SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, appeared to fight back tears as it became her turn to cast her vote on HB562 on the Senate floor Wednesday.
The bill sets up a new Utah Fairpark Area Investment and Restoration District that will help oversee major redevelopment planned for the Fairpark neighborhood and forthcoming Power District in Salt Lake City. It also sets up the framework for state funding of a possible Major League Baseball stadium, in a move that ramps up the state’s bid for an expansion team.
“This is going to change completely my community and many lives,” she said, before voting in favor of the measure.
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Escamilla, along with many of her colleagues, believe it’s a home run. The Utah Senate voted 25-4 on Wednesday to approve second substitute HB562, less than 24 hours after the House of Representatives voted 51-21 to advance the bill to the Senate. The bill now heads to Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk for final approval.
It follows a resolution that the Legislature passed last month, supporting Utah’s efforts to bring in MLB.
What the bill does
HB562 sets up a few things. Once signed, it would create a new investment district this year, including a board that oversees it. The area is slated for major redevelopment with the creation of the Power District, which was boosted earlier this month by the Larry H. Miller Company’s announcement that it will invest at least $3.5 billion in the area.
Both votes took place after Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, the bill’s sponsor, unveiled final tweaks to the measure, giving a member of the Westside Coalition a seat on a board overseeing the district. The governor will also appoint two members to the board, as will the Fairpark Authority Board and Utah leaders.
However, most of the interest in the bill has been tied to baseball. Salt Lake City is one of multiple cities vying to bring in an MLB expansion team; ESPN reported last week that it appears Utah’s capital and Nashville, Tennessee are currently at the top of the expansion leaderboard.
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The bill would provide up to $900 million in state funds toward a possible MLB stadium, should Utah land an MLB team by mid-2032. A prospective MLB owner, most likely the Miller Company, would cover the rest of the estimated $1.8 billion project, oversee construction and upkeep, and pay the state a $150,000 per month lease to play in the stadium that the state would own.
A conceptual rendering of a Jordan River “riverwalk” by a stadium in the Salt Lake City Power District. (Photo: Larry H. Miller Company)
This part of the bill generated most of the debate on the Senate floor Wednesday. Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Salt Lake City, said he doesn’t like the “optics of cutting taxes” for a wealthy business while homelessness, child funding, affordable housing and other key issues remain underfunded.
Others have voiced their concerns about the value that a stadium could bring since the bill was introduced. Sports economic experts have produced several studies that show stadiums don’t create much of an economic impact on a community.
But Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, the bill’s Senate sponsor, argues that HB562 isn’t much of a baseball bill. It looks at completely revamping Salt Lake City’s Fairpark neighborhood and west side.
He asserts state funds directed toward the district would essentially be covered by any redevelopment, capturing new sales tax and the increments of property values in an area. The area, he said, doesn’t produce much of either right now since there are many abandoned businesses or state entities in the area. On top of that, the state could generate more from the income tax coming out of any MLB player’s salary, which could go toward repaying the cost of the stadium and district if the state chooses.
The only major statewide tax is a 1.5% increase in car rental taxes that would be triggered if Utah lands an MLB team; however, Fillmore said in-state residents are exempt from this tax as long as they fill out a form proving their residency. Wilcox altered the bill this week, removing a 1.5% statewide increase to the transient room tax that would go toward the project after negative feedback from the hotel industry and lawmakers.
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The bill also guarantees that “Utah” will be included in a future team’s name.
One final vote
It appeared that Utah senators were slightly more welcoming of HB562 than a similar bill setting up a new arena for the Utah Jazz and a possible National Hockey League team in downtown Salt Lake City — even if the body approved both.
Fillmore said HB562 focuses on “meaningful” upgrades to three big state assets: the Utah State Fairpark, the Jordan River and Salt Lake City’s west side, three pieces he believes have been “historically neglected” over time. He noted it only builds on what the Miller Company pledged to invest in the area.
“The economic, social and cultural impact of this investment cannot be overstated,” he said. “As a state and as a capital city, we’ve been looking at ways that we can invest, restore and revitalize these areas.”
Escamilla added that the bill could serve as a “catalyst” for Salt Lake City’s west side communities, something that has never really happened in the area’s history.
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Meanwhile, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, who spoke in favor of the bill when it went through a committee hearing last week, celebrated the bill’s passage. She called it a “major milestone” toward the city’s MLB efforts, in a social media post Wednesday.
“Regardless, what the Millers are going to build will transform the Fairpark and Power District on our City’s Westside,” she wrote. “I’m grateful for our dedicated partners with the (Larry H. Miller Company) and proud of our city’s key seat at the table for the work ahead.”
Cox has until March 21 to sign or veto any bills from this year’s session.
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Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com.
SALT LAKE CITY — The state’s top court is considering whether to allow a defamation lawsuit to move forward over the movie “Sound of Freedom” and its portrayal of a villain in the movie.
On Wednesday, the Utah Supreme Court heard an appeal by Angel Studios, the filmmakers who created “Sound of Freedom” and Operation Underground Railroad founder Tim Ballard. They are being sued by Kely Suarez, who alleges the central villain character in the movie has defamed her and ruined her reputation.
Cherise Bacalski, Suarez’s attorney, said the character of “Katy Giselle” in the film is “a kingpin sex trafficker.”
“And she never was,” Bacalksi said of her client.
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Before the Utah Supreme Court, Bacalski argued Suarez was a college student who was caught up in a raid that Ballard was involved with in Colombia.
A lower court allowed Suarez’s lawsuit to move toward trial. The studio and Ballard have appealed, arguing they are protected under a Utah law designed to safeguard speech and that the film is a docudrama that is “based on a true story.” The justices grilled lawyers for all sides about the level of involvement each party had and whether promotion of the film crossed any lines.
