This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

David Beckham may be headed to Los Angeles, but much of Major League Soccer's brass is focused this week on Salt Lake City.

League president Mark Abbott - also the author of the MLS business plan - is in town. Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts makes his second trip from New York in a week. And, MLS Commissioner Don Garber made it a priority to phone The Salt Lake Tribune from Mexico to weigh in.

The issue, of course: whether Salt Lake County will approve a contentious $110 million Sandy stadium deal, which could be decided in the next few weeks.

The county's fiscal consultant and its Debt Review Committee are poised to deliver financial findings - meetings are planned today, Friday and early next week - as parties on all sides sense that an answer to the stadium saga finally is near.

However it goes, the DRC will face major-league pressure during its meetings with executives from both the team and the league perched less than a throw-in away.

"We're very hopeful that this moves in the right direction," said Garber, traveling in Mexico with Chivas USA. "We very much believe in this team. We believe in the city. We believe in the state. We do believe in Dave Checketts. We are pleased with the success he's had so far, but we need to take that to the next level."

With that, a warning of sorts from the commissioner.

"It is very difficult for me to imagine how [RSL] can stay in the market without some sort of plan for a future stadium," Garber added.

He made it clear there is no shortage of cities vying for expansion markets. Should Checketts & Co. get bad news this month, Garber says the MLS board will huddle to consider its next move.

Thing is, the nine-member DRC, which likely controls the stadium's fate, is a far stretch from the politicians frequently posturing in news stories.

These are number guys. And they're serious. Think bond yield, spending tests, draw schedules along with positive and negative arbitrage and you get an idea.

Checketts and Garber are calculating that the numbers are on their side. But once the DRC gives its recommendation, final approval still must come from county Mayor Peter Corroon and the County Council. And each has rejected - and embraced - RSL once before.

- Derek P. Jensen