Progress at Real Salt Lake
So many people have talked about the progress at RSL, myself included, some say it can be seen in the way the players have been playing, some say that getting our first win 9 weeks earlier than the first win last year is progress, but there is one place where no one can deny the progress. It is down on 92nd and State St in Sandy, you can see if from the freeway, and if your driving on State Street, you can’t miss it.
(thanks for the photos Jake)
So for all the complaining, finger pointing, bad politics, and other drama on both sides of the use of $35 million in TRT taxes to help fund the infrastructure of the new soccer stadium in Sandy, one thing is true. Progress is being made and soon the stadium will be hosting matches and generating revenue for local business. I have taken a tour of the stadium and it doesn’t seem like there will be a bad seat in the place. I will be taking another tour in a couple weeks and I will post more photos from that visit, if you want to track the daily progress you can check out the webcam at http://www.rslstadium.com.
Sponsors Announced
Recently RSL announced some of the partners who will be part of the stadium experience, names like Sony, Budwieser, and other local, regional and national brands. Here is a summary of their involvement from the official press release:
- America First Credit Union, the 13th-largest Credit Union in the country, becomes the initial regional company to incorporate their brand into the RSL Stadium. America First will prominently support Real Salt Lake throughout the 2008 season at its current Rice-Eccles home, as well via numerous broadcasting and grassroots efforts.
- Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser, the world’s foremost sports sponsor and a charter Major League Soccer partner, will present adult fans with a fun-filled venue to watch the match from the RSL Stadium Club presented by Budweiser
- FIJI Water, the first ‘carbon negative’ bottled water, will present the Stadium’s “Green Suite,” outlining and exhibiting both Real Salt Lake’s environmental initiatives and FIJI Green, the company’s comprehensive effort to mitigate global climate change
- Pepsi Bottling Group, another MLS partner since 1996, will provide its stable of beverages, which account for nearly one-third of total drink sales in the United States.
- Sony Electronics provides the backbone for all digital signage throughout the Stadium, integrating its unparalleled quality and technology into the venue’s VideoBoard, LED ribbon-boards and flat-panel displays in the Club, Suites, Press Box and Concourse areas
All of this came just days after the selection of Levy Restaurants is the Stadium’s restaurateur and concessionaire, adding Real Salt Lake’s home to a hallowed roster that includes Lambeau Field, Wrigley Field, Staples Center and Churchill Downs, among several dozen others. While the main naming sponsor of the stadium has not been announced yet, on the heels of these partnerships, I expect that it will be another great relationship (let’s hope the selection won’t result in a horrible nickname like the Energy Solution’s Dump, or Dick’s).
Stadium drama in Houston
Now if we remember back to all the drama with Peter, Uncle Dave, Rocky, and the host of other people involved, things got nasty, personal, and very unprofessional on all sides of the issue. A lot of misinformation circulated and has resulted in bad feelings and a lot of division between supporters of the stadium and RSL, and those who didn’t want money spent on the stadium.
Three years ago issues with stadiums caused one of the league’s most successful on pitch teams to relocate from San Jose to Houston, the shame is that the drama around that team has not died down. First there were issues with the name selected by the fans, which some consider racist, now the team and community are still trying to get a stadium deal done, but despite promises made when the team moved, some changes in the ownership group.
I recently found an article on usscoccerplayers.typepad.com, that discusses the stadium issue in light of local politics, as well as how it impacts MLS and how it is perceived. The issue is so heated in a town that has either built or helped in the building of stadiums for the NFL, MLB, and NBA, that some are saying because soccer is a sport supported by latinos that not funding while funding in whole or part other stadiums (more expensive ones at that) may be driven by issues of race. For all the issues and problems we may have encountered, they are nothing to compare with the issues in Houston.
It would be a real shame if the team has to move once again, in order to find a community willing to partner with a soccer team the way they so often are willing to do for other professional sports. One only needs to look at the new stadium being built in Dallas for the NFL’s Cowboys to see the extremes, over a billion dollars will be spent on a stadium for a team that will play eight home games a year, and a big chunk (over 300 million dollars) is being paid by local tax funding from increases in hotel taxes, rental car taxes, and even a sales tax increase. The league is also contributing 150 million to the project, and Jerry Jones the teams owner is picking up the rest, but rumors have it that he may be asking for more help from other sources.
Summary
Progress, no matter the issues being faced in other cities, or the issues in the past of our own stadium, it is being built, progress can be seen, and I believe in the end it will be a great facility that will allow RSL to continue to host events like international matches with teams like Real Madrid, US national team matches, as well as state and local events. RSL has been directly responsible for the two largest sporting events in Utah since the 2002 winter Olympics, both the Real Madrid match in 2006 and the US vs. Costa Rica World Cup qualifying match in 2005 brought visitors from around the US as well as from nations around the world. Now having a world class venue to host those events, will allow RSL to continue making a mark on the local economy.
OFF MY SOAPBOX
This entry was posted on April 24, 2008 at 1:49 pm and is filed under The soapbox. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.