tinto Stadium with a concept that has often been unsuccessful on and off the field.

RSL's record in nine exhibition games against foreign clubs through the years stands at 3-4-2. All of those matches were played at Rice-Eccles Stadium and, despite decent crowds, the home team usually lost money.

"The international games in the past have never been money-makers for the team," said RSL president Bill Manning.

With the team now in its own stadium, Manning says the landscape and purpose of these exhibition games has changed.

"As we've come into our own stadium and our business has really adjusted with the new stadium, these games will actually turn into financial benefits for us," said Manning.

It's hard to imagine one of the most popular clubs from Mexico not being profitable. When it comes to the Western Hemisphere, Manning believes Club America is as big as it gets, ranking right up there with Chivas or Boca Juniors.

As much as a state-of-the-art venue will help exhibition games become profitable, a more intelligent scheduling approach should make a huge difference also.

Realistically, from 2005-08, Real Salt Lake bit off more than it could chew. Its season-ticket packages most years consisted of 20 to 21 games, and with only 15 to 16 league games, it forced the front office to come up with multiple exhibition games per season.

With such precious few open dates on the MLS calendar, its only choice to fulfill ticket commitments was by scheduling midweek games.

Of the nine friendlies, only two were played on Saturdays. More than its impact on attendance, the midweek games wreaked havoc with Real Salt Lake's line-ups.

Many exhibition games through the years have been sandwiched between weekend league games. It has forced the coaching staffs to prioritize between the league and meaningless friendlies, which by definition is an easy decision.

Unfortunately for RSL, it often leads to bad first impressions.

"We need to get the guys out there that the fans know, that are our starters," said Manning. "I think it's much better for us to put our best foot forward."

Manning said he expects Real Salt Lake to continue scheduling international friendlies, but acknowledges it will be increasingly tougher to schedule European super clubs anytime soon.