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Real Salt Lake: Playoff spot, Rocky Mountain Cup at stake on Saturday

I'm pumped for this game! Its gonna be huge!

over the rivalry. We can't afford any red cards during this game. GO REAL! See you in Colorado.

I'm not sure I'd call it an elite rivalry, neither team is better than a mid-table and only one will be making the playoffs this year. It's certainly an entertaining rivalry though. I'm looking forward to another RSL win in Colorado, with a chance to win the Rocky Mountain Cup, put Real into the playoffs, and keep the Rapids out ... it just doesn't get much better than that.

At the start of the season I wanted three things to happen this year-
1-make the playoffs
2-have a winning record
3-win the rocky mountain cup
I figured that the team would have improved greatly if they could get all three of those things, and now it all comes down to one game! I'm super excited. If they don't make the playoffs I'll still consider this season a success considering where we were at the end of last year. Kries has definitely built something here and hopefully it can only get better. GO RSL!!!

What is the 'xango' on there uniforms about? As one who knows almost nothing about soccer I don't understand why there team name is not on the font of the uniform. Help?

Bob Xango is RSL's shirt sponser. Xango gives RSL money to put their logo on their jersey. All of the major soccer leagues around the world do this.

Bob, Xango is a sponsor of RSL and thus their name is branded on their jerseys. Its very common in soccer, sort of like cars in NASCAR (if you are familiar with that).

As for the rivalry, its one of the best and organic ones in MLS. The only thing that is close is maybe NY/DC or Chivas/LA...but the former being weak and the latter being contrived by ESPN. SJ and LA had a good one once but sadly its not the same today.

Come on RSL, win the RMC, get into the playoffs!

In world football, and American Soccer, teams traditionally sell advetizing on the front of the jersey. It is about money.

It is about money, because RSL has fan clubs like RCB that have members who are poor and can't afford season tickets over $275. $275 isn't much income for Real, so they needed to sell the advertizing space. May be if the RCB had real fans, they would pay more than $275 and we could have Real or Salt Lake on the front of the jersey.

What channel is HDnet? does anyone know?
The xango on the jersey is the team sponser. In soccer the commercials are so few and far between placement on the front of the shirt gets you much more air time. Ex; AIG on the front of Manchester United.

Bob, Xango pays money to advertise on the front of RSL's uniform. In soccer, the team name is not usually on the uniform.....instead, every team has a logo (usually a crest of some kind) that they will put over the left breast. Then they will sell advertising on the front, kind of like NASCAR (but much less obnoxious).

These jersey sponsorships tend to be very lucrative, and in many cases they are one of the largest revenue sources for the team.

Almost every soccer team in the world does this, and it's very common in other sports around the world as well. In fact, putting your team name on the uniform is the exception to the rule, and it is generally limited to "American sports" (basketball, baseball, and American football).

Xango is a company headquartered in Lehi, UT, that sells a mangosteen fruit juice that has a high concentration of several anti-oxidants.

lose the next game and eventually the Rio Taco Stadium will become a high school football stadium.

I actually like the sound of Rio Taco Stadium. That was clever.

Please. Can one more person please explain this "XANGO" thing on the Jersey. I don't think I was fully able to understand it after the first 5 posts.

To the uneducated from 11:29. Even before RSL played their first game people were saying they would fold within 3 years. Well its been more then 3 years and looks like they are still here. They are better, have a new stadium and are attracting more sponsors. Sounds like they are doing OK to me. So you see, you can keep spouting off your rediculous opinions and the rest of us will continue to laugh in your face as we sit on our fantastic stadium and watch the beautiful game. But please keep the posts comming. It shows you really are interested in the team. Sadly you are so week minded, you just can't admit it to yourself that you really do want to go see them play at the prettiest stadium in the state. If not, I guess you can just buy tickets to an NFL or MLB game, oh wait... I guess you can't, Utah does not have an NFL or MLB team. Too bad for you. Soccer fans win!

hd net is a small channel on satellite. on direct tv, it's around the 90's in channel.

Soccer has no breaks for comercials other than half time. So they sell whatever they can for advertising. And the broadcast has a sponsor for everything. Like red cards "This red card was brought to you by the U.S. Army, Break someone's leg? Get promoted, not sent off."

I admit, that's a new one. Good job.

Since you're so convinced that RSL will lose their next match, why don't you give us some reasons why? Break down the Rapids for me.....tell me what their strengths and weaknesses are and how they match up with RSL's strengths and weaknesses. You obviously know a lot about soccer, so won't you share your light and knowledge with the rest of us?

This season has been great. I am glad to have been a part of it as a fan. This last game has shaped up to be very exciting. I only wish I could have been able to go on the bus to Denver. RSL will win but have to hold on for dear life at the end of the game. Our defense will pull us through. RSL 2 - cRapids 1. This is my prediction.

Doesn't that happens at RES every year after the Utes lose a game or two (jokes). Your tax dollars paid for some of that joint, you should go bash thier fans, and tell them that fooball will never work here unless they go to the Fiesta bowl every year. Same with the Jazz remember when they didnt sell out or make the playoffs for a couple of years after Stocton and Malone? Doomed the frachise didnt it?

I think the Xango explanation was pretty much beaten to death. However, the reason that Soccer relies on this quite heavily is because adverisments during soccer cannot happen with much frequency due to the fact that soccer is continuously played, opposed to football, baseball, and basketball that have frequent stoppages, allowing for extensive commercials and promotions.