3/26 News

[Deuce]

Real Salt Lake is committed to the community

By David W. Checketts

Salt Lake Tribune



Let me be clear - Real Salt Lake, Major League Soccer and Sports Capital Partners are here to stay and committed to this community. We are committed to bringing world-class entertainment to our region. We are committed to creating the flagship sports organization in the United States, an internationally recognized brand equal to that of Manchester United, Real Madrid and the New York Yankees.

When we brought MLS to Utah a little more than a year ago, most considered that an average of 10,000-12,000 fans per game would qualify RSL as a success; however, our extraordinary fans made us second in league attendance, averaging 18,264 during our inaugural season.

When the Utah Legislature passed HB371 and Gov. Jon Huntsman signed it last week, Utah took a huge step toward enhancing our state's reputation as a world-class place to live, play and visit. We will create "Soccer City USA" right here in Utah by building a world-class soccer stadium that will put us center stage, as the world's most popular sport continues to grow in America.

We are in the midst of creating the necessary private-public partnership with Salt Lake County government leaders. We have worked with various public officials to form "a coalition of the willing" to create a win-win opportunity for everyone concerned.

Last summer's World Cup Qualifier, attended by nearly 40,000 fans, saw visitors from around the world bring $13 million worth of economic contribution to our community. At every game, RSL attracted more than 5,000 fans from outside Salt Lake County.

The Tribune recently called our assurances that the team will not leave "empty promises." A $90 million investment, on top of the $30 million already invested to bring MLS here and operate a world-class organization, is not an empty promise. A recent Dan Jones poll indicated that 59 percent of residents approved of RSL using public funds, taken from tourist taxes, to buy land and build infrastructure - an arrangement similar to what built the Delta Center 20 years ago. The initial investment by the public will attract significant private dollars that otherwise might not be entering our state.

Compare this to what is happening in other cities: In suburban Chicago, the city of Bridgeview is paying for 100 percent of the MLS stadium project with public funds; in Toronto, the new MLS team will only pay $8 million for its $70 million stadium. In our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., more than a half-billion dollars worth of public monies are being put up for the Nationals. Locally, both Franklin Covey Field and the E Center have been 100 percent publicly funded.

RSL and the stadium provide an aspirational destination point that creates an appropriate home for soccer at all levels, for both genders, as well as for concertgoers and lacrosse and rugby fans, etc. This project thrusts us into international prominence and brings numerous benefits to all of Utah.

---

David W. Checketts is principal owner of the Major League Soccer team, Real Salt Lake, and founder of Sports Capital Partners.

[Deuce]

This guy needs to get his facts straight...

If you want someone to give you money, it helps, as every teenager approaching a parent knows, to create a sense of crisis and emergency.
If I can't have it now, I'll die!
And so Real Salt Lake, the local soccer team with a venerable one-year tradition behind it, approached the Salt Lake County Council last week to say that funding plans need to get settled quickly because construction must begin by August.
To which, as any parent knows, the proper response is, Says who? And if it doesn't begin, what then?
The implied answer the council got could be termed the nuclear response.
If I don't get it, I'll leave home!
Or, in this case, the team will move elsewhere.

[RSL Punk]

Yeah, Jay Evensen finally pissed me off enough. Here's the letter to the editor I just sent (we'll see if they print it):

Well, here we are again: another week, another anti-stadium editorial from the Deseret Morning News. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop; unfortunately, I doubt it ever will. Because, of course, the other shoe is the logical extension of Jay Evensen's mantra that "stadiums are bad tax investments," that is, that we should ask for our money back. If in fact Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, or the state of Utah have made bad investments in the Delta Center, Franklin Covey Field, the Park City winter sports complex, the Kearns speedskating oval, the Ogden ice sheet, why isn't the Deseret Morning News demanding that that money be repaid, with interest?

