In 2004 it was announced that Major League Soccer would be coming to Utah, giving the state its second major league professional team. By the end of the year, Real Salt Lake was born.

Construction of the stadium began on August 12th, 2006, and it opened on October 9th, 2008. The construction cost was $110 million. The architect was Rossetti Architects, and the project manager was ICON Venue Group.

The stadium was originally named Rio Tinto Stadium but was renamed America First Field in September 2022 after a naming rights agreement with America First Credit Union.

The nearest airport to America First Field is Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) which is approximately 14 miles away from the arena. There are currently no direct flights from London to Salt Lake City. However, there are plenty of indirect options with all major airlines. The fastest options usually depart from Heathrow (LHR).

If you are already in the US and looking to travel to/from Utah, then you have the choice of most US domestic airlines including Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, American Eagle, Frontier Airlines, Jet Blue, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airways and WestJet.

Salt Lake City is served by a transit system called the Utah Transit Authority (UTA). The UTA covers not just SLC, but the surrounding region as well, including Salt Lake County, Ogden, Utah County, and parts of Brigham City. People tend to take the bus and TRAX, a light rail network. Between the two, visitors can get to many locations throughout the valley. You could also make use of apps such as Moovit to get real-time timetables, maps and directions to the America First Field using public transportation.

Rideshare services are also available with a designated pick-up and drop-off zone at the arena.

Sandy, Utah has a lot to offer tourists. Located at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains and adjacent to Little Cottonwood Canyon, Sandy offers excellent outdoor recreation opportunities, plus shopping, dining, entertainment, and enough fun things to keep any visitor occupied.

Beyond the Airbnb and Sonder options there are many hotels in Sandy and near the America First Field to suit all budgets, and they can be booked directly or via one of the hotel reservation booking sites. Some options would include Hyatt House, Hilton Garden Inn, Econo Lodge Inn & Suites, and Park Inn by Radisson.

The Real Salt Lake sell their tickets via SeatGeek.

The official ticketing partner for the MLS is Ticketmaster.

Here are links to the main ticket resale sites. Click on the link, which will open up a new window, and you can compare the prices on the different ticket resell sites, bearing in mind that the prices shown are before the selling platform fees are added, so take time to have a read of my tips to Buying Tickets in North America.

• SeatGeek
• SportsEvents365 (Click on the Search Button)
• StubHub International
• StubHub US
• Ticketmaster US
• TicketNetwork
• Viagogo
• Vivid Seats

I recommend downloading the team’s Mobile App to your phone as it contains much Gameday information for the stadium.