With time, community, Utah Royals relaunch aims to be build on franchise's past success — in NWSL and beyond
With time, community, Utah Royals relaunch aims to be build on franchise's past success — in NWSL and beyond
The Royals have a new logo, owner and team president. But Utah Royals FC in 2024 will build on the same legacy that made the club successful, both on and off the field, from 2018-2020.
HERRIMAN — For Michelle Hyncik, her first day started well before her first day.
In addition to a number of behind-the-scenes moves, the new Utah Royals FC president — who is transitioning from her role as general counsel with Real Salt Lake — was having conversations within the club about the hiring of a sporting director (or similar role) on Sunday night before she jumped on a media call the next morning with local, regional and national press to inaugurate the Royals’ return to Utah following the grand unveiling Saturday afternoon at the RioT at America First Field.
It’s time to get to work, and these Royals have a full year to set up an organization, hire a coaching staff, sign players, and — most importantly, Hyncik is quick to add — engage with a community that is eagerly anticipating its first National Women’s Soccer League match since the previous club was moved to Kansas City in 2020.
It’s a very different timeline than the original Royals, who went from launch to opening day in about three months. It will be nice for the club to get its feet set before jumping into the 13-team NWSL, Hyncik admits.
But …
“We wanted to hire a head coach yesterday. We wanted to hire a sporting director yesterday,” she said. “There’s definitely a sense of urgency about everything.”
After wrapping up the “talking slate” of news conferences, announcements and introductory interviews, it’s time for Hyncik — a former Division I soccer player at Harvard who went to law school at Columbia — to do what she does best. That includes some “light” legal readings, getting up to speed on the league since Utah last fielded a competitive side in the NWSL, and charting a course to be ready for opening day in 2024.
Hyncik brought a can of Bubly soft drink to her media call. But she already has a pot of honey tea brewing to get her through the rest of the week — and she’ll need it. Among the first items on her to-do list is finding a team sporting director, or similar role that will be determined at a later date. Also high on the list are general manager and head coach, though sources have indicated to Salt City FC that the early stages of identifying a coach have already begun.
Unlike in 2018, when Utah launched its then-unnamed NWSL club about 100 days from Matchday 1, the rush isn’t as immediate. The Royals aren’t just filling spots on a front-office depth chart this year.
“We do have the resource of time,” Hyncik said, “making sure we aren’t just filling bodies but picking the right people and being strategic.”
Poring over a full round of contracts and press announcements to get the newly rebranded Royals off the ground was a long task. But it was the wait that was the longest.
Ever since David Blitzer and Ryan Smith took over ownership of Real Salt Lake, the group has sets its sights on bringing the Royals back to town. It was always a matter of “when,” and not “if,” Blitzer like to say — including in Saturday’s announcement.
Truthfully, it was always front of mind, too. When the league-run franchise left to set down new roots in Kansas City (and become the Current, with its own sights now set on opening the first women’s soccer-specific stadium on the banks of the Missouri river), club owners, officials and front-office personnel could never go far without someone bringing up the conversation: When are the Royals coming back?
“From the very first interview that Blitzer and I did, the very first interview we got was: are you planning on the Royals coming back?” Smith said. “We hadn’t discussed it, but we both looked at each other and said, ‘well, of course we are.’
“We didn’t know how that was going to happen. But the way that the group was coming together … there are a group of people within RSL and this organization that, when things got tough or things felt like it wasn’t a good time to make a move like this, they leaned in and said, ‘we’re doing it now.’”
Community-backed team
The departure of URFC for Kansas City left a hole in the community. That hole has been filled.
And Hyncik was driving the backhoe.
“From that first town hall when they could see the volume of fans so passionately questioning when that return could be a reality, it rang so true, especially to Ryan,” she said. “It’s such part of the fiber of this community, women’s soccer is, from the strength of UYSA to BYU’s run to the national championship and the number of Division I soccer players that come from Utah. It’s mind blowing.”
The NWSL has three alums of the regional power that has been built by Jennifer Rockwood at Brigham Young University in the league, including U.S. women’s national team forward Ashley Hatch. Recently retired Orlando Pride fullback Darian Jenkins hails from Riverton, as well, while other Utah-born and/or raised players have cycled through the early years of the league.
The Royals ranked second in the league in attendance during their first run, trailing only Portland with the number of butts in seats weekly.
Hyncik’s roots in the game also run deep.
A former college soccer player at Harvard, Hyncik went on trial with a local WPSL team around the time of her graduation. When she didn’t make the full squad at outside back, she thought it necessary to consider a career change.
That’s when law school came into the picture, and Hyncik specialized in sports law at Columbia. Her first job came with the NFL, where she interned in the league’s government affairs office with — and worked with many of the same employees she would later know as general counsel for Major League Soccer.
“I credit my entire career trajectory to what happened on the pitch and meeting women in sports that inspired me, and who I inspired so much,” she said.
Now Hyncik has become one of those role models, not just on the pitch but in the front office. And that’s a new part of the job for the rebranded Royals: to provide young girls — and boys, too — with role models for a career, even if the ball stops bouncing at a young age.
All budding soccer players — or budding anything, for that matter — deserve heroes, said RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni, who is a big fan of the Return of Royalty.
“I think it’s just growing the brand. It’s hitting a demographic that is huge in this state, which is young girls playing soccer,” Mastroeni told Salt City FC. “I think the biggest thing for a young player, whether you’re a boy or a