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May 05, 2006
Ignorance piled upon ignorance may doom Salt Lake stadium
It looked as though Real Salt Lake's stadium plans were sailing smoothly through the political process but oh my, how things have changed.
Here's a quick run-down of events, in chronological order:
- April 28: A Salt Lake County Councilman proposes a change to the stadium financing deal that would allow the city of Sandy to retain ownership of the land on which the stadium is built. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that "such a scheme would free up county leaders to spread the bulk of new hotel-tax revenue between recreation projects and downtown tourism initiatives," rather than spending it on the stadium.
- The same day, April 28, the Salt Lake Tribune runs a story on a growing legal tussle over public disclosure of Real Salt Lake's financial records. The paper reports that, "County officials are ready to release the papers, but RSL attorneys are blocking them. On Thursday, the team's lawyers vowed to appeal the county mayor's decision to honor an open-records request from reporters and community activist Stephen Pace. That appeal prevents disclosure of the data - for now." RSL's argument is that public disclosure of their financial records and future projections would allow competing sports and entertainment companies an unfair advantage. The paper quotes Mike Jerman, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, in reply: "If Real is going to have their hand out for 40-plus million dollars, taxpayers deserve some proof that their financial plan is viable."
- April 29: The Salt Lake Tribune, which received the documents through an unnamed source, runs a story detailing Real Salt Lake's financial record and future projections, much to the consternation of team officials. The 1,000-word piece paints the team's projections as "rosy," and a councilman is quoted as saying that RSL's projected increases in attendance are "different than what I understand the league has experienced to date."
- May 2: In a story headlined, "RSL cheers its crowd, near tiniest in league," the Salt Lake Tribune rips the team for celebrating the sale of its 6,000th season ticket for 2006, a 1,000-seat increase from their 2005 debut season. You may be wondering how a paper could criticize a team for selling that many season tickets, which surely must be among the leaders in MLS. It's because "that milestone represents 2,000 fewer tickets than the franchise's own business plan projected for 2006." The paper goes on to criticize the team for being tenth in attendance—"out of a 12-team league," the paper adds dramatically—after their first two home games. (We will note that their analysis which determined that two home games was a statistically significant sample was not included in the article, but we will save the rest of our comments for after the timeline.)
- Also on May 2, the paper notes that Salt Lake County officials are upset that a rumored exhibition match featuring the real Real, Real Madrid, is being scheduled for BYU's stadium in Provo rather than at RSL's usual home field at the University of Utah. Get a load of these quotes from the article: "It's really shockingly stupid," Councilman Joe Hatch said. "The lack of sensitivity from the pooh-bahs of Real. . . . It's like saying, 'Please, don't fund us.' They're chowderheads."
"It's a joke," said Councilman Michael Jensen, noting the team frequently touts the $7 million in economic benefit generated by last summer's World Cup qualifier at the University of Utah... Councilwoman Jenny Wilson is disappointed RSL would even consider the move. "It shows a lack of judgment." If the game goes south, so too could a funding deal, according to Doug Willmore, the county's chief administrative officer. "If the World Cup exhibition is going to be in Provo," he said, "it's unlikely [RSL] is going to get funding from Salt Lake County for a stadium in Salt Lake County." - May 3: Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon announces that he is breaking off negotiations with RSL over the stadium.
In a remarkably short period of time, RSL's work to build a new stadium has turned into a complete fiasco.
What's really sad about this situation is that it is clearly one borne of ignorance, with additional layers of ignorance thrown on for good measure. The problem appears to have started with a member of the Salt Lake County Council, who looked at RSL's projections, MLS's history, and filtered them through a mind that knows too little about American soccer. The conclusion drawn, that RSL's projections are pie-in-the-sky numbers designed only to win public financing, is sadly incorrect.
To begin with, the league's finances are going to change dramatically as new stadiums are opened for Chicago, New York, Colorado, etc. Add to that the growing interest in the sport and the widely-held belief that professional soccer is reaching a tipping point, as we pointed out last fall and Business Week magazine echoed in a story published May 1.
It's unfortunate that the Salt Lake County Council could not make a proper analysis of the data before them but the Salt Lake Tribune's handling of this issue has been even worse. They are under the mistaken impression that they have uncovered a major story, that RSL and what the paper assumes to be their cooked numbers have set out to defraud Utah taxpayers. They now seem to be pursuing the story in full crusade mode, trying to create controversy so that they can pump up newspaper sales.
Sadly, what all of the accusers don't know about soccer could fill a book—a very large book, with many volumes. (One of the chapters in one of those volumes would also point out that world-class teams like Real Madrid never play exhibition games on plastic grass, like they have at Rice-Eccles.) It's clear that if this situation is to be righted, the Salt Lake soccer community is going to have to do their part to make their voices heard.
As for Councilman Joe Hatch, who refers to "the poo-bahs at RSL" as "chowderheads," we have one question: How unprofessional can you possibly be? The mind boggles. We can only guess that your constituents are profoundly embarrassed at your performance.
Posted by Jay at May 5, 2006 11:13 AM
Comments
Seems like the politicians in Salt Lake are about as visionary as those in San Jose. The tragedy is having to involve politicians in the first istance. Still, with Checketts leading the charge I would expect something to get done.
Posted by: Colin at May 8, 2006 01:24 PM
Public financing of stadiums or arenas is a bad public investment. It doesn't matter what sport it is, what city, or what league. I would challenge anyone to cite an instance where taxpayer investment in a stadium or arena has made a decent return.
Posted by: Casey at May 9, 2006 06:59 AM