SALT LAKE CITY - The vision of Real Salt Lake investor/operator Dave Checketts was to have David Beckham break ground for a new soccer stadium during Real Madrid's visit to Utah.
Saturday, that vision became a reality. Standing shoulder to shoulder, Checketts and Beckham dug up the first shovel fulls for RSL's new stadium in a ceremony that both began construction of the new structure and signaled the team's commitment to staying in Utah.
Although Checketts had gotten no sleep the night before, his disarming smile spread from ear to ear as he tossed the dirt off of his gold-plated shovel.
Afterwards, Checketts got all choked up just thinking about how his dream came true.
"It's just a very emotional experience," Checketts said. "The vision came to pass, and I'm very grateful."
The spur-of-the-moment ceremony was thrown together after a week full of meetings with several Utah politicians. Checketts had called Saturday his deadline: either have a solid public-private funding plan in place and be in the ground before Real Salt Lake's exhibition against Real Madrid, or he would sell the team to an out-of-state investor.
Utah politicos, including governor Jon Huntsman, state house speaker Greg Curtis, Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake County mayor Peter Corroon and Sandy city mayor Tom Dolan took the ultimatum seriously.
Meetings among the elected officials throughout the week delivered a proposal to Checketts late Friday. Checketts agreed to the proposal just before midnight.
"I even surprised my partners," Checketts said. "At the dinner [with Real Madrid players Friday night], I got up and said we are putting the shovel in the ground tomorrow."
Real Salt Lake intends to have the stadium completed in time for the 2008 season. Although the stadium funding plan has been agreed upon by all parties involved, some details still must be worked out. But politicians at the ceremony (Corroon was noticeably absent) seemed dedicated to making it happen.
"One way or another, this deal is going to happen," Anderson said. A left-wing Democrat, Anderson worked hard in conjunction with his right-wing Republican peers to create a deal the team and the various public entities could be happy with.
Huntsman also seemed positive the final negotiations would not derail the stadium deal.
"We are close enough now for all parties to feel a sense of comfort," Huntsman said.
The funding accord must still be approved by the Salt Lake County council, but Checketts said he has assurances the funding plan has enough votes on the council. A similar plan was voted down by the council 5-4 last month. Council members David Wilde and Jenny Wilson reportedly have changed their stance, following Corroon's lead.
"It's not absolutely done, it's still a big act of faith," Checketts said. "But the county has made a very good-faith offer; they have worked hard, they tell me they have the votes on the council to get this done. Particularly Peter Corroon ... wants this to happen, and now I have to trust that he can deliver on what he said he would do."
Checketts' faith in Corroon is a departure from his words after the County council's down-vote last month. Checketts criticized the county mayor and the council, saying they demonstrated a lack of leadership and had no clear criteria for what kind of funding plan they would approve.
Earlier this week, Checketts expressed regret for those words. His contrition, combined with his drive to complete a deal this week, seem to have made the difference. The deal will route a total of $55 million towards infrastructure and other improvements, making way for RSL to commit $100 million towards the construction of the actual stadium.
The $55 million comes from a combination of hotel taxes, redevelopment funds from the Sandy city suburb the stadium will be located in, and from funds previously meant for a parking structure at a convention center across the street. Now, the parking structure will be on the stadium side of the street.
In return, RSL will donate $7.5 million towards a youth soccer complex, build a youth soccer academy in conjunction with Real Madrid, donate $1 million per year towards promoting tourism, contribute 500 tickets per home game to students to promote youth literacy, commit to staying in Salt Lake County for at least 30 years and give the county 50 cents for every game ticket sold.
Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon committed to help RSL build the youth soccer academy at Saturday's ceremony. Checketts said the academy will "be a school and a place where we can bring the best young elite players from this state and surrounding regions and they will get terrific soccer training. And in MLS now, if you do that, you retain the rights to those players, so that's why it's so critical to our future."
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
