Rising FC to allow full stadium starting June 5
Phoenix Rising FC will begin allowing full capacity at its new stadium at Wild Horse Pass starting with its June 5 game against San Diego Loyal SC at 7:30 p.m., the club announced Tuesday.
The Rising will have one more game with fans limited to half capacity, or about 5,000, on May 22 against the Las Vegas Lights before opening the stadium to about 10,000 fans that fill the stadium, the club said. Masks still will be required for fans unless eating or drinking at their seats, and cashless transactions will remain in place.
“With the COVID-19 vaccine readily available, our fans feel safe at our matches,” said Rising GM Bobby Dulle in a press release.
“At full capacity our season-ticket members can get back into their original seating locations and we can introduce our new venue to more Rising fans,” he said, referring to the new stadium on the Gila River Indian Community off Interstate 10. “I want to thank our fans and partners for being patient and loyal throughout this process. We feel confident we can make this change and do so safely by maintaining a number of the health and safety protocols put into place earlier this season.”
All the single-game ticket sales for the matches on or after June 5 will go on sale Friday, May 14, the club announced.
The Rising last played before a full home stadium at its previous facility, Casino Arizona Field, on March 7, 2020.
The USL Championship season was suspended soon after because of the pandemic, but resumed in the summer.
Rising manager Rick Schantz was enthusiastic about the prospect of fans during a radio interview.
“Can we get 10,000 or a little more? I don’t know what the fire marshal will say,” Schantz joked, on 98.7 FM’s Arizona Sports’ Doug & Wolf show. “We want a full stadium. We want that place rocking. Gila River has been unbelievable for us. It really feels like home and we feel like part of the community. To see all our fans come out and see a full stadium, that’s going to make a huge difference.”
Conference champs finally meet
The Rising (2-0) will play its first regular season road match this Saturday against the 2020 Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Rowdies (1-0). Phoenix, the defending Western Conference champions, were scheduled to meet the Rowdies in the USL Championship league title match last fall, but the game was canceled after a COVID-19 outbreak on the Tampa Bay club.
Schantz, on 98.7, said the focus is not about looking at what might have been last year in playing the Rowdies.
“Nobody thinks that we are actually going to play in a cup final (in 2020),” Schantz said. “It is great to be tested against a very good team in the Eastern Conference, one of the best, to see where we stand early in the season.
“The unfinished business is the fact we need to get back to the final and need to play in the final again. It is not playing against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, it’s winning the USL Championship.”
The Phoenix defense has been strong, only giving up one goal in its two games -- a 4-1 win over San Diego and 3-0 over Oakland. The Rowdies outshot the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 13-6 in beating them 3-0 in Tampa Bay’s only game so far.
“You are looking at one of the best defensive teams in the league, historically, in Tampa and one of the best offensive teams in the league with ours, statistically,” Schantz said. “But, if you watch both teams in their last games defensively we have been strong and offensively they have been outstanding.”
“It is going to be a really fun game to watch for fans. Very different styles and approaches but two very good teams,” he said.
He said the Rowdies play a similar style to San Diego.
“The good news for us is we faced the same tactical scenario two weeks ago. It won’t be anything of surprise but this team is a little more physical and powerful than most.”