The AT&T MLS All-Star Game is headed back to the Mile High City.
Major League Soccer announced on Wednesday that Denver will serve as the host city for the league’s annual summer showcase, which will take place at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City on Wednesday, July 29 (9 pm ET on Fox Sports 1, UniMas, TSN, RDS2).
Colorado Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni – who played for the MLS All-Star team when Denver last hosted the event in 2007 – will serve as the head coach of the All-Stars against an elite international club to be named at a later date.
“Colorado has become a destination for marquee soccer events, and we are thrilled to bring the AT&T All-Star Game to the region,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a league statement. “Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is a tremendous stadium, and we know the enthusiastic support of Centennial 38 and other Rapids fans will provide a great home-field advantage for the MLS All-Stars.”
FOX Sports 1 and UniMás will broadcast the AT&T MLS All-Star Game live in the United States, and TSN and RDS2 will televise the match in Canada. The game will be simulcast online via FOX Sports GO and FOXSportsGO.com. In addition, more than 100 countries are expected to broadcast the game.
The league also announced that as part of the All-Star festivities, the Chipotle MLS Homegrown Game will return for a second consecutive year, showcasing the best Homegrown players from across the league.
As home to one of the league’s original franchises dating back to 1996, Denver becomes the fourth city to host the All-Star Game for a second time. Only the now-defunct Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., the legendary RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., and MLS' first soccer-specific stadium, Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, have hosted the event more than once.
The MLS All-Stars topped famous Scottish side Celtic 2-0 when the game was played at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in 2007, with former New York Red Bulls striker Juan Pablo Ángel winning Man of the Match honors.
“We’d like to thank Commissioner Garber and Major League Soccer for the faith they have shown in the Colorado Rapids by allowing us to host the All-Star Game for the second time,” Colorado Rapids Alternate Governor Josh Kroenke said in a statement. “It is a great showcase for our organization and community. We are one of the original ten clubs in the league, and we hope this game will highlight the growth and progress the MLS and Colorado Rapids have made in the 20-year history of the league.”
Dick’s Sporting Goods Park has been home to the Rapids since 2007 and can seat more than 19,000 fans when filled to capacity. It has hosted both MLS regular season and crucial postseason games, including the 2010 Eastern Conference Championship, won by the Rapids en route to capturing their first MLS Cup title in franchise history.
The stadium is also fondly remembered in US Soccer circles as the site of the infamous “Snow Game” in March 2013, when the United States national team topped Costa Rica in blizzard conditions in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match.
The 2015 All-Star Game will mark the 12th time that an elite international club has played the MLS All-Stars, who are 8-3-1 in those matches following last year’s 2-1 victory against Germany’s FC Bayern Munich. In addition to honoring the best players in MLS, the game has featured successful, world-famous clubs such as Manchester United (2010 and 2011), Chelsea FC (2006 and 2012), AS Roma (2013), and Chivas de Guadalajara (2003).
