Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn joins Utah Royals FC ownership group
The 39-year-old three-time Olympic medalist announced Thursday she has joined the group led by David Blitzer and Ryan Smith in purchasing a share of Utah's NWSL franchise.
The next chapter in Lindsey Vonn’s historic life will bring her to Utah Royals FC.
The former three-time Olympic medalist alpine skier announced Thursday that she has acquired an ownership stake in the National Women’s Soccer League franchise based in Utah.
Vonn, 39, joins an ownership group led by Utah Jazz chief owner Ryan Smith and David Blitzer, the Philadelphia 76ers executive whose Global Football Holdings includes several clubs around the world including Crystal Palace in England and FC Augsburg in Germany. Arctos Sports Partners also owns a share of the club through Smith’s Smith Entertainment Group, whose ownership includes NBA Hall of Fame guard Dwyane Wade.
“I’m so excited for the season to start, and I am, of course, a Utah Royals fan,” Vonn said in a video from the club. “But I am not just a fan; I’m also a part owner. I’m so excited to be supporting women and especially women in the Utah community. As someone who has been part of the Utah community for a long time and also helping the Olympic bid for 2034, I’m so excited to have the Utah Royals back in the NWSL. I will be there on March 16, so come and join us in cheering on the Utah Royals.”
Vonn was considered one of the greatest American skiers of her generation, from her World Cup debut at age at 16 to her retirement in 2019. The native of St. Paul, Minnesota climbed through the ranks with the U.S. Ski Team at a young age before making her first World Cup team in Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom and Combined in Park City on Nov. 18, 2000 (she also joined Slalom in 2012).
The Olympian went on to spend much of her time in Utah, training out of Park City during a career that went on to win three Olympic medals in four appearances, including the gold in downhill at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. She even married former U.S. Ski athlete Thomas Vonn in Deer Valley in 2007 (the couple divorced four years later, finalizing the separation in Jan. 2013).
She captivated the country — and much of the world — with her journey, battling several injuries including a torn ACL, a broken arm and tibial plateau fracture that included an emotional comeback in 2017, where she defeated defending World Cup overall champion Lara Gut to capture the downhill title in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, for her 77th career win.
"I just got to the bottom and I cried," Vonn said after that emotional run, per the Associated Press. "I worked really hard to come back. I feel like sometimes I come back so quickly. Everyone forgets how much time and energy and blood, sweat and tears it takes to come back without any training and just jump in there.
Vonn is one of six women to have won World Cup titles in all five alpine disciplines, and her 82 total wins set an American record at the time until Mikaela Shiffrin surpassed it in January 2023.
Vonn retired in 2019 after earning a bronze medal in women’s downhill at the World Championships in Sweden, becoming the oldest woman to win a world medal at age 343 and the first female racer to medal in six different world championships.