Good stadium decision

Some interested parties may cry foul over the Salt Lake County Council's 5-4 vote to reject a proposal to use $30 million in hotel-tax dollars to cover infrastructure costs for a soccer stadium for Real Salt Lake. Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan has charged that the vote was anti-Sandy.

Or was the package — which also included $45 million for projects in downtown Salt Lake and $15 million for recreational facilities in Magna and West Valley City — too costly and not in the public interest? Whatever the rationale, the County Council's decision was a victory for county taxpayers, who according to public opinion polls have opposed funneling tax money to the proposed stadium. It also buoys the intended purpose of hotel-room taxes, which is to promote tourism and provide services to visitors.

To hear Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts tell it, the County Council not only killed the Sandy stadium proposal, it turned its back on an accompanying $650 million mega-development — shops, restaurants, condos and offices — near 9400 South. Seemingly, if the market were to bear such a development, it would come to pass independently of what occurs with the soccer stadium. There is such a large critical mass of people on the south end of Salt Lake County that the area is prime for development. It may have happened sooner under the scenario Checketts and Dolan envisioned, but if investors were willing to back it now, such a development could be every bit as lucrative in the future.

Meanwhile, two other proposals are pending, one by Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson to build a soccer stadium at the Utah State Fairpark, and another by Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson that envisions Real Salt Lake remaining at Rice-Eccles Stadium for a few years. Anderson's proposal would require tax revenue, too, although substantially less than what was envisioned in the Sandy deal. Wilson's proposal isn't ideal in terms of the team's control of facility or the stadium's bonding arrangements, but it makes sense in terms of making little public investment until the long-term viability of the soccer franchise can be determined.

The other subplot is the potential for Real Salt Lake to move out of state.

All of this means that the stadium fight is far from over.

In the aftermath of World Cup play, it is evident that there is growing interest in European football in the United States. Television ratings were up 180 percent over the 2002 final in Japan.

But having interest in the sport and partially bankrolling a private concern are two different matters. Seemingly, Real owner Checketts has the means to be a player in the professional sports world. In recent months he's purchased the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League and has committed $7.5 million toward a 30-field youth soccer complex in the county. Does he really need $30 million in public funds to cover infrastructure costs for his 20,000-seat stadium? The answer would appear to be obvious.

Credit the County Council, under great political pressure, for what was, essentially, a solid business decision on behalf of taxpayers and the state's tourism industry.