Real Salt Lake adds mid-summer friendly with EFL Championship side Burnley FC out of World Cup break
Jun 3, 2026, 12:38 PM | Updated: 4:08 pm
Players of Burnley FC walk out prior to the Premier League match between Burnley and Manchester United at Turf Moor on January 12, 2021 in Burnley, England. Sporting stadiums around England remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Jon Super - Pool/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jon Super - Pool/Getty Images)
SANDY — One of the newest additions to the EFL Championship is coming to Utah.
Real Salt Lake will wrap up the “second preseason” of the month-long international break due to the FIFA men’s World Cup by bringing newly integrated second-division side Burnley FC to the Wasatch Front as part of the former Premier League club’s summer preseason tour of the United States.
RSL will host Burnley on July 15, the final of three U.S.-based matches for the Clarets after a July 10 stop at FC Cincinnati, July 12 at Columbus Crew and an 8 p.m. MT kickoff on the Wasatch Front.
“Our club is elated to welcome Burnley FC to Utah as part of their preseason USA tour,” said Real Salt Lake president of business operations John Kimball in a statement. “While we have deep ties from our past to the current Burnley leadership, we are focused on providing our exciting team with a meaningful game just prior to the resumption of the MLS schedule following this World Cup break.
“We believe this Burnley visit to Sandy will help prepare us to improve on our third-place West standing, as we look to build upon a successful first half of 2026.”
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Burnley — a club based in Lancashire, England that competed in the Premier League in two of the past three seasons — has a unique connection to the Beehive State. Real Salt Lake’s founder and Bountiful native David Checketts currently serves on the team’s board, and chairman Alan Pace was RSL’s president for a year through April 2008.
The club also features celebrity investor J.J. Watt, the former Houston Texans pass rusher who is married to ex-NWSL standout and U.S. international Kealia Ohai, a Draper native who won Utah Gatorade player of the year honors twice during her prep career at Alta High School.
“I’m very excited to welcome the Clarets to America for our pre-season tour this summer,” Watt said in a statement from Burnley, “and I am equally excited for football fans here in the U.S. to get a chance to see our historic club up close and personal.”
Two months with no RSL footy is too long
Join us at the Riot to take on Burnley FC; tickets will go on sale on June 12th
In English: https://t.co/8NHEq2XQ9O
En Español: https://t.co/tFF9YGGFoS pic.twitter.com/KCRJS177pz— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) June 3, 2026
Burnley became the second team to be relegated to the EFL Championship in April, joining Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United.
Current RSL season ticket holders will receive first priority for tickets to the first international friendly in Utah featuring an English squad since Manchester United’s sellout appearance in Utah in July 2017. The club also hosted Everton FC twice — once in July 2007 at Rice-Eccles Stadium, and again for the MLS All-Star Game in 2009.
Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning June 12 at rsl.com/tickets.
