Could political ideology keep Utah Royals FC from returning to NWSL?
Utah's pro women's soccer team was on track to rejoin the National Women's Soccer League in 2024. But the state's ban on abortions following the overturn of Roe v. Wade may present new challenges.
Good morning, and thank you for spending part of your day with Own Goals, the official newsletter of the Salt City FC podcast. Your support for this newsletter is valuable, even essential, for us to continue doing what we love: this is, shining a spotlight not just on Real Salt Lake, but on soccer on the Wasatch Front and in Utah.
If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to the newsletter either in your email or in the Substack app. And share the newsletter with your friends, on social media, or even by word of mouth. Every little bit helps as we try to build a community of soccer fans across the Wasatch Front.
We’re sticking in the National Women’s Soccer League today, where Utah hasn’t fielded a club since Utah Royals FC dissolved the franchise in December 2020 and uprooted the roster to Kansas City as part of the club currently known as the Kansas City Current.
But you’ll remember when the Royals were dissolved, the NWSL kept a clause in their contract saying that after previous owner Dell Loy Hansen had sold his stake in the organization to another investor, that group would have exclusive rights to re-launch the franchise, including the original name, logo and branding, no earlier than 2023.
When David Blitzer and Ryan Smith bought RSL, its affiliate Real Monarchs and Rio Tinto Stadium and the Zions Bank Real Academy earlier this year, both new owners publicly expressed support for reviving the Royals’ franchise. The question wasn’t if Utah Royals FC would return to the Salt Lake area; it was when.
“When” is still the biggest question six months later.
Last month, newly appointed NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman told ESPN’s Jeff Kassouf that the league has heard from “over 30 investor group” about expansion in 2024, and that Utah remained squarely on the table as one of two teams likely to join the NWSL at that time. According to the report, multiple sources around the league are “already operating under the assumption of Utah’s return.”
The 12-team league is actively looking to add two more teams by 2024, with further expansion also under consideration following the success of newcomers Racing Louisville, Angel City FC and the San Diego Wave.
Sources close to the RSL organization also confirmed to Salt City FC that the club is preparing to re-launch the Royals in the NWSL. But the timeline remains a concern, according to several sources.
Yes, the return of Utah Royals FC would be a welcome boon for the local fanbase, which has always been a women’s soccer hotbed in the exploding soccer market that is Salt Lake City. The Royals regularly drew over 10,000 fans per game — second in the league behind Portland — and large crowds also flock to women’s soccer games at BYU and the University of Utah, to say nothing of Utah State, Weber State, Utah Valley, and other colleges, high schools and massive club tournaments around the Beehive State.
But in addition to ESPN’s reporting of a proposed $2 million expansion fee agreed upon under the previous commissioner and previous deals having increased, the logistics of a relaunch are also being considered by the RSL organization, as explained to Salt City FC. Yes, the club still has Rio Tinto Stadium and even a state-of-the-art locker room dedicated to the Royals’ return. But adding a new franchise also requires support staff and personnel, administrators, athletic trainers, marketing and public relations — and, of course, the process of hiring a head coach and 2-3 assistants to compete in the league.
That can all be done with time, which may help explain why Berman told ESPN that expansion in 2023 is “definitely off the table.”
Now another issue may complicate the timeline for the Royals’ re-emergence, and one that has nothing to do with soccer. The political climate since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month to remove the constitutional protections on abortion and overturn the decisions of Roe v. Wade has led to likely abortion bans in nearly half of the states, including Utah. Some states have begun limiting birth control options and procedures such as in-vitro fertilization on the merits of anti-abortion legislation, even.
As soon as the court overturned Roe, Utah triggered SB174, which “prohibits a pregnant woman from receiving an abortion,” with limited exceptions including rape, incest and the endangerment to the life of the mother and/or child. A judge has placed an extensive ban on the law while a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood works its way through the courts.
Some players have already vocally expressed concerns over playing on teams based in states with abortion bans. That will be something to monitor as well, for current teams and those joining anew in the coming years while bans and their various challenges advance, both legally and legislatively.
Utah isn’t the only state with an NWSL team, or potential team, with a potential abortion ban from state legislators. Texas, which houses the Houston Dash, has effectively banned abortions, and Racing Louisville still plays in Kentucky, where a ban is also being challenged in court. The state of Florida, home to the Orlando Pride, has banned abortions after 15 weeks.
All of them are being eyed carefully by the NWSL, Berman told the Associated Press.
"It's one of the things that we're actually currently analyzing, which is looking even at our current markets to see where we have some differentiation between our values and what we stand behind relative to where we have teams located, and what are the solutions we can put in place that we feel comfortable we can commit to and execute on," Berman told the AP. "Certainly in the context of expansion, that would be part of the analysis."
Other states have also begun passing legislation involving abortion bans and even actions with states that have begun passing such bans. California, for example, has restricted state-funded travel to other states with what it deems “anti-LGBTQ+ legislation” — a list that includes Utah (as well as Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana, et al).
The biggest impact on sports will come to college teams in California, which won’t be able to use state funds to travel to any of these states — think UCLA traveling to face Utah or Arizona State in the Pac-12, or the same school’s impending move to the Big Ten and traveling to Indiana.
Obviously, private schools, as well as most (all?) professional sports teams won’t be affected by such a ban (assuming they don’t receive state funding in any way for such travel).
A UCLA spokesperson explained it to Matt Brown’s Extra Points newsletter in the following way:
Should UCLA compete or recruit in a banned state, in compliance with the law, none of the costs for travel to that state will come from state funds. In addition, if a team competes in a banned state, student-athletes and staff will receive education about the relevant California law, the law at issue in the destination state and given the choice to opt out of the travel with no risk of consequence.
(Coincidentally, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is also challenging UCLA’s move to the Big Ten, blasting the Bruins for their lack of transparency with the University of California board of regents, on which he sits).
How will any of these challenges end up? Will they effect sports in their state, on any level?
We’re not sure how any of it will. But it’s definitely something that bears watching — especially for fans of Utah Royals FC who have been waiting to get their team back.