Sponsors of the petition drive have set up a Web site, www.getrealutah.org, where instructions are provided for those who want to sign a petition. If the group gains enough certified signatures, the governor will decide when a vote will take place. That referendum could either be during the next regular election on Nov. 4, 2008, or in a special election on June 26, 2007; Nov. 6, 2007; or June 24, 2008.

A representative from Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr.'s office did not return calls for comment Friday evening.

Dolan said Sandy is not nervous because Real lost a major investor. He said the new investor, which was secured quickly, is a multibillion-dollar firm and was one of the original investors that Real was considering.

"There's no money from the state or the city (for Real) until they have their money together," he added.

Goldman Sachs isn't completely out of Real's future business plans. Gelfand said Goldman Sachs is still interested in investing in the second phase of the stadium project — a planned development around the stadium that would include retail and office space, as well as a hotel. Phase one of the project would include the 42-acre soccer stadium, but phase two would be a 136-acre mega-development where the stadium would sit.

Currently, the team is also having trouble with a parking plan around the site at 9256 S. State. Thursday night, Sandy's planning commission recommended that $10 million the city has pledged to use toward infrastructure on the site not be given to the team until crucial parking problems are solved.

"We're worried about the residents, we're worried about the pedestrian traffic, we're worried about the flow in and out of the stadium," commissioner member Max Burdick said.

Per the state's $35 million funding package, $20 million must be used for 1,000 new parking stalls within a five-minute radius of the stadium. The majority of the other spots would be temporary spots within a five- to 15-minute walk from the stadium. How to funnel 21,000 soccer fans from the stadium to their cars is of concern to Sandy city staff and elected officials.

Real is looking at various options to quickly and safely clear out the stadium after games, concerts and other events. A parking garage was widely talked about earlier as the biggest parking option, but because of space limitations and land costs, Real is focusing on surface parking at this point.

However, that is a temporary plan, said Randy Sant, Sandy's economic-development director, and the city is still looking at how to build a parking terrace between the Real site and the South Towne Expo Center.

"The developer has 10 million reasons to make this work. And that is because he's asking the city to participate in $10 million worth of tax-increment bonds," Sant said.

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E-mail: astowell@desnews.com; ldethman@desnews.com