Real Salt Lake are preparing to enter an affiliate team in USL PRO next year, the latest addition to the growing network of developmental ties between MLS and USL.
The plan was discussed by hosts Trey Fitz-Gerald and Brian Dunseth on Tuesday night's edition of the RSL-centric radio program ESPN700 OnFrame, and confirmed to MLSsoccer.com by RSL officials on Wednesday.
RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen is in talks with local officials on the construction of a privately-funded stadium project at the Salt Lake City Fairpark for the 2016 season, which would serve as the long-term home for the USL PRO team, considered a vital developmental piece bridging the RSL's youth academy in Arizona with the senior squad.
Should the club's USL PRO entry debut in 2015 as hoped, it would likely play home matches at RSL's Rio Tinto Stadium home while the Fairpark facility – a multi-use venue which would also host a range of other sports and events – is under construction.
At present, the LA Galaxy are the first and only MLS club to field a USL PRO team of their own, known as Galaxy II. Several other MLS clubs are planning similar strategies.
