Final negotiations on the deal are expected to conclude before the legislative session wraps up. If the negotiations fail, Curtis has a bill ready that would take the county's power to spend the hotel-room taxes on the stadium and redirect the money to fund a TRAX line to the Salt Lake City International Airport or an expansion at the Hogle Zoo.

Both county and team officials hope Curtis' bill goes nowhere. To prevent that, the County Council voted Tuesday to pressure staff to finish a review of the team's finances so a decision can finally be made.

"If we don't do it quickly, this is over," said councilman Joe Hatch. "There is a short timeline left. I'm not willing to pound the nails in the coffin yet."

Checketts admits the deal is taking too long. But he refuses to assign blame for the delay, when the deal is almost done.

"It would be hard for me to point a finger at anyone when I believe we're pretty much there," Checketts said. "It's not constructive. My only focus is to get the deal done with the county."

An independent financial consultant is meeting with the team and county today for an informal question-and-answer session before completing its final review of the team's finances. The final report on Real's business model is expected to be completed next week.

Checketts said the consultant will likely criticize several aspects of the business model, calling some projections "ambitious." One aspect under fire is the 15 to 20 concerts Checketts believes the stadium will host a year. Team officials project an average attendance of 17,500. But if that many people don't show up, Checketts said there is a "cushion" to make sure the project's debt is paid off.

"I don't think our assumptions are ambitious," Checketts said. "This is what we do. It's not a new business for us."

Once the independent analysis is completed, the county's Debt Review Committee must perform its own analysis on the team's finances before the deal can be approved by Mayor Peter Corroon and the County Council.

If all goes well, the team has plans for a July 4, 2008, opening match against Real Madrid.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com