SALT LAKE CITY - With tonight's 1-1 home draw with the Houston Dynamo, combined with Colorado's 1-1 draw vs. New York, Real Salt Lake and the Rice-Eccles Stadium box office immediately placed on sale tickets for RSL's inaugural home playoff game, which would be played on Saturday, October 21, at 7:00 p.m. MT, IF RSL qualifies for the MLS postseason.
Tonight's pair of draws left RSL two points shy of rival Colorado as the teams compete for the fourth and final Western Conference playoff spot, with one game remaining in the 2006 MLS Regular Season. RSL concludes its second MLS campaign next Sunday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. MT LIVE on FSN-Utah from The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., against expansion brethren CD Chivas USA, which clinched a playoff spot tonight, despite losing 2-1 at Kansas City.
The Rapids are at Houston next Saturday, where a loss allows RSL to clinch its first-ever playoff spot. Should Colorado win or tie against the Dynamo next week, RSL's game Sunday at Chivas will be meaningless to the West playoff picture, due to the Rapids' advantage in head-to-head tiebreaker with RSL. The Western Conference standings entering the final week are as follows, along with next week's schedule:
WESTERN CONFERENCE GP W L T PTS GF GA GD
x-FC Dallas 31 16 11 4 52 46 39 7
x-Houston 31 11 8 12 45 41 37 4
x-Chivas USA 31 10 9 12 42 44 41 3
Colorado 31 11 13 7 40 33 46 -13
Real Salt Lake 31 10 13 8 38 44 48 -4
Los Angeles 31 10 15 6 36 32 35 -2
UPCOMING SCHEDULE (all times MT)
Saturday, October 14
Colorado @ Houston - 6:00
Dallas @ Los Angeles - 8:00
Sunday, October 15
RSL @ Chivas - 5:00 FSN UTAH (pre-game 4:30)
Current RSL "Royal Club" members (season ticket plan holders) will have their location protected until Monday, October 16, and should purchase their seats for the team's inaugural home playoff game by calling (866) 9-SOCCER and speaking to their ticket representative. Fans can also purchase tickets by visiting www.utahtickets.com or www.RealSaltLake.com, or by calling (801) 581-UTIX or (866) 9-SOCCER. In person, fans can visit the Rice-Eccles box office (open M-F, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.) or the RSL offices at 515 South 700 East, #2R (open M-Sat. 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.). All group tickets should be purchased through RSL. Individual and group prices are as follows:</p>
RSL PLAYOFF PRICES
Individual Tickets Group Rate (20 or more)
VIP $35 $28
Premium $30 $25
Corner $22 $19
North Goal $18 $16
Should RSL fail to qualify for the postseason on the final weekend, fans who have purchased MLS Cup Playoff tickets can have their commitment applied towards a 2007 "Royal Club" full-season or youth memberships, or towards a half-season Flex pass, or they can ask to have the price of their playoff tickets refunded.
Fans wishing to lock themselves into 2007 tickets at 2006 prices must do so during an Early Renewal Period, which runs from now through November 10. Those who choose to secure 2006 price levels for next season through renewal or purchase are required to pay at least 50% of their total balance than Friday, November 10, 2006, with the remaining balance due on Wednesday, January 31, 2007.</p>
The 2007 Royal Club membership packages cover Real Salt Lake's 21-game 2007 home schedule, including MLS regular-season and international exhibition contests. By becoming a member of any of five different Royal Club levels, one receives several benefits, such as seat selection priority in RSL's new stadium, opening in summer 2008, purchase priority for additional tickets to exhibition and postseason games, including the Real Madrid game in 2008, discounted youth pricing, priority and direct access to RSL's Customer Service Department.</p>
Prices are as follows:</p>
Royal Club Member Pricing (Youth Member Prices ages 4-15)
('06 prices, valid through 11/10/06)
Diamond (Suite/Club) call for details
Platinum (VIP) $525 ($420)
Gold (Premium) $420 ($340)
Silver (Corner) $315 ($255)
Bronze (North Goal) $210 ($190)
(2007 prices, beginning 11/11/06)
Diamond (Suite/Club) call for details
Platinum (VIP) $590 ($465)
Gold (Premium) $485 ($360)
Silver (Corner) $360 ($275)
