Royal Return: Utah welcomes NWSL back under new ownership, management with Real Salt Lake
Royal Return: Utah welcomes NWSL back under new ownership, management with Real Salt Lake
The Utah Royals (yes, you can call them that!) are coming back to the NWSL for the 2024 season, the club and league announced Saturday.
SANDY — It’s official: Utah Royals FC is coming back.
Three years after Utah’s professional women’s soccer club was moved to Kansas City under National Women’s Soccer League management, the new owners at Real Salt Lake — in addition to a brand-new group of woso-first investors — announced the club’s return at a special ceremony held Saturday afternoon at America First Field.
The Utah Royals — yes, it’s OK to call them that, after legal issues have been settled with a baseball franchise of a similar name, according to several sources — are coming back to America First Field under the ownership of Utah Jazz owner and Qualtrics co-founder Ryan Smith and Smith Entertainment Group, Philadelphia 76ers owner David Blitzer (and his worldwide soccer network that includes Real Salt Lake, England’s Crystal Palace and Germany’s FC Augsburg, among others), and a new group that includes 76ers executive Daryl Morey and Kraft Analytics Group CEO Jessica Gelman, as first reported by Sportico.
The formal announcement was made at the stadium, in conjunction with RSL’s 2023 home opener against Austin FC.
“When we acquired Real Salt Lake last year, we said it was a matter of when, not if, the NWSL would return to Utah,” Blitzer said. “This has always been an integral part of our mission. With today’s announcement, we are thrilled to fulfill our promise we made to our incredible fan base.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to use our resources and platform to take women’s soccer to the next level while inspiring future players and fans globally.”
The investor group that comprises 42 Futbol Group — did you catch the reference to Douglas Adam’s 1979 classic novel The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy there? — also includes Netflix vice president Amy Reinhard, former Ernst & Young partner Jim Steger and Eleanor Health CEO Corbin Petro. Gelman will serve as the club’s alternate governor with Blitzer, who Sportico names as the principal owner.
“We are excited to expand the ‘One Utah’ family and bring the Royals back to Utah,” Smith said. “Having professional women’s soccer back in the state has always been a top priority for David Blitzer and myself, and is very meaningful to us, the fans, our partners, and the entire state.”
Utah Royals FC will retain the original name of the former franchise that called Sandy home from 2018-2020, but will undergo a fresh rebranding to kick off the new era. The club will also continue to call home America First Field in Sandy — the stadium formerly known as Rio Tinto shared by RSL — with America First Credit Union also stepping in as the refreshed club’s first jersey sponsor, as well.
“As a founding partner of both Real Salt Lake and the first iteration of the Royals, we are proud to be tied to the passion the club and fans bring to such a broad community in Utah and the surrounding states,” AFCU executive vice president Tammy Gallegos said. “We couldn’t be more excited to see the Royals return to Utah to play at America First Credit Union Field and support the organization. Our shared values and desire to create impactful change in the community made this an ideal opportunity for AFCU while also being a natural extension of our partnership with RSL.”
Utah’s pro women’s club will live, train and play in similar surroundings as RSL’s men’s team, including the Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman. But new investors in the club present an idea to make Utah Royals FC more than simply “RSL Women.”
That starts with new management.
The Royals will be led by team president Michelle Hyncik, who served as Real Salt Lake’s general counsel for the past three years.
Hyncik, who spent five years working as Major League Soccer’s senior legal counsel, takes on the new role after a lifetime in both soccer and law. A former member of the Harvard women’s soccer team, Hyncik earned her law degree from Columbia University law school and was a practicing attorney for the esteemed WilmerHale law firm in New York City prior to her time at MLS.
“As someone who credits my entire livelihood to my home on the pitch, I will prioritize empowering our Utah Royals players, and the young girls and boys who look up to them, through providing state of the art facilities, resources, staff, engagement, and opportunities to achieve their full potential,” Hyncik said. “I could not be prouder to be part of this community and the Utah Soccer family as we bring world-class women’s soccer to Utah in 2024.”
Specific terms of the new Royals acquisition were not announced, but it’s been widely reported that the Utah club exercised its right under a previous agreement that would allow it to revive the franchise at around $2 million — a significant discount from current NWSL expansion fees.
The original Royals came to Utah under former RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen, and played three seasons on the Wasatch Front before Hansen put the team up for sale amid a league investigation and multiple reports of misconduct that included allegations of sexist and racist language by the former owner. After the NWSL assumed ownership of the club, it moved the Royals to Kansas City under new ownership that included financial executives Chris and Angie Long, and Brittany Mahomes, a business leader and wife of NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes. That club is now the Kansas City Current, and plans to play at a brand-new $117-million, 11,000-seat stadium built specifically for women’s soccer that is expected to be completed by 2024.
As compensation for the relocation, RSL was allowed to keep the Royals IP and granted an exclusive deal for its new owners to re-enter the league no sooner than 2023 at the reduced rate. Another expansion club in the Bay Area of California that is reportedly set to launch in 2024 is expected to fetch a $50 million fee, according to several reports, while talks have also emerged for a club in Boston to join the league at a later date.
The original franchise launched with the likes of U.S. internationals Becky Sauerbrunn, Kelley O’Hara and Christen Press, as well as Scottish team captain Rachel Corsie and Spanish playmaker Vero Boquete. The rights of every player from the original club have been transferred to the Current, and most of the top players have transferred either to other NWSL clubs or abroad (the 35-year-old Boquete currently plays for Italian Serie A club Fiorentina, for example).
Talks have already quietly begun with a handful of players to come to Utah — as well as a “highly-regarded international coach,” according to one source. But those talks can formally begin with an official start date, place and location of the reborn franchise.
Three years after the disbandment, the Royal agreement has been fully realized, bringing professional women’s soccer back to a state where roots in the game run deep, with high school and club national champions and NCAA Tournament regulars from the likes of BYU, the University of Utah, and beyond.
“We are delighted to welcome Utah Royals FC and its dedicated fan base back into the league,” NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said. “The return of the women’s game to Utah, where soccer roots run deep, is a victory for players and fans alike.
“As the Royals begin this new chapter under the new ownership and leadership, I am confident the club will build a player-first organization equipped with the tools to thrive on and off the pitch.”
