Beware of big league plans

Imagine Salt Lake City with not only the Utah Jazz, but a Major League Soccer team, an Arena Football League club or even a Major League Baseball team.

Then imagine a team leaving town, and taxpayers being stuck with the bill for a vacant stadium.

Both scenarios could become a reality. It's intriguing, exciting and fantastic — not to mention frightening. That's the price of luring professional teams these days.

As Salt Lake becomes increasingly visible, and metropolitan population hovers around 1.5 million, the drumbeat of progress increases.

Some believe the time could be right to add a second or even third big-league team. If Portland, Norfolk and Las Vegas are considerations for new sports teams, why not Salt Lake?

This is the city that made the Jazz a success.

Already Salt Lake has professional (but not major league) soccer, baseball, football and hockey teams. The next step is to add a second big-league team.

This is, however, where Utahns should read the warning label: Proceed with caution.

No one wants buyer's remorse.

Recent reports have said Major League Soccer is seriously considering Salt Lake as an expansion city. Likewise, the AFL — a step down from the NFL — is looking this way. Though there have been no formal discussions regarding baseball, one New York writer suggested the Mets move to Salt Lake. That's good with us. Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. You can send along your .500 baseball teams, too.

Utah will welcome them with open arms.

But most big-league teams nowadays want a place in which to play at taxpayer expense. They want little or no risk. Thus, municipalities have been footing the bill to bring in or keep big-league teams. Sometimes those teams and arenas don't turn a profit, and the owner is tempted to leave for a sweeter deal elsewhere, leaving taxpayers with a stadium they paid for. The risk lies in getting stuck with an empty or money-losing facility, as well as long-term payments on the stadium's construction.