Real must also get construction plans approved through the council and planning and zoning department before building starts. And the team may have to re-evaluate their stadium completion date of July 2008, said team CEO Dean Howes. The team also needs to find a permanent practice facility.

Even St. Louis, the team that aimed to buy Real and give it a permanent home near the Illinois metropolis, is outlining its next move.

Jeff Cooper, managing partner of Simmons Cooper, who has been trying to buy the team and put it in St. Louis, said Thursday that although he's disappointed Real won't call St. Louis home, he's working on getting a franchise team for the city.

"We were never here to steal a team or run off with anyone's soccer team, but when Sports Capital Partners (Checketts' company) and Real Salt Lake was left with no other option but to move, we thought St. Louis was the best option," he said. "But this is the best outcome for Real Salt Lake and for soccer."

St. Louis jumped in the race to win a Major League Soccer team shortly after Corroon denied stadium funding. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson also resurrected his back-up plan to put the stadium at the Utah State Fairpark, which was shot down as a stadium site in 2005.

Despite the team not choosing to build the stadium in Utah's capital city, Anderson said an MLS team in the state will make Utah a "world-class community"

"Well, whatever anyone thinks of the process, the end result is a Major League Soccer team in this community, which is absolutely fantastic," he said.

Decision not unanimous

Over a dozen Real team players came in suits to the team's Thursday afternoon press conference and were thrilled over the decision to stay put in Utah.

"My family and I wanted to stay here in Salt Lake City. We want to make our future here in Utah," said team captain Jason Kreis, whose wife and two boys live in Salt Lake City with him. "It's been a big talking point among the players. Now we can focus on our pre-season."

Utah first lady Mary Kaye Huntsman has recruited several members of the soccer team to participate in her "Power in You" program aimed at helping build self-esteem in Utah youth. And several Real players have spent time at the Governor's Mansion as friends of the Huntsmans' oldest daughters.

Her influence on the governor's decision to take over the effort to seal a deal with Real was mentioned by Checketts, who said the team would not be here without her.

Gov. Huntsman said soccer is "the sport of 21st-century America and a new generation. What the world knows as the beautiful game will now know it has a permanent home in the beautiful state of Utah."