All is quiet at county headquarters, councilman Joe Hatch said.

"Nobody seems interested," Hatch said. "If there is a deal to be cut, I suppose they are doing it on their own."

Checketts says he's raised nearly $100 million in private contributions to fund the stadium. Over time, Checketts has asked for up to $45 million in public dollars. Hatch whittled that amount down to $30 million, but the council voted it down in July.

All along, Checketts targeted Aug. 12 as the deadline to finalize stadium funding, and not coincidentally, that is the same date as Real Salt Lake's exhibition match against Real Madrid at Rice-Eccles Stadium. He had wanted international soccer star David Beckham to ceremoniously shovel the first pile of dirt on the new stadium, but Checketts said that won't happen now.

For Checketts, one of the most upsetting parts of the stadium fiasco is those who question his intentions.

"I've done everything I said I would do. I brought the team here, I've underwritten all the costs, and now with our team of people, we've succeeded in bringing one of the greatest teams in the world to play here and be here all week," he said. "If that doesn't demonstrate to everyone involved that I'm serious about this being a long-term presence here, then I don't know what can."

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