July Major League Soccer announces plans to bring a team to Salt Lake City.
2005
January Salt Lake City leaders say they are willing to purchase land for a downtown soccer stadium and consider using public money from the city's redevelopment agency (RDA) for the project.
April Real Salt Lake kicks off its first season in the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium.
May The city of Sandy bids on the soccer stadium with the promise of sharing a $20 million parking garage between the soccer stadium and the South Towne Exposition Center. Salt Lake City pitches the Utah State Fairpark as an alternative location.
October Real Salt Lake releases plans for a "Real City" in Sandy. The project includes a 20,000-seat stadium, a hotel and a broadcast studio.
2006
March The Utah Legislature passes two separate bills allowing public dollars to be spent on development of a soccer stadium.
May Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon denies Real's funding plan, which called for $35 million from the county in hotel-room tax dollars.
June Sandy pitches a revamped funding proposal to the county that, including debt service, would require $71 million in county hotel taxes and $25 million from a Sandy RDA.
July 11 The County Council rejects Sandy's funding plan. Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan says a soccer stadium is dead in Sandy.
Aug. 11 Corroon resurrects the stadium idea and pitches a funding plan that would direct $40 million in hotel taxes to the stadium, with Sandy chipping in $15 million in RDA dollars.
Aug. 12 International soccer superstar David Beckham and his teammates from Real Madrid turn golden shovels of dirt at the stadium's official ground-breaking.
Oct. 3 Salt Lake County leaders hire an independent consultant to review the team's finances before signing a deal for public funding.
2007
Jan. 5 Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, says the stadium deal is dead and files a bill to redirect hotel-room taxes from the stadium to other projects.
Jan. 19 A review by an independent financial consultant concludes that even in the best of circumstances, Real won't be able to pay the bills.
Jan. 26 The county's Debt Review Committee says the team is not financially viable.
Jan. 29 Corroon decides that giving $30 million to the team is an "unsafe investment" and stops all negotiations with the team. With that decision, team owner Dave Checketts says he is "weighing his options" which include selling the team. Real will play one more year at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Checketts says.
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