America First Field

• 1. Introduction

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  America First Field stands in Sandy, Utah, a soccer specific stadium once known as Rio Tinto Stadium and nicknamed The RioT. It seats 20,213 for soccer, but can expand past 25,000 for concerts, with temporary seating pushing soccer capacity to 22,213 when demand runs high. Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer and the Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League both call it home.

  Getting this building built required a fight that nearly cost Utah its Major League Soccer franchise. Why would a credit union's name eventually replace an international mining company's on the scoreboard? And what convinced a legendary rock musician, a rugby team, and a Spanish superclub to all fill the same field with fans?

• 2. The Fight To Build It

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  Cities as far away as Rochester, New York and St. Louis, Missouri wanted to buy Real Salt Lake and move the franchise elsewhere. The team had been playing at the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium while officials searched for a permanent site. Planners floated the Utah State Fairgrounds in Salt Lake City and the small town of Vineyard, just west of Provo, as possible homes. Team owner Dave Checketts set a deadline: reach a stadium plan, or sell the team.

  Checkett's deadline arrived after months of shifting talks with local, county, and state officials, and a revised funding structure. He, Sandy City, and Salt Lake County reached a tacit agreement to move forward on what was then called Real Salt Lake Stadium. The groundbreaking coincided with the Xango Cup, a match between Real Salt Lake and Real Madrid, drawing elected leaders, team officials, and both rosters. On the 15th of August, the Salt Lake County Council officially approved the deal.

  The Debt Review Committee of Salt Lake County voted 4-0 against the stadium proposal on the 26th of January 2007. It cited concerns over Real Salt Lake's financial viability. County Mayor Corroon agreed with the committee, and the plan was effectively killed on the 29th of January 2007. Real Salt Lake's owner responded by announcing the team would be sold and likely leave the Salt Lake area after the 2007 season. The stadium proposal, though, was not yet dead.

  On the 2nd of February 2007, a revised plan surfaced. It would divert 15 percent, roughly $2 million a year, of county hotel taxes to the project, running from July until 2017. The offer had to close by the 9th of February or disappear, and the State Senate passed the bill. Governor Jon Huntsman Jr.'s intervention helped the Utah House approve House Bill 1SHB38 by a 48-24 margin, committing $35 million toward the project. He then signed it into law.

  Sandy City, the state, and team representatives finally agreed on a site for the stadium. Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon had rejected an earlier version of that deal about a week before, calling it too risky. Governor Huntsman disagreed, insisting soccer was here to stay in Utah.

• 3. From Groundbreaking To Kickoff

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  Rossetti's California office designed the stadium, built for $110 million in Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Real Salt Lake set the opening date for the 9th of October 2008, when it hosted the New York Red Bulls. Weeks before that game, the team still had not settled on what to call its new home.

• 4. New Name, New Owners

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  On the 20th of September 2008, Real Salt Lake announced that stadium naming rights had been sold to Rio Tinto. The international mining company owns the local Kennecott Utah Copper operation and its Bingham Canyon Mine. The deal ran for 10 years and was worth between $1.5 million and $2 million a year. Rio Tinto's rights were due to expire in December 2020, but the stadium kept that branding through 2021.

  Real Salt Lake wanted a 10-year commitment from whoever signed on next. In September 2022, the club announced a new naming rights agreement with America First Credit Union, and the venue became America First Field. Ownership of the building changed hands too: in January 2022, David Blitzer and Ryan Smith had bought both the stadium and Real Salt Lake.

  The most recent sale came on the 18th of April 2025. Miller Sports + Entertainment acquired the stadium as part of a $600 million deal for Real Salt Lake. Gail Miller, former owner of the Utah Jazz, leads that ownership group. Rio Tinto and America First Credit Union were not the only outside names ever tied to this building, though. Long before either signed on, the field itself had already hosted some of the biggest stages in American soccer.

