Salesmen for Real Salt Lake insist Utah's Major League Soccer team will score with the public. But the question may be moot unless voters agree.

That's because soccer officials may call on Salt Lake County residents to foot $30 million - half the cost - for a soccer stadium.

"We don't look at it as a for-profit venture," Trey Fitz-Gerald, senior director of marketing and communication for Real Salt Lake, said Thursday. "We hope that in the long range. But there are numerous community benefits once the stadium would begin operating in the black."

Under the team's proposal, either Salt Lake City or Murray - the leading contenders for the stadium - would front the $5 million to $15 million tab for the land. Some of that money is expected to come from Redevelopment Agency coffers.

To build the 22,000-seat stadium - the exact location is expected to be announced early next year - team executives estimate a $60 million to $65 million additional cost. They intend to fund half but want to raise the other half through a voter-approved general obligation bond.

Real CEO Dean Howes says the team must average 16,000 fans per home game to make the venture viable. The team hopes to net roughly 7,000 season-ticket holders, sell 5,000 in group tickets and draw another 4,000 in walk-ups and promotions for its 20 to 22 home matches.

Single-game tickets would run from $9 to $25.

Fitz-Gerald notes the stadium also could be a year-round venue staging more than 100 events annually, including concerts, conventions, prep playoffs, World Cup qualifier games, even an appearance by teenage soccer sensation Freddy Adu.

A team-commissioned poll showed 43 percent of Utahns say they are very likely or somewhat likely to attend a Real game. The majority would be played at 7 p.m. on Saturdays throughout the April-October season.

For at least the first two seasons, though, Real - pronounced "Ree-al" and meaning "regal" in Spanish - will play at the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Salt Lake County Council members have met with club executives but have not made any agreements. The earliest voters could face a bond at the polls would be November in a special election.

Josh Ewing, a team consultant, acknowledges many Utahns know little about Major League Soccer. But he says residents appreciate the value of national and international exposure after the 2002 Winter Olympics.

"If we were coming with our hand out to give us 100 percent financing, I think our chances would be pretty low," he said. "But our first season will do a lot to inform people about the value of this to the community."

The team estimates the franchise will pump $180 million into the economy in its first 10 years, along with $29 million in tax revenues.

But a $30 million bond could be a tough sell, competing with a potpourri of possible projects: an aquarium, open-space purchase and Salt Palace Convention Center expansion.

"We just did the planetarium, the children's museum and ZAP passed. But, even in Salt Lake County, there's a breaking point," says Salt Lake County Councilman Joe Hatch, who nonetheless is intrigued by the soccer pitch. "This would have to be one incredible deal for it to pass."

Mayor-elect Peter Corroon says he is receptive to the stadium bond as long as it doesn't jeopardize the county's triple-A bond rating.

As the process unfurls, Ewing says the franchise will schedule town hall meetings and open forums to answer questions.

"We will focus very intently at every step on talking about it with the public," he says. "We are cautiously optimistic that we can earn their trust."

County Councilman Russell Skousen wants to proceed with caution. "As we get farther and farther away from the core services we provide Salt Lake County," he warns, "the justification for bonding diminishes as well."

djensen@sltrib.com