Anti-stadium bill passed

dysko · 03-04-2005, 12:20 AM

Utah kisses any chance of every luring another profession team to Utah good-bye

bordelais7 · 03-04-2005, 12:39 AM

That article hurt my stomach 🙁

Rover · 03-04-2005, 12:45 AM

The mayor's being too dramatic on this, but then we're talking about Rocky Anderson. He put all he had into making this stadium deal work, and he's been slammed by the RDA bill.

This certainly doesn't kill MLS in Utah. It will obviously push back the timeline on the stadium, but it's not the end.

My opinion is that the push for public funding on such a large scale was not a good approach. Especially in a region that's spent quite a bit on facilities over the past few years (remember the Olympics?). The timing just wasn't good, and MLS is not a well enough known commodity to get taxpayers on board quickly. This bill is not good for RSL, but it makes political sense.

Does anyone think that if, say, Major League Baseball were proposing a Salt Lake franchise that public funding would be found for stadium construction? Some would say yes, but in the current climate I doubt it. This isn't so much about soccer as about who controls public spending--and scoring political points, of course.

The question now is whether Uncle Dave can find investment partners locally (or nationally) to go for putting up stadium money. I was surprised at how hard he was pushing for government money for the stadium since any faltering by politicians would effectively kill the deal. So it's back to the drawing board.

The comments by Dean Howes are encouraging, but I think it's time to get beyond a plan that seems to center on "educating residents . . . about the benefits" and take a hard look at how to build a stadium with minimal public funding.

It's not over folks. There's always another way.

dysko · 03-04-2005, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rover

This certainly doesn't kill MLS in Utah. It will obviously push back the timeline on the stadium, but it's not the end.

This is not the impression I intended to give. I know MLS is here for the long haul, but it kills the future chances of big time sports in Utah.

A decade or two down the road when MLB is looking to expand and some one proposes Utah, the discussion will go something like this...

"So how bout that proposal from Utah?"

"No, last time they tried to build a stadium the legislature got its butt in gear and passed legislation to kill the proposals that were on the table. And that was for a nickles and dimes little project for 17 time MLS champs RSL."

"Oh, yeah, right bad idea. Nice that they had some success though. Aren't they running some kind of world record sell out streak? But we could never build a stadium there ours just cost so much more than Utahns are willing to shell out. Nice Stadium they got when they finnally got it done."

"Let's see, why don't we expand to Pocatello Idaho instead?"

A little bit tounge in cheek, but you get the general idea... Soccer is my first love, but I love all sports and this is a huge setback for professional sports in Utah for a long, long time.

SoccerPrime · 03-04-2005, 06:10 AM

I agree that this isn't good. Hopefully if this is really the death-null for public funded stadiums in Utah, Checketts can get some big checks from local businesses and businessman.

Definitely not a good thing, but lets not get too negative.

Jose Luis Luviano · 03-04-2005, 08:21 AM

The only Cleveland having a worse year than Steve Cleveland is Cleveland, Ohio.

The Mistake By The Lake spent millions on new stadiums for the Browns, Indians and the Lebrons.

What did it get them?

The highest poverty rate in the country.

So if we have to play in a stadium with no beer and plastic grass for a few years before we move into the 17,000-seat, privately-funded Cookie Jar (Mrs Fields Field) over on Redwood, not near a Trax line; then that's the price we have to pay for not having my job move back to California because my employer didn't want to pay property taxes at a Santa Clara County level to fund a new yard for the Salt Lake Twins.

Aero · 03-04-2005, 08:28 AM

I knew that all of the stadium talk before now was a little optimistic. Things like this are never done as easily as it seemed when they were first talking about it. In the end, it will just make us appreciate it all that much more because we will have fought to get it. Things will be okay in the long run.

Rover · 03-04-2005, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dysko

This is not the impression I intended to give. I know MLS is here for the long haul, but it kills the future chances of big time sports in Utah.

... Soccer is my first love, but I love all sports and this is a huge setback for professional sports in Utah for a long, long time.

Understood. That's the way I read it, but I figured we also want to get ahead of the inevitable negative reaction to the RDA bill from RSL fans and paint the big picture. Forgive the mixed metaphors--it's still early here in SoCal.

Salt Lake is a longshot for any other major league sports anyway, at least anytime soon. Baseball struggles in small markets--and by small I mean San Diego with its 2.5 million+ people, not counting Tijuana. The NFL is tapped out, and would look at bigger cities first (and the line is long). I guess the NHL would be a possibility since the Delta Center is already here--if there still is an NHL.

No doubt the bill is unbelievably shortsighted; aren't RDA funds for, well, redevelopment?

What it means is that a downtown stadium is now unlikely. A downtown site would need RDA to get it started. We're probably now talking about a more remote site--more along the lines of what the cRapids are working on in Commerce City.

I'd like to see the RSL FO put their energies into building a quality stadium with as little public assistance as possible. That means a more spartan facility, for sure, but I know I'd prefer something that could be expanded and improved over time than RES for the next 20 years.

We lost a battle, but not the war. Getting a stadium built is always tough. We can still get it done.

clarette · 03-04-2005, 09:37 AM

I feel like we should start taking up a stadium collection or something...

I get paid on Monday, so I might be able to ante up ten bucks or so!

mckid · 03-04-2005, 09:58 AM

Does anyone else find it ironic that the bill was sponsored by a representative from a city that would not be affected by a stadium built in Salt Lake? Building a stadium with Salt Lake or Murray RDA funds would not affect that representatives city in the least! No?

Oh, I can give my $10 for the fund next week.