On Sunday, October 16, 2016, the New York Red Bulls will play Columbus Crew in their penultimate match of the MLS regular season. The match kicks off at 3:00 pm.
At 6:30 pm on the same day, at the same stadium, New York Red Bulls II will kick off the 2016 USL Eastern Conference final against Louisville City FC.
The double-header is not, in itself, historic: NYRB II has only been around for a couple of seasons, but it has played same-day-same-stadium games alongside the first team before. And the NYRB U-23s won the 2014 NPSL championship on the night of an August double-header with RBNY.
That was a special occasion, made more special by the fact RBNY was still technically defending its 2013 Supporters' Shield: for a few weeks, Red Bull Arena was home to two trophies.
But that was only known after the game was played.
This time around, we already know there are two title-holding teams in Harrison at the moment.
Got pictured w/ #USL Shield after missing previous chance. #NYRBII ... also @SupporterShield #RBNY pic.twitter.com/Kt5EjIwvZt
— JohnC.-TheRedEdition (@jacorbett70) October 10, 2016
On October 16, 2016, Red Bull Arena will host - for the first time - two reigning league-champions Red Bull teams on the same day: RBNY is still (just) in the hunt for the 2016 Supporters' Shield, so it is still defending it 2015 Shield title; NYRB II is the reigning USL 2016 regular-season title holder.
Of course, if RBNY does not win against Columbus, it will officially be out of the 2016 race for the MLS regular-season title. It will be time to pack the MLS Shield up and make it ready to travel to its next home.
And if NYRB II does not beat Louisville City, it will be out of the hunt for USL Cup: the trophy it is currently chasing.
But before kick-off against Columbus, before whatever happens on the field, it will be true to say that Red Bull Arena is hosting two reigning champion Red Bull teams in a double-header for the first time in its history.