Salt Lake gets Real while South Jersey gets nothing

The MLS had two big happenings over the weekend. The first one saw Real Salt Lake ink a 10-year deal with Real Madrid. This deal "includes the joint training of young players and games between the American and Spanish clubs every other year."

In addition, "Real Madrid will also help build a soccer academy in Salt Lake City for up to 200 players."

That is wonderful news for US soccer in general and Salt Lake specifically. Not only will Utah get to see one of the giants of international soccer every 2 years, but also the kids will be brought up in a solid training system.

If anyone in the area still doubts RSL's owner Dave Checketts commitment to this team and the area, they are obviously not looking at the facts.

But as Utah rises, South New Jersey sinks. The deal with Rowan University that was to include a professional soccer stadium located in the Philadelphia area is on hold for now.

New York-based Milestone Group was picked to build the stadium and had an "option to buy the Kansas City Wizards and move them to New Jersey." However, due to the delay, both deals had to be sacked.

MLS will now entertain options from other groups about bringing a team to the area.