This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
When Rio Tinto Stadium opened in 2008, the cloud-topped Sandy venue was marketed a multiuse facility that could just as easily host a soccer team as a rock star — a community center that would be open for use for high school sporting events.
In the short life of the home of Real Salt Lake, revisiting its intended uses is, mostly, a success story.
Professional soccer? Check.
Concerts? Check.
High school soccer championships? Check.
High school football? Well, check back later.
It's time.
Saturday, Rio Tinto Stadium will host two high-level high school games, featuring Sandy schools Alta and Jordan against Taft (Calif.) and Notre Dame (N.J.). The games will mark just the second time high school football has been played in the 20,000-seat stadium after multiple marquee matchups, including Alta and Bingham, fell through.
"Obviously it's a soccer stadium," Real Salt Lake president Bill Manning said. "But the whole purpose was to have other events. Over the last couple of years we've really started to focus on the events."
That meant luring two schools from out of state — Manning's wife is an alumna of Notre Dame and Manning used to live near Taft — by paying all expenses and guaranteeing matchups with two of the state's premier programs.
The stadium is uncharted territory for high school football teams. Last year the stadium hosted standings stragglers Murray and Hillcrest in a non-region game. Saturday marks the stadium's foray into marquee prep football.
"Our kids have been asking questions about it all season," Jordan coach Eric Kjar said, "and they've been pretty excited to be getting there and playing in that venue."
Manning said the XFINITY High School Football Challenge should be looked at as a jumping off point for the stadium's relationship with high school football. Manning said the double header will be an annual affair, and that the stadium may try to schedule one additional game each fall.
And, of course, there remains hope for the biggest high school games of the season.
"At some point we'd like to bid for the state championships," Manning said. "We're really not thinking that far out, but when that comes up we'd like to bid for it."
The Utah High School Activities Association is locked in a contract with Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah through the 2015 games. Associate director Kevin Dustin said this week that the association has been satisfied by its relationship with the university.
Certain intrinsic hurdles will likely keep football from becoming too permanent a guest at the stadium designed for soccer. Starting with the grass.
"Our field can't handle a bunch of football games," Manning said. "It's a million dollar field we have."
Rio Tinto has since its first year hosted the Top of the Mountains Bowl, a junior college postseason football game that, more often than not, has featured Snow College.
The past two years, the stadium has hosted the national rugby championships. High school football, however, has been more elusive. Disagreements over money ultimately halted plans last year for Alta and Bingham to play their series of Black and Blue Classic games at the stadium, while a game between Bingham and Kahuku (Hawaii) fell through when a third-party promoter backed out.
This weekend, Manning and those involved with bringing high school football to Rio Tinto Stadium hope to wash away the bad taste left by those attempts.
"I think we're going to have some pretty good football games here," he said.
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XFINITY High School Football Challenge
P When • Saturday
Who • Jordan vs. Notre Dame (N.J.), 1 p.m.; Alta vs. Taft (Calif.), 7 p.m.
Tickets • Single-game tickets are available to students in advance for $5, while day-of-game tickets will cost $6. Adults can buy single-game tickets for $10 in advance, or $12 on Saturday. Tickets for both games can be purchased by students for $8 in advance and $10 on Saturday. Adults can buy tickets for both games for $15 in advance and $20 at the gate.