Real could be sold as early as Friday; Corroon refuses stadium funding

Bye-bye, Real Salt Lake.

Team owner Dave Checketts told Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon Monday he could sell the team as early as Friday. The surprise announcement came just after Corroon told Checketts the county refused to invest $30 million in a soccer stadium for the team in Sandy.

The team will likely play one more season at Rice Eccles Stadium before moving on to a new city and new owner, Checketts told KSL Newsradio's Doug Wright this morning. Team officials said a statement will be released later this afternoon with Real's reaction to Corroon's decision.

Corroon said he would like to see the team come up with another way to fund the stadium.

"If anybody wanted this to work, it was me," Corroon said. "I'd love to see the team stay here. Bottom line, it didn't make sense."

Corroon called the $30 million in hotel taxes an "unsafe investment," since the team could easily default on bills with only minor shortfalls in ticket sales.

Corroon also based his decision on a recommendation from the county's Debt Review Committee that the team is not financially viable. The committee found that Real wouldn't have enough money to pay its $3.3 million in yearly debt obligations in four out of the next seven years.

"When the risk is such that it's gambling, we just didn't want to take that gamble," Corroon said. "This is an unsafe investment for the county."

Now the state might take the gamble.

House Speaker Greg Curtis said Monday he might redirect the hotel-room tax legislation directly to the soccer stadium, but only if other legislators agree.

"I kinda feel like the lone legislator. I'm one out of 104 — I've got to get 53 people to say, 'Hey that's a good idea,' and I haven't even tried yet," Curtis said.

He has a blank bill, Transient Room Taxes Amendments, that he says would direct the county on how to spend the hotel-room tax money, as well as urge county leaders to finally start construction on a parking garage at the South Towne Exposition Center.

Leftover money not used on the parking garage could possibly fund an expansion at the Hogle Zoo or a TRAX line to the Salt Lake City International Airport, Curtis said. Curtis has threatened in the past that if the county didn't fund the soccer stadium, he might push to redirect hotel-tax dollars to the airport TRAX line.

But Curtis isn't giving up yet. He said he still might make a last-ditch effort in these last four weeks of the legislative session to find a way to fund the soccer stadium.

Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan said he was frustrated he had to hear the news from reporters instead of Corroon himself. Even so, he wasn't surprised by the news.

"I'm sorry there is no vision in Salt Lake County government," Dolan said. "It's unfortunate. It sends a message that we're not willing to bring major league sports here.

"That's a detriment to the entire community."

---

E-MAIL: ldethman@desnews.com