“Here it’s alleged the movie itself was defamatory and Angel Studios is the one who is putting out the movie,” Justice Paige Petersen said during Wednesday’s hearing.
Robert Gutierrez, an attorney for Angel Studios, insisted to the court that while the film may be based on Ballard’s experiences, there were disclaimers in the film.
“The Katy Giselle character was, in fact, a composite character in order to make it a subject matter the viewing public could actually watch,” he argued. “And fulfill the writer’s mission about the ugly truth of child trafficking.”
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The justices questioned where the line is in a “docudrama” or when things are “based on a true story.”
“So under your definition is this a movie of and concerning Mr. Ballard? Or is that they happen to use the same name?” asked Justice John Nielsen.
Gutierrez replied it was a story “inspired by Tim Ballard.” Later in arguments, he noted that Suarez had actually been convicted of criminal charges in Colombia. That was something Bacalski said was not properly before the court and she argued against the veracity of it.
“We also believe the conviction is unreliable, coming from Colombia and really under suspicious circumstances,” she told FOX 13 News outside of court. “That conviction would not likely stand because of the constitutional protections we enjoy in the United States of America.”
Ballard’s attorney, Mark Eisenhut, argued that his client was not involved in the movie-making itself. Ballard was consulted as the film was being created.
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“I do not believe there’s any evidence of him producing, writing, directing, anything of that nature,” Eisenhut argued.
The justices took the case under advisement with no timeline for a ruling. The movie, which starred Jim Caviezel as Ballard, went on to become a box office success in 2023.
“She’s very hopeful our justice system will do her justice,” Bacalski said of Suarez outside court.
Ballard faced a number of lawsuits and accusations of misconduct that led to ties being cut with Operation Underground Railroad, the anti-human trafficking organization he founded. He has denied wrongdoing and filed his own defamation lawsuit against some of his accusers.
Republican Governor of Utah Spencer Cox and Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania spoke in Washington, D.C. They called on Americans to stop using violence against political opponents.
Charlie Kirk murder suspect allowed civilian clothes in court
A judge ruled that Tyler Robinson can wear civilian clothes but must be restrained during court hearings in the Charlie Kirk murder case.
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Two of the nation’s top state leaders who have had close brushes with political violence in 2025 hosted a panel on Dec. 9 where they called on Americans to stop hating their political enemies before it leads to “civil war.”
“We’re passing all the checkpoints, well ultimately towards failed states and things like civil war, I hate to even use that phrase,” said Spencer Cox, Utah’s Republican governor whose longstanding campaign for political unity was thrust into the national spotlight with the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September.
Cox participated in the panel alongside Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, whose house was firebombed in April.
Tuesday’s panel comes at a point where in addition to the killing of Kirk and the firebombing of the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband were killed and another lawmaker and his wife were injured at their homes in June; two Israeli embassy workers were shot and killed in D.C. in May; and a National Guard member was killed and another injured in a shooting also in the nation’s capital in November.
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The pair spoke at Washington National Cathedral, about three and a half miles northwest of the White House.
Early on in the panel, Shapiro called out President Donald Trump for stoking hate in politics.
“When you’re a governor, when you’re a president of the United States, you’re looked to for that moral clarity,” Shapiro said, “and we have a president who fails that test on a daily basis.”
Trump at a rally in September following the killing of Kirk said that he hates his opponents.
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“That’s where I disagreed with Charlie,” Trump said. “I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them.”
Cox closed the panel by calling for a return to a period where political party affiliation took a backseat to aspects including profession or one’s family.
“To my fellow Americans, to my fellow worshipers, whatever it is, whether you’re in a sacred place like this, whether you’re in a synagogue, whether you’re in a mosque, I don’t care where it is, you are are fellow Americans,” said Cox, who has been speaking about the need for political civility since first running for governor in 2020. “We need you now more than ever, this country, if we’re going to make it another 250 years, if we’re going to make it another two point five years, we desperately need you to lay down your swords and treat each other with dignity and respect again.”
The U.’s board of trustees will vote on the matter Tuesday.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
Facing rising costs in college sports, the University of Utah hopes to put the future of its athletics department’s finances in the hands of a new for-profit company backed by a private equity firm.
The U.’s board of trustees will vote Tuesday on whether to approve the deal involving New York private equity firm Otro Capital.
The proposal calls for the creation of Utah Brands & Entertainment, a company to oversee the athletics department’s revenue sources. Otro Capital would be the minority owner of Utah Brands and handle operations such as ticket sales, media, stadium events, concessions, and trademark and licensing matters.
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The U., through its nonprofit University of Utah Growth Capital Partners Foundation, would have majority ownership of the company and Utah Athletic Director Mark Harlan would serve as the chairman of its board. The athletics department would continue to oversee student athletes and their scholarships, coaches, fundraising and NCAA compliance.
Otro describes itself as a company with “deep expertise across sports, entertainment, and media.”
University officials have declined to say how much Otro Capital plans to initially invest because the deal has not been finalized. Yahoo! Sports reported the partnership could bring in more than $500 million in revenue. The U. expects the deal to be completed early next year.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Big 12 Conference logo as the Utah Utes prepare to host the Baylor Bears, NCAA football in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.
Private equity investors have zeroed in on college athletics in recent years.
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In the wake of the House vs. NCAA settlement, colleges can now pay their student athletes up to $20.5 million annually.
That has contributed to significant deficits at schools around the country. Last month, the University of Colorado projected a $27 million deficit for its athletics program. Earlier this year, Ohio State University claimed a $37.7 million deficit.
