Utah
Utah Legislature approves ‘milestone’ bill creating Fairpark district, MLB stadium framework
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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Welcome to the NHL On Tap, a daily look at the games on the NHL schedule. There is one game on the schedule for Sunday, which will be televised nationally in the United States and Canada.
Game of the day
Utah Hockey Club at Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN4, NHLN, Utah16)
Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares have all stepped up for the Maple Leafs (12-6-2) in the absence of captain Auston Matthews and look to continue the trend against Utah (8-9-3) at Scotiabank Arena. Marner has 12 points (four goals, eight assists), Nylander nine points (four goals, five assists) and Tavares eight points (four goals, four assists) in the seven games without Matthews, who is out with an upper-body injury. Toronto has won three in a row and is 6-1-0 without Matthews, who skated prior to practice Saturday and said he could return from an upper-body injury this upcoming week. Marner leads Toronto with 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) in 20 games and has points in six of the seven games Matthews has missed. Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Wall made 31 saves in a 3-0 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday for his first shutout of the season and second in the NHL. Utah is playing the second game of a back-to-back for the first time in team history and will look to build on a 6-1 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Dylan Guenther had two goals and an assist, and Clayton Keller had three assists, helping Utah end a three-game losing streak. Goalie Jaxson Stauber could make his Utah debut after being recalled from Tucson of the American Hockey League on Wednesday; the 25-year-old has not played an NHL game since Feb. 22, 2023, with the Chicago Blackhawks. No. 1 goalie Connor Ingram has missed the past two games with an upper-body injury.
It takes a complete football team to win a championship. Iowa State is finding that out with each passing week.
Seemingly left for dead in the heated Big 12 Conference race, the Cyclones now find themselves one win away from competing for the league title following a thrilling 31-28 victory over Utah Saturday night.
Iowa State (9-2, 7-2) reached the nine-win mark before a bowl game for the first time in program history, and could end one of the longest droughts in NCAA history by reaching 10 wins. The Cyclones and Vanderbilt are the only remaining Power 5 programs to never reach 10 wins, as Indiana did earlier this year.
After taking a 24-13 lead on Utah midway through the third quarter, the Cyclones needed a rally, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 91 seconds to go. The defense forced a missed field goal to seal the win.
Here are three stars from Iowa State’s win over Utah:
Known for his power running, Carson Hansen showed off his arm on a key third-down trick play that led to his second rushing touchdown. Hansen, a sophomore, took a halfback pass and found Gabe Burkle for a 26-yard completion.
That put the ball at the Utah 3 and Hansen would plow his way into the end zone on the next play for the game-winning points. He finished the night with a team-high 57 yards on 14 carries to go along with the 26-yard pass while also catching two balls for another 28 yards.
At 6-2 and over 220 pounds, Hansen is the thunder to Abu Sama’s lightning. He now has 11 rushing touchdowns on the year to go along with 560 yards after rushing for just 67 last season as a freshman.
Anytime Rocco Becht needed to make a big play in the passing game, he looked in the direction of Jayden Higgins. And Higgins stepped up for his quarterback, who was not quite as sharp as he typically has been.
Higgins finished with nine receptions for 155 yards and a touchdown, surpassing 1,000 yards for the season. The 6-foot-4 senior out of South Miami became just the seventh different Cyclone to reach the number after missing out last year with 983 yards.
With at least two, and maybe more, games to go, Higgins sits sixth on the school’s single-season list for yards with 1,015. Hakeem Butler is first with 1,318. Higgins and teammate Jaylin Noel, who has 976 yards, are set to become the first Cyclone teammates to eclipse 1,000 yards in the same season in school history.
Higgins is also just two yards away from becoming just the 10th Iowa State receiver to reach 2,000 career yards, joining the likes of Allen Lazard, Xavier Hutchinson and Charlie Kolar, along with Noel.
It’s been a difficult season in regards to injuries on both sides of the ball for Iowa State. But the defense has really been hurt with Malik Verdon out.
Verdon, a junior, recorded a team-leading 12 tackles including a sack, as the Cyclones held Utah to just 99 yards of total offense through three quarters.
And while the Utes were able to finally put together sustained drives in the fourth, when they needed to make a play, Iowa State did. Verdon went out for a short time after appearing to reinjure his arm that has a cast due to a hairline fracture, but would return to the field later in the fourth.
The Iowa State football team has two weeks to solidify themselves and possibly land a spot in the Big 12 championship game in December.
Part one of the two-piece series starts Saturday night, as the Cyclones (8-2, 5-2) make a visit to Salt Lake City to play Utah (4-6, 1-6).
Sitting a game behind co-conference leaders BYU and Colorado, Iowa State is in position but on the outside looking in for the time being. They also have red-hot Arizona State to contend with, as the Sun Devils have quickly climbed the standings and sit tied with ISU.
Utah has dropped six straight since starting the season off 4-0 as preseason favorites to win the Big 12. Of those six losses, four have been decided by eight points or less. Last Saturday, though, they suffered a 25-point setback to Colorado.
Along with several tough losses, the Utes have been without star quarterback Cam Rising since the losing skid began. Rising is out for the season following multiple injuries, as Isaac Wilson – the brother of NFL QB Zack Wilson – has replaced him.
Iowa State and Utah have a bit of a history, playing each other five times between 1970-2010. The Cyclones won the first four meetings between the two while the Utes won the most recent, claiming a 68-27 victory. Utah was undefeated and ranked 10th in the country during that encounter.
The oddsmakers have the Cyclones set as a 6.5-point favorite. ESPN’s FPI puts them at just over 63 percent to win the game.
Here are the details on how to watch, stream and follow Iowa State’s game at Utah on Saturday night:
Iowa State at Utah TV Channel, Live Stream, Odds
Who: Iowa State at Utah in a Big 12 football game
When: 6:30 p.m. CT | Saturday, November 23
Where: Rice-Eccles Stadium | Salt Lake City, Utah
Live Stream: Stream Iowa State-Cincinnati live on fuboTV (Start your free trial)
TV Channel: FOX
Betting Odds: Iowa State is favored by 6.5 points. Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportbook
Our Prediction: Iowa State 24, Utah 10
Live Updates, Highlights: Follow the game on Iowa State on SI for live updates, in-game analysis and big-play highlights throughout Saturday’s matchup.
* Latest betting odds for Iowa State
* Matt Campbell talks up the Utah defense
* Cyclones right back into contention in wild, wild Big 12
*Three stars in Iowa State’s win over Cincinnati including Stevo Klotz
*Complete game recap of Iowa State’s win over Cincinnati
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