Tim Buckley of the Deseret Morning News asks Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller to respond to rumors that he may be interested in buying Real Salt Lake from owner Dave Checketts. Miller’s answer, an emphatic “no,” was overshadowed by the manner in which he slammed Checketts for his clumsy handling of the situation.
“This particular plan, in my opinion, is very ill-conceived,” he said, adding that while Checketts had compared his proposal to raise funding for a soccer stadium to the basketball arena Miller built with public funding in 1991, there were big differences: “Two major counts: Our plan to repay the debt … will be fully paid off in three years; he has no plans to repay any debt. And I brought my money to the table, and it was demonstrable. So, those are the two key things – and he hasn’t done either.”
Miller cast aside the takeover rumors by pointing out that Checketts had vowed several months ago to never work with him. “[While] Checketts was going on one of his diatribes, somebody said, ‘Well, have you thought about Larry Miller?’ and he said, ‘I will never sell this team to Larry Miller,” When he heard that, Miller says he turned to his wife and said, “Thank goodness.” He reiterated later that he’s not against soccer coming to Salt Lake City, but the plan “has got to have more substance.”