The Tourism and Sports Authority, which will select the site for the 73,000-seat stadium, has informed two of the five communities vying for the stadium that they have serious issues with their proposals. The site in downtown Phoenix doesn't appeal to the TSA because it doubts that the site could be purchased and prepared in time for an August construction start date, and the site along the Mesa/Tempe border would cost the TSA too much to build on.

If neither site can sufficiently answer the TSA's concerns they will be effectively out of the running for the voter-approved stadium.

Backers of the downtown Phoenix site say they will have a purchase agreement with the owner, Union Pacific Railroad, in place by the time the TSA makes it final decision in mid-February. They also say that the site has no serious contamination issues, that clean up could be completed by June.

The plan for the site on the Mesa/Tempe border, at the southeast corner of Loop 101 and Loop 202, puts too much direct risk on the TSA. The TSA figures it could end up costing as much as $160 million to prepare the site. The proposing cities are required to absorb the cost of preparing the sites; the TSA only has funds to build the stadium itself. But backers of the plan say they can re-tool their proposal to the satisfaction of the TSA.

Tempe addressed more than 40 questions the TSA had about the site the city has proposed near the Tempe Town Lake. Tempe proposed on-site parking and shuttle access to nearby parking, and pointed out that the soon-to-be-built light rail system would run immediately adjacent to the new stadium.