This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Six years ago — the same year Real Salt Lake hoisted the 2009 MLS Cup trophy in Seattle — the club struggled to broadcast most of its away matches on local stations. On Friday, the club announced a landmark two-year broadcasting deal with Sinclair Broadcasting Group to broadcast all 26 of RSL's non-national regular-season matches on KMYU, an affiliate of KUTV Channel 2. (Read the full story from Tribune TV critic Scott Pierce).

The landmark portion of the deal and announcement will be RSL and Sinclair carving out their own spot in niche markets throughout the Intermountain West region. Owner Dell Loy Hansen said — along with American Sports Network — matches will be broadcasted on stations in Boise, Las Vegas and Reno and eventually Albuquerque, Phoenix and Tucson, upping RSL's reach of one million homes in the Utah market to a combined 5.5. million throughout the seven regions in the West.

"We're going to become a regional team, similar to what the Atlanta Braves did in baseball many, many years ago," RSL president Bill Manning said.

Hansen said when the club got into discussions with American Sports Net work and news manager Jennifer Dahl spoke of the potential of reaching that many markets this upcoming season, it "knocked me off my socks."

KUTV news director Kent Crawford, the first to speak regarding the deal, said the agreement was signed five minutes before the press conference as the two sides worked through various last-minute kinks. As noted in Pierce's story, Crawford said KUTV and KMYU will jointly support and produce matches.

"All our sports staff will be involved in production of the game, in addition, all of our platforms, internet, social media, broadcast [will ensure] that the brand continues to grow strongly in this market place," Crawford said.

Captain Kyle Beckerman was on hand for the announcement. The 32-year-old midfielder, who will be with RSL during the entirety of its preseason for the first time since 2010, voiced his pleasure with the new developments.

"This is a really exciting thing, not only for Real Salt Lake, just the growth of soccer in the United States," he said. "We're extremely proud to play for our fans here in Utah, but now we open that up to these other states and really make Real Salt Lake this regional team that we can hopefully make the fans proud."

The most persistent question on the heels of the announcement, however, has been this: Who calls the games? ESPN700 voice Bill Riley has been the voice of RSL since the beginning and MLS analyst Brian Dunseth has risen to become one of the premier soccer voices in America since his transition from the field to the broadcast booth. KMYU's Thursday evening version of "Talkin' Sports" will be a weekly show centralized around RSL.

Manning said who will serve in what capacity under new deal remains to be seen, but added that it will likely be a mix of Dunseth, Riley and KUTV broadcaster David James. Manning said the club and Sinclair will sit down to further discuss 2015 broadcasting options for the incoming USL Pro club, Real Monarchs.

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Demar Philips signing finalized • The wait is over. RSL's likely starting new left back has been signed. On Friday, RSL announced the addition of 31-year-old Jamaican left back Demar Phillips. Philips, joins RSL after spending the last six seasons playing professionally in Norway for Aalesunds FK in the first division. While there, the club won Norwegian Football Cup titles in 2009 and 2011 and were featured three consecutive years in the Europa League tournament from 2010 to 2012

SB Nation's RSL Soapbox was the first to report the signing on Dec. 18, but Phillips and RSL needed to wait out the approval of his P-1 Visa. It was approved Friday and Phillips is expected to join the club for the start of its training camp stint in Casa Grande, Ariz., Monday.

Phillips was part of English side Stoke City in 2007 and 2008 before moving to Norway. He got his start with Waterhouse FC in Jamaica. He arrives at RSL internationally-tested having 62 caps to his name and 12 career goals.

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-Chris Kamrani

Twitter: @chriskamrani