Here is a look, in 10 easy steps, at the long, strange journey the team took to its new home in Sandy:

1. THIS IS THE PLACE FOR MLS Former Utah Jazz President Dave Checketts snags a contract in July 2004 to bring a Major League Soccer team to Salt Lake City. He vows to build a soccer-specific stadium.

2. TEAM WINS DEBUT AT THE U. Real Salt Lake leases the University of Utah's 48,000-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium until it can build a more intimate home of its own. In its April 2005 home debut, RSL edges the Colorado Rapids, 1-0, before more than 25,000 cheering fans who endured long ticket lines and basked in the carnival-like atmosphere. "I loved it," said an enthusiast from Bear River City. "There was so much energy and enthusiasm."

3. STADIUM SWEEPSTAKES HEATS UP Murray, pitching a site near the 4400 South TRAX station, and Salt Lake City, offering the Utah State Fairpark and some downtown blocks, emerge as early favorites for a 20,000-seat RSL stadium. Even developers in Utah County pursue the venue. But Sandy quietly peddles an alternative spot kitty-corner from the South Towne Expo Center.

4. SANDY SCORES A GOOOOOAL Sandy beats out other competitors in the great stadium chase, in October 2005, luring RSL south with promises of public funding and ample land to develop a mega-Gateway "super block" with hotels, restaurants and shops around the soccer venue.

5. DEAL FIZZLES, CHECKETTS FUMES In July 2006, Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan declares the project "dead" after Salt Lake County rejects an early proposal to funnel $30 million of county hotel taxes to the stadium. Checketts says the team's future in Utah is in "jeopardy" and decries the county as dysfunctional and Mayor Peter Corroon as the "King of England." Corroon fires back that "it's not smart to insult community leaders" and notes that the RSL owner's tirade represents a "Harvard case study on how not to do business."

6. ROCKY RESCUES SANDY'S STADIUM Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson becomes an "unlikely hero" in the stadium saga, salvaging the deal by persuading the county and RSL officials to compromise in August 2006. RSL agrees to kick in $7.5 million toward youth sports fields planned in northwest Salt Lake City. The capital mayor joins Dolan and Checketts in Sandy to hoist golden shovels with soccer superstar David Beckham for an impromptu groundbreaking. Checketts calls the still-to-be-finalized compact "a big act of faith."

7. RSL THREATENS TO BECOME REAL ST. LOUIS Corroon buries the stadium deal - again - deeming it too "risky" in late January 2007, after a lengthy review of RSL's financial plan by an outside firm and the county's debt review team. Checketts threatens to sell the franchise, and a St. Louis group pursues the team. Corroon, burnishing his emerging image as a guardian of the public purse, declares that Salt Lake County's "integrity is not for sale."

8. RSL 'HERE TO STAY' Days later, Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and legislative leaders unveil a plan to save the stadium and keep RSL in Utah, touting the Sandy facility as an engine for economic growth. The Legislature passes a bill Feb. 8, 2007, that channels $35 million of county hotel taxes to land, parking and infrastructure for the $110 million stadium - although the measure's original sponsor abstains. Sporting RSL scarves on Capitol Hill, Checketts calls it a "blessed event" and Huntsman declares the soccer team "is here to stay." Sandy pledges up to $15 million - the final amount ends up being $10 million - of redevelopment funds toward the project. RSL agrees to build an elite soccer academy in Utah, contribute $7.5 million to Salt Lake City's planned youth sports fields and assist with economic development in Sandy and the state.

9. REAL CONSTRUCTION KICKS OFF Ground work on the stadium site at 9256 S. State St. begins in spring 2007. Opponents of the stadium's public-funding package organize as Get Real Utah and try to force a voter referendum on the deal, but fail to gather enough signatures. RSL celebrates the "topping out" of steel in December 2007. At a nearly completed stadium in July 2008, the team announces it will host the 2009 Major League Soccer All-Star Game.

10. GAME ON - IN SANDY RSL, contending for a playoff spot, falls in its final game at Rice-Eccles Stadium before 26,000-plus fans Sept. 20. A little more than a week later and coming off a key road victory, the team announces a naming-rights deal that will christen its Sandy home Rio Tinto Stadium after the mining company, which owns Kennecott Utah Copper, agrees to a multimillion-dollar accord. RSL now awaits its inaugural match Thursday in its new Sandy digs in a nationally televised showdown against the New York Red Bulls.

rwinters@sltrib.com"