On Nov. 9th approximately 20 members of Real Salt Lake’s first official supporter’s club, the Loyalists, met with Trey Fitz-Gerald, the Senior Director of Marketing & Communications for RSL. He discussed upcoming events and decisions about the team and answered Loyalists’ questions for about 45 minutes. Here is a summary of what he discussed. For the complete article, please go to www.TheLoyalists.com where the article will be available soon. The dates of several upcoming events were presented, as well a basic timeline for some of the preseason events later on. · Sunday, Nov. 14th: There will be an MLS Cup 2004 viewing party. The location has not yet been decided. Several members of the front office staff and perhaps their families will be attending the event (David Hale is working with the Skybox in Gateway to determine their availability). At MLS Cup, a coin toss will be held to determine whether Chivas USA or Real Salt Lake will have first choice at the Expansion Draft. The losing team will have first choice at the MLS SuperDraft in January, to be held in Baltimore. · Monday, Nov. 15th: Each of the existing 10 MLS teams will finalize the list of who will be protected and who will be available for the draft. Also, RSL will move into new offices at Trolley Corners, on the second floor of the building. There is a lobby there where merchandise and tickets will be available for sale, and perhaps later there may be a soccer bar/club there. · Tuesday, Nov. 16th: The protected/available list will be publicized and available for viewing. · Wednesday, Nov. 17th: There could be a significant announcement to make. Dave Checketts should be in town for the announcement. · Friday, Nov. 19th: The expansion draft will be held at 2:00 Mountain Time. This can be viewed at Skybox Sports Grille. The event will be open to fans on a first-come, first-served basis, and the media will be invited. The event will be covered live on ESPN News, so the fans are encouraged to attend, cheer and create some presence for this event. · November and December: In the near future, Coach Ellinger will be choosing some additional coaching staff. He may be close to identifying his top assistant, somebody who would be “fresh blood” for MLS. Also coming soon will be special ticket offers for the holiday season. This will include some mini-plans and flex plans for those who are not planning to purchase regular season tickets. Flex plan ticket holders will receive some, but not all, of the benefits offered to regular season ticket holders. Details will be available soon. · Mid-January 2005: The league will release a tentative schedule, which will be subject to change later as the TV schedule works around other events such as NFL games. · February 2005: Near the beginning of February, the team will come together for a camp in a warmer location, perhaps Florida. Afterwards, they may train in Spain for a couple of weeks before returning to Utah. · March 2005: There will be functions happening in Salt Lake to introduce the team to the public and build some interest and excitement. This may include things like “Meet the Players” events. This will be announced later when dates and location availability are confirmed. During the last few weeks of March, the team will travel to Los Angeles to train in the Home Depot Center and may have a preseason game. · April 2nd, 2005: First away game of the season. · April 9th, 2005: Possibly another away game. · The week of April 16th, 2005: Real Salt Lake week, preparing for the first home game. There may be a luncheon on the 12th; also, promotions and events during the whole week leading up to the game. · April 16th, 2005: First home game of the season. The opposing team has not yet been decided. This game may be televised by ESPN. · During the 2005 season: Most games will be Saturday nights at 7:00, some Wednesdays at 7:00, perhaps a couple Friday night games. No Sunday games, except perhaps some away games.
Mr. Fitz-Gerald was careful to not say. It wouldn't be "significant" if it was well-known beforehand, right? Our best guesses are: 1. Stadium info 2. More specific Real Madrid information 3. Specific player information
glad to hear the Loyalists are meeting with team staff. This is crucial for a good relationship. But remember, never be a shill !!
montgjules, great info, even for those of who will soon be ardent RSL haters!! Kidding, hope you guys do great, I am confident you will! Thanks again, Lee
My $10 is on the announcement of a certain Keller as our first player. I'm very very confident it will be a player announcement. I'm guessing Keller.
Oh, really? Well maybe it won't be him then. Or maybe it still will, I don't know. But I'm -confident- it will be a player announcement. It could be one of the two local guys they have talked about, or it could be Brian Dunseth who is playing abroad somewhere but who is rumored to come here.
Dunseth has been playing for Bodens, in Sweden's second division. Steve Pastorino recently told a Swedish newspaper that he is interested in Dunseth. www.soccertimes.com/americans/2004/nov09.htm
In the article on the internet about the Skybox Sports Grille hosting an event for the expansion draft, I noticed an interesting line thrown in there: "At the event, fans will have the opportunity to reserve season tickets, buy merchandise, witness the historic draft-day events and interact with Real Salt Lake management and possibly players." (http://real.saltlake.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20041112&content_id=18873&vkey=news_slr&fext=.jsp&team=slr) So...if you might get a chance to meet players, that would mean that they might already have some players, more than one, by the time of the expansion draft. That must mean they're working on signing players already before the draft. Please let it be Kasey Keller, please oh please. One week 'til the big draft day, and we will actually know at least a piece of this team's roster.
Wednesday’s announcement will be RSL’s first player acquisition. http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_2453566
Who won the coin toss? All I saw of it was Dellacamera saying "they did a coin toss before the game to determine who gets the first pick of the expansion draft." Then they showed footage, with someone calling heads, they flipped the coin, and then they cut the footage and didn't tell us who won it. Amateurs.
Talk about amateurs, how about before the commercial they said, "When we come back, a word from David Beckham." I didn't think they actually meant like, one word. "This is David Beckham and you're watching the MLS." Thanks. I thought maybe he was going to say, "See you in Salt Lake for the Real opener." Anyway, maybe someone that was at the Skybox could tell us if we won the coin toss or not. I thought if Trey Fitz-Gerald was there maybe he got a call on his cell phone telling him what had happened.
Chivas will pick first in the expansion draft, Salt Lake in the superdraft. http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20041114&content_id=19076&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp
Thanks for the link. I knew it wasn't Checketts talking but I expected Vergara to be the other guy. ESPN did go heavy on style and loss some substance. Again thanks for digging up the link. I hate mlsnet this time of year when real content seems to disappear. I've basically avoided it.