• 5. On The World Stage

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  The stadium hosted the 2009 MLS All-Star Game. It also staged the second leg of the 2011 CONCACAF Champions League Finals and the final of the 2013 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The venue also served as a host site for the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup and for the final stage of the 2015 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship.

  On the 13th of July 2013, the stadium hosted back to back Group C games at the Gold Cup in front of 17,597 spectators. The United States defeated Cuba 4-1, while Costa Rica beat Belize 1-0.

  The 2015 Olympic qualifying tournament brought four knockout matches to the stadium. Honduras beat the United States 2-0 in one semifinal, while Mexico beat Canada 2-0 in the other. The United States then beat Canada 2-0 in the third place game, and Mexico beat Honduras 2-0 in the final.

  In September 2009, the US men's national team played its first match at the stadium. The World Cup qualifier against El Salvador ended in a 2-1 win in front of about 19,000 fans. The team returned on the 18th of June 2013 for another World Cup qualifier, beating Honduras 1-0 in front of 20,250 fans.

  The US women's national team played three matches at the stadium, all friendlies. On the 31st of March 2010, the team played its first ever winter game. A second half goal from Abby Wambach secured a 1-0 win over Mexico. The team beat Canada 2-1 on the 30th of June 2012 in front of 16,800 fans. It then beat Mexico 8-0 on the 13th of September 2014.

  None of this involved Real Salt Lake or the Utah Royals, the two clubs that call the stadium home each season.

• 6. Sharing The Field

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  As home to the Utah Royals, the stadium has recorded the second highest attendance figures in the NWSL. That ranks third highest of any professional women's team in America. In 2021, it also hosted home matches for Vancouver Whitecaps FC, after Canadian COVID-19 border restrictions kept that team from playing in Canada.

  The USA Eagles beat Uruguay 43-9 in front of 5,060 fans in 2008, the stadium's first rugby test. BYU and Utah played the venue's first college rugby match in March 2010. The stadium then hosted the 2011 USA Rugby Championship, where UC Berkeley beat BYU 21-14 in front of 11,000 fans. BYU won the following year's final against Arkansas State University.

  In May 2014, BYU beat UC Berkeley 43-33 in front of 10,172 fans in the Varsity Cup Collegiate Rugby National Championship final. The Utah Warriors played an exhibition against the Glendale Raptors at the stadium on the 30th of March 2018. They drew 9,186 fans, ahead of their first Major League Rugby season. In September 2023, the US men's national rugby team, known as the Eagles, beat French club Stade Toulousain 24-21 at the stadium. On the 28th of June 2024, a Utah Warriors match set a new rugby attendance record of 10,900 fans.

  The rock band The Eagles played the first concert ever held there, on the 9th of May 2009. Michelle Branch opened on their Long Road Out of Eden Tour. Paul McCartney sold out the venue on the 13th of July 2010 on his Up and Coming Tour. It was his first ever show in the state of Utah. Kiss followed on the 22nd of September 2010, marking the band's first Utah show in seven years. None of those crowds, though, matched what Real Salt Lake's own soccer fans would eventually pack into the stands.

• 7. Record Crowds

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  Real Salt Lake's largest crowd came on the 6th of August 2022, when 21,810 fans watched a 1-4 loss to LAFC. Four more games have topped 21,500 fans since. The LA Galaxy handed RSL a 0-1 loss on the 22nd of June 2024. RSL beat Houston Dynamo FC 3-2 on the 3rd of July 2024.

  The Utah Royals set a new attendance benchmark when their revived franchise reopened on the 16th of March 2024. The team drew 20,370 fans for a 0-2 loss to the Chicago Red Stars. That topped the 19,203 fans who watched the original franchise's first home game, a 0-1 loss to the same opponent on the 14th of April 2018.

  The US men's national team's biggest crowd at the stadium came on the 4th of September 2015, when 20,560 fans watched a 3-3 friendly draw. On the 22nd of April 2026, the stadium drew its fourth largest Real Salt Lake crowd yet: 21,512 fans for a 0-2 loss to Inter Miami CF.