Real's plan short of cash?

Real Salt Lake might not be able to pay its debts on an ongoing basis, including generating funds for a proposed new stadium in Sandy, a consulting firm reported after reviewing the team's financial plans.

But the Major League Soccer franchise says the report failed to look at the big picture, including the stadium's potential as a major concert venue.

An independent financial review released Friday predicts that even in the best of circumstances, Real Salt Lake will fall more than $1 million short of paying its debt for the stadium.

In a worst-case scenario, Real would have only $201,000 in the bank to pay off at least $3.3 million in debt a year, according to the report by Economics Research Associates. The report looked only at the stadium's cash flow, not the team's overall operations, including a radio station.

Real Salt Lake leaders believe they can make more than enough money through ticket sales and concerts at the stadium to pay off the debt.

If that doesn't work, the team has a backup plan: additional profits made through Real's profit-sharing agreement with MLS and radio and team operations. In 2009, that amount is projected at $3.7 million.

Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon said finding out if Real can pay off its debts is key to a stadium funding deal.

"That really is what's going to make it or break it," Corroon said. His staff is plugging in both Real's financial projections and ERA's numbers to come up with the county's own model. "We'll see how it turns out."

ERA's report considers Real's business plan a little too ambitious. That was an assumption that team officials knew was coming.

"With all due respect to ERA, their assumptions are, in our view, unrealistically conservative," said Gary Reimer, Real's chief financial officer.

Team owner Dave Checketts believes he can book 11 concerts a year, but the ERA report said at best, the stadium could bring in six concerts.

Joel Peresman, president and chief executive officer of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said Checketts' plan for 11 concerts a year "is easily attainable." Peresman has worked for Checketts in the past, when they both were employed at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Peresman said Checketts and his management team "are uniquely qualified, experienced and have the entertainment-business connections that position them to be able to maximize concert traffic for this new facility."