![]() A few years ago the club built a second home locker room at Rio Tinto to house the Utah Royals, Utah’s professional women’s soccer team. Our CFO said we could host them.”Ĭupello’s thought process involved changes RSL made to the soccer presence in Utah. “The option for Portland was still there, but they were looking for a place that could be more of a home. Basically, the teams and the visiting teams would have had to quarantine for 14 days prior to game day if they stayed in Canada,” Leif Smith, director of events for Rio Tinto Stadium, said. It was mentioned the three teams in Canada were looking for host locations to play part or all of the 2021 season due to travel restrictions. “Our CFO was among others on a call with the entire league at some point during the preseason. Enter Rio Tinto and Tara Cupello, the chief financial officer for Real Salt Lake. This forced the players to store all of their equipment in their hotel rooms and haul it back and forth daily.įor the start of the 2021 season, Vancouver was looking for a different home. The Whitecaps had to share the locker room and didn’t have their own practice facility. ![]() While Portland at least gave Vancouver a closeness to its home base, it wasn’t ideal for the team. Once the bubble was loosened and teams were allowed to go home, Vancouver found its home in Portland, Oregon. This move began last year after MLS teams were sequestered in a bubble in Orlando, Florida. This meant that for some consistency in play, the three Canadian teams, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver had to find temporary homes in the United States. Canada has held a standing quarantine order for teams traveling between countries. The move is in response to the Canadian Government’s attempt to stem the pandemic. As such, we are proud to welcome the Vancouver Whitecaps FC to Utah for the 2021 season,” John Kimball, interim president of Real Salt Lake, said prior to the start of the season. “The COVID-19 pandemic has caused everyone around the world to open their arms to their neighbors in a time of need. The Whitecaps found a new home in Sandy due to the COVID pandemic. You see, for the 2021 season, Rio Tinto is the home stadium for both RSL and Vancouver. Then, two quick shots found the back of the net and the home team came away with a 3-1 victory. The two teams battled to a tie through the 90th minute. ![]() It was a game for the ages when Real Salt Lake met up with the Vancouver Whitecaps June 18 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy. ![]()
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