The reason is, of course, that Mr. Evensen's argument is a red herring. Mr. Evensen quotes an economist saying that the only public investment with less returns would be a cemetary. I can think of a whole bunch of "public investment" with fewer monetary returns, including roads, schools, and libraries. Yet we still fund those, and for good reason: they have a return that might not be fiduciary, but is palpable all the same. Stadiums, zoos and public parks all have returns in quality of life that the Deseret Morning News is consciously ignoring. The question that remains is why? The elephant in the room is named Larry H. Miller. I understand that it is good public policy to kowtow to the rich and powerful. I only wonder why the Deseret Morning News, who seem to have a good grasp otherwise on what is good, capitalistic practice, seem to want to perpetuate the LHM Group's continued monopoly on the entertainment choices of the Wasatch Front. Why should the playing field which was level when Larry Miller received $20 million to build the Delta Center now be tilted so that Dave Checketts can't get any money to build his soccer stadium? Does the Deseret Morning News not believe in fair competition? I eagerly await the Deseret Morning News' monumental flip-flop when Larry Miller decides in five or ten years to bring a Major League Baseball team to Salt Lake City. It will be interesting to see how quickly public investment in stadiums becomes a wise use of taxpayer funds.

[Loyal1]

excellent response!

[the cup]

Dave is a good man, a wise man, perhaps even a sexy man.

I love these comparisons.

"Compare this to what is happening in other cities: In suburban Chicago, the city of Bridgeview is paying for 100 percent of the MLS stadium project with public funds; in Toronto, the new MLS team will only pay $8 million for its $70 million stadium. In our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., more than a half-billion dollars worth of public monies are being put up for the Nationals. Locally, both Franklin Covey Field and the E Center have been 100 percent publicly funded."

[AreliusIV]

Originally Posted by RSL Punk

Yeah, Jay Evensen finally pissed me off enough. Here's the letter to the editor I just sent (we'll see if they print it):

Well done!

[bordelais7]

The irony that both articles were printed on the same day is just good stuff.

Glad to see Checketts taking some action.

[dysko]

Originally Posted by RSL Punk

Yeah, Jay Evensen finally pissed me off enough. Here's the letter to the editor I just sent (we'll see if they print it):

Great response... very well put!

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by Deuce

Real Salt Lake is committed to the community

By David W. Checketts

Salt Lake Tribune



Let me be clear - Real Salt Lake, Major League Soccer and Sports Capital Partners are here to stay and committed to this community. We are committed to bringing world-class entertainment to our region. We are committed to creating the flagship sports organization in the United States, an internationally recognized brand equal to that of Manchester United, Real Madrid and the New York Yankees.

When we brought MLS to Utah a little more than a year ago, most considered that an average of 10,000-12,000 fans per game would qualify RSL as a success; however, our extraordinary fans made us second in league attendance, averaging 18,264 during our inaugural season.

When the Utah Legislature passed HB371 and Gov. Jon Huntsman signed it last week, Utah took a huge step toward enhancing our state's reputation as a world-class place to live, play and visit. We will create "Soccer City USA" right here in Utah by building a world-class soccer stadium that will put us center stage, as the world's most popular sport continues to grow in America.

We are in the midst of creating the necessary private-public partnership with Salt Lake County government leaders. We have worked with various public officials to form "a coalition of the willing" to create a win-win opportunity for everyone concerned.

Last summer's World Cup Qualifier, attended by nearly 40,000 fans, saw visitors from around the world bring $13 million worth of economic contribution to our community. At every game, RSL attracted more than 5,000 fans from outside Salt Lake County.

The Tribune recently called our assurances that the team will not leave "empty promises." A $90 million investment, on top of the $30 million already invested to bring MLS here and operate a world-class organization, is not an empty promise. A recent Dan Jones poll indicated that 59 percent of residents approved of RSL using public funds, taken from tourist taxes, to buy land and build infrastructure - an arrangement similar to what built the Delta Center 20 years ago. The initial investment by the public will attract significant private dollars that otherwise might not be entering our state.

Compare this to what is happening in other cities: In suburban Chicago, the city of Bridgeview is paying for 100 percent of the MLS stadium project with public funds; in Toronto, the new MLS team will only pay $8 million for its $70 million stadium. In our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., more than a half-billion dollars worth of public monies are being put up for the Nationals. Locally, both Franklin Covey Field and the E Center have been 100 percent publicly funded.

RSL and the stadium provide an aspirational destination point that creates an appropriate home for soccer at all levels, for both genders, as well as for concertgoers and lacrosse and rugby fans, etc. This project thrusts us into international prominence and brings numerous benefits to all of Utah.

---

David W. Checketts is principal owner of the Major League Soccer team, Real Salt Lake, and founder of Sports Capital Partners.

Can anyone actually find this?

I just looked for it on the Tribune website so I could quote it in a blog entry... but it appears to have vanished from their site. Very interesting!

If anyone can find it please post a link. thanks.

[StarsOnSunday]

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_3639728
There you go Deuce.