Salt Lake goes global

Shortly after being awarded a Major League Soccer franchise earlier this year, one of the names owner Dave Checketts tossed around for the expansion franchise was Real Salt Lake.

"It stirred something in me the first time I heard it," said Checketts.

Names like Alliance, Olympic and Highlanders were all given consideration, but after much discussion with staff members, Checketts went with his gut.

In front of an estimated 2,500 soccer-crazy fans at a Rice-Eccles Stadium open house, Checketts unveiled Real Salt Lake (pronounced RAY-al) as the much-anticipated identity of the franchise.

"I had a little trouble making up my mind," said Checketts. "It was a process of months, but I knew I needed an international name for soccer."

Real means royal in Spanish and is modeled after Spain's most popular team, Real Madrid. Checketts has been working with Real Madrid ownership in an attempt to form a partnership, and those discussions are still ongoing. Madrid is currently the club team of England's David Beckham, France's Zinedine Zidane and Brazil's Ronaldo.

"We are thinking globally in our vision and aspirations; bringing an MLS team to Salt Lake inserts us into the international sports community," said Checketts. "The name Real Salt Lake demonstrates our organization's passion and respect for soccer's heritage."

In addition to CEO Dean Howes, general manger Steve Pastorino and head coach John Ellinger, Checketts was joined in the announcement by other dignitaries, including Gov. Olene Walker, Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson and Salt Lake County Acting Mayor Alan Dayton. All expressed their excitement about professional soccer's arrival in Utah, and Dayton even jokingly threw his name into the mix as a potential player.

Walker joked about forming her own fan club, "Grandmas for soccer."

The team colors are claret red, cobalt blue and real gold, very similar to Real Madrid's.

Opening day for the 2005 season is just six months away, but ticket sales are already well under way. Season-ticket sales were already over 500 entering Saturday's festivities, and judging by the response at Rice-Eccles Stadium, those numbers are likely pushing 1,000 without much of a marketing push yet. To find out more about season tickets, visit realsaltlake.com, or call 1-877-MLS-UTAH.