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John Daley ReportingThe ReAL Salt Lake team is investing plenty of money in Saturday's game with ReAL Madrid and fans will be here from all over. As for the future of ReAL Salt Lake, the team's owner is giving mixed messages, but says we'll know for sure this weekend.
Saturday, ReAL Salt Lake plays namesake superpower ReAL Madrid. In soccer parlance, it's just a friendly exhibition, but don't be confused into thinking there's nothing on the line. The world's most famous athlete, David Beckham, is in town, and team owner Dave Checketts says he wants a deal for a new stadium by then.
Dave Checketts, Owner, Real Salt Lake: "It is a real deadline and I have nothing to report as of now."
The team is investing lots of money and political capital for this one game, including 120-thousand dollars to install a temporary grass field at Rice-Eccles. That on top of the cost to bring the team here, which is well over 1 million dollars. 70 Utah politicians...have been invited to see the match.
It all sets the stage for a big announcement, though Checketts told KSL's Doug Wright today, he's ready to sell the team if there's no deal this weekend.
Dave Checketts: "We really have gone far enough. We've done everything in our power."
Meantime, tickets have been sold to fans from 26 states and 13 nations, as far away as Argentina and Saudi Arabia. Last year's World Cup Qualifier brought $13 million dollars in out-of-state economic development, about 820 dollars a person, and the team expects the same from the ReAL Madrid visit.
The game comes at the same time 20-thousand people are here for the Outdoor Retailer convention. Salt Lake County's 17-thousand hotel rooms are sold out and fans are having to go as far away as Layton, Utah County and Park City to get a room.
Scott Beck, CEO, Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau: "I think this is about as big a demand as you get, outside of the Olympics."
With those two events, this is likely the biggest weekend for economic development since the Olympics. Checketts said today, all but 5,000 of the 45,000 tickets available have been sold.