Bronze (North Goal) $255 ($210)
Half-Season Flex
(10 Vouchers, for use anytime, in any combination, during 16 MLS reg.-season games)
VIP: $320
Premium: $260
Corner: $180
North Goal: $150
2007 Individual Game Prices
VIP: $40
Premium: $28
Corner: $19
North Goal: $17
Sponsored: $14* (KFC voucher in 2006)
Five levels of Royal Club memberships are available immediately, with various benefits for Diamond, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze packages outlined in the chart below. The half-season Flex pass, which includes ten vouchers for matches, start at $320 for VIP seats, with Premium seats costing $260, Corner seats costing $180 and North Goal costing $150. Tickets for individual games will cost $40 for VIP ($32 for groups), with Premium seats at $28 ($23 for groups), Corner seats at $19 ($17 for groups), and North Goal seats at $17 ($14 for groups).</p>
Returning for its third season in 2007 is the Jr. Loyalists program, where children under four years of age will receive a free full or half season ticket with the purchase of one adult full or half season ticket at regular price. Children ages 4-15 can receive a significant discount on a season ticket package with a corresponding adult purchase. All youth season ticket holders receive complimentary membership in the Jr. Loyalists Youth Fan Club, as well as a complimentary invitation to the RSL Kids Team Training Day, hosted by RSL players and coaches.</p>
MLS CUP 2006 PLAYOFF TIEBREAKERS:
Where teams are tied in points, the official tiebreakers are:
a. Head-to-head competition against all other teams equal in points, based on highest points-per-game average. For example, if Teams X, Y and Z each have 44 points, the tie among them is broken as follows:
i. Team X is 1-0-1 against Team Y, and 1-3-0 against Team Z. Points-per-game is 7/6, or 1.16.
ii. Team Y is 0-1-1 against Team X, and 2-0-0 against Team Z. Points-per-game is 7/4, or 1.75.
iii. Team Z is 3-1-0 against Team X, and 0-2-0 against Team Y. Points-per-game is 9/6, or 1.5.
Accordingly, Team Y wins the tiebreaker among Teams X, Y and Z. If points per game in head-to head competition are equal, then the next tiebreaker with respect to the teams whose points are equal is "b" below.
b. Overall team goal differential.
c. Total goals scored.
d-f. Tiebreakers a-c are applied to each team's regular-season road games only.
g-i. Tiebreakers a-c are applied to each team's regular-season home games only.
j. Best fair play record.
k. Coin flip.
Entering the final weekend of games for 2006, the prospective Conference Semifinal Playoff match-ups would be as follows:
EASTERN: (1) D.C. vs. (4) Kansas City & (2) Chicago vs. (3) New England
WESTERN: (1) Dallas vs. (4) Colorado & (2) Houston vs. (3) Chivas USA
The regular season ends on Sunday, Oct. 15, and the MLS Cup Playoffs begin on Saturday, Oct. 21. The third and fourth place teams from each conference host Conference Semifinal games on Oct. 21 or 22 against the second and first seeds, respectively. The return-leg games of those Conference Semifinal series will be played on Oct. 28 or 29, hosted by the higher-seeded team. For the Conference Championships, the highest remaining seeds will host a single match on Nov. 4 or 5.
MLS Cup 2006 will take place live on ABC at 1:30 p.m. MT on Nov. 12 from Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. The playoff schedule is tentative and subject to change.
All Times Mountain:
Saturday, October 21, 2006
MLS Cup Conference Semifinal Game 1 - TBD
MLS Cup Conference Semifinal Game 1 - TBD
Sunday, October 22, 2006
MLS Cup Conference Semifinal Game 1 - TBD (ESPN2)
MLS Cup Conference Semifinal Game 1 - Chicago vs. New England (site TBD), 11 a.m. (ABC)
Saturday, October 28, 2006
MLS Cup Conference Semifinal Game 2 - TBD at FC Dallas, 6:30 p.m.
MLS Cup Conference Semifinal Game 2 - TBD
Sunday, October 29, 2006
MLS Cup Conference Semifinal Game 2 - TBD at D.C. United, 4 p.m. (ESPN2)
MLS Cup Conference Semifinal Game 2 - TBD
Saturday, November 4, 2006
MLS Cup Conference Championship - TBD
Sunday, November 5, 2006
MLS Cup Conference Championship, 6 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sunday, November 12, 2006
MLS Cup 2006 at Pizza Hut Park, 1:30 p.m. (ABC)
