RSL Owner Defends Himself

None by KCPW

Agrees to $7.5 M "No Strings Attached" Donation

(KCPW News) ReAL Salt Lake Owner Dave Checketts called a press conference yesterday to clear his name and set the record straight about his team's promises of financial support to a youth sports complex in Salt Lake City. KCPW's Julie Rose reports:

 

Responding to what he calls a "smear campaign" by Salt Lake City officials, ReAL Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts now says he will contribute seven-point-five million dollars to a youth sports complex with no strings attached.

Recently Mayor Rocky Anderson and organizers of the sports complex have claimed that Checketts suddenly began demanding naming rights and other revenues in exchange for the donation. Checketts provided handwritten notes and draft agreements to show those items were part of negotiations for more than a year.

But Checketts says he doubts Mayor Anderson will admit he's wrong, so the team has decided to drop its demands and simply make the seven-point-five million dollar donation to Salt Lake City within 30 days. That money will release a 15-million dollar voter-approved bond for the project. Since construction costs have risen, the sports complex proposal contains far fewer fields than originally planned.

Checketts says he no longer wants ReAL associated with the project because he thinks it's no longer the world-class facility voters were promised. The team will not practice on the fields, nor will they build a youth soccer academy nearby.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW