Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV polls show the majority of Utahns believe the Legislature should not have given Real public money.

"The people in the state had to remind the Legislature that when you do these things, cut deals and what not, there was going to be some activist in the state that would get started," he said of Swedlund.

But until the state reports the amount (their deadline is April 24), no one is really sure how many signatures Get Real Utah has actually garnered.

Early petition drive efforts listed the count at 35,000. But Swedlund had some eight to nine boxes of petitions he sent all over the state to anyone that stepped up to distribute, making it literally impossible to keep track of how many have been collected so far. Those petitions are being sent directly to the respective county clerks for certification, then to the state for final checks.

Swedlund took a week off work in March and drove across the state in a 13-county tour to collect signatures. He's spent hundreds out of his own pocket (the whole effort has cost $2,000) and thinks, if anything, "we've had a little impact on them."

He points to a slew of full-page color ads that ran in the Deseret Morning News, detailing terms of the stadium deal. Then there's the Web site Real has set up to combat what it calls misinformation about the stadium package, www.rslstadium.com.

In an interview Thursday, Real owner Dave Checketts said those ads are part of "Real Week," the week leading up to the first home game of the season, which happened Saturday. He noted they were to clear up confusion surrounding funding.

"There had been enough misinformation that we were obligated not to fight anybody," he said, "but inform the state."

Checketts points out that the money is not being taken away from schools, but from a tourism tax that is collected mostly from out-of-state residents.

"I know it's part of the political process," Checketts said of the referendum. "They certainly have a right to do what they feel is right. What I'm concerned about is there is a lot of misinformation about this project."

Sandy city is also combating the confusion. Shortly after those signatures are tabulated on April 24, Sandy plans to send out mailers explaining the stadium funding. In May, the city will also have available a 30-minute DVD.

"I know we've made a political change," Swedlund said. "I know it."

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E-mail: astowell@desnews.com