It’s no secret. The 2014 Rapids season was a wreck. A 14-game winless streak would make anyone happy to hang a 2015 calendar. And the new year is already shaping up to be Major League Soccer’s version of an HGTV extreme makeover.
First it was front office hirings, then a revamp of a defense that conceded more goals than any other club last year, then add two MLS veteran midfielders to the mix. And now, this: Official word that the Rapids will host the 2015 All-Star Game.
Making the announcement at Union Station on a snowy Wednesday in Denver, MLS Commissioner Don Garber reminisced about “perhaps one of the greatest games in U.S. soccer history,” the World Cup qualifying match against Costa Rica at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in March of 2013.
That same venue will host the all-stars against a yet-to-be-named international club July 29, 2015 at 7 p.m. Fox Sports 1 and UniMas will broadcast the game.
WATCH: Colorado Rapids land 2015 MLS All-Star Game
It’s the second time Commerce City will host the event, landing its bid over perhaps more obvious choices of Seattle, which leads the league in attendance, and San Jose, which opens a brand new stadium this year.
“This is an important market as we’re trying to grow the game in our country,” Garber said. “And (to) give the Rapids the support they need and to say a little bit of a ‘thank you’ to their burgeoning supporters movement and put another great event into Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.”
The all-stars will be coached by the Rapids’ Pablo Mastroeni, who played in the 2007 All-Star Game at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the last time the game was played in Colorado.
“It’s one of those moments in your life you’ll never forget as a player,” Mastroeni, a nine-time all-star, said. “And for me to be able to coach such a talented group of guys, where the talent pool just gets better every year, it’ll be something I’ll never forget.”
Although the opponent has not yet been determined, there was speculation it could be Arsenal, a club owned by the Rapids’ ownership group, Kroenke Sports Enterprises.
Josh Kroenke, Rapids alternate governor, quickly doused the idea.
“I think Arsenal may already have some travel plans then,” he said.
Garber assured fans the international team will be “a great club.”
The event will also include a return of the Chipotle Homegrown Game, featuring the best players coming up through MLS youth academies. It debuted last year in Portland, but Garber said the details for that match are still being ironed out. Other events will be planned in both Denver and Commerce City to coincide with the match.
Visit Denver CEO Richard Scharf speculated the economic impact would be “somewhere between $15 and $20 million.”
Rapids’ President Tim Hinchey said the event comes at a good time.
“We obviously finished with a tough season last year,” Hinchey said. “And even though we’ve had a terrific offseason commercially, sans the shirt situation, I think it’s credibility that the league believes in what we’re doing.”
Daniel Boniface: 303-954-1104, dboniface@denverpost.com or twitter.com/danielboniface
