Glitz aside, focus on details

Saying no is difficult when the most popular athlete in the world is in town, ready to turn a shovel of ceremonial dirt, and even one of Hollywood's most celebrated couples has flown in to enjoy a game that was, hands down, the largest soccer event in the history of the state.

Even the most ardent opponents of public funding for a new soccer stadium in Utah have to admire Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts' salesmanship. The hype surrounding Saturday's game between his club and the much-celebrated Real Madrid, with its bigger-than-Michael-Jordan star David Beckham, was thick enough to cut with a scepter. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were just icing on the cake.

We'll take Checketts' word for it when he says he didn't know until the last minute whether a stadium agreement would be made in time for his self-imposed deadline on Saturday. But he certainly was responsible for bringing in a show that put the pressure on.

In the end, however, even Checketts himself may have been carried away by all the glamour. Saturday's "agreement" contains few details on how the funding will work. It leaves many questions unanswered. It was, in Checketts' words, "a leap of faith" on his part to announce the team was staying.

And after the end, now that the celebrities have left and the cheering is through, the public is left knowing it will be forced to pay for something that simply shouldn't be a taxpayer responsibility. Yes, hotel-room taxes are paid by visitors, not by locals. But those taxes should be used to promote tourism and pay for the services they use, and now governments will have less freedom to do so. Sandy's $15 million share will be in redevelopment funds, which means schools and other public entities will not receive the extra money they normally would from such developments. Not for many years, anyway. Rocky Anderson's 11th hour conversion to the deal was an interesting effort to grab money for some Salt Lake City projects.

Obviously, it's too late to oppose a stadium deal. After last Saturday's hoopla, we doubt anyone could back out. The emphasis now should be on crafting details that will be the least damaging to taxpayers.

That means supporting Mayor Peter Corroon's assertion that public money should go only toward infrastructure, such as sidewalks and sewer connections. It also means moving the parking garage next to the county's convention center, not next to the stadium. Otherwise, convention-center patrons will be left having to cross busy State Street on a daily basis.

It means some tough negotiating in the months ahead, away from the bright lights and celebrities.