Real Salt Lake's 2-1 victory against the Virginia Beach Mariners on Tuesday was a tough one, enduring both a delay for lightning and 30 minutes of extra time.
But the team was struck by an even tougher blow off the field on Tuesday as the Salt Lake County Council voted down a funding proposal for a soccer-specific stadium in a nearby suburb. The proposal would have shifted $30 million in hotel-tax dollars to Sandy city to cover infrastructure improvement costs, but was voted down 5-4.
In response to the down vote, team investor/operator Dave Checketts issued a statement saying the county's actions "puts the future of the club in Utah in serious jeopardy."
Checketts' response is markedly different from his statements made in May after county mayor Peter Corroon denied the team's first stadium-funding plan. In May, Checketts called the county's actions a "bump in the road, not a roadblock," and affirmed his commitment to keeping the Major League Soccer team in Utah.
Real coach John Ellinger said it's difficult for players to keep political considerations separate from play on the field.
"They all know it, and it's a downer," Ellinger said. "You hear statements about moving the franchise and things like that, and for the players its just that unknown. Hopefully, politics will take care of itself, and we can do our part, hopefully we can start helping a little bit more with that part."
Checketts has developed a private funding plan for building the actual stadium. Since Major League Soccer expanded to Salt Lake City in 2005, Checketts has said the development needs to have a funding partnership with the community that includes public money for infrastructure improvements.
His plan for the Sandy development includes a soccer-specific stadium, a hotel and a broadcast studio; he is ready to invest at least $100 million in private money for the project.
In his statement, Checketts said some of the council members "believe, mistakenly, that they have protected the Utah taxpayer. In fact, they have only stood in the way of what would be one of the largest private capital investments ever made in state history."
Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson told the county council Tuesday that investors in both Rochester, N.Y., and St. Louis are making bids for the team. Anderson again made his pitch to move the stadium development to the state fair park in downtown Salt Lake City. His plan, however, has already been denied by Checketts in favor of the Sandy suburb plan.
Whatever Checketts decides to do now, he must move quickly as the team's agreement to with the University of Utah to play at Rice-Eccles Stadium expires after the 2007 season.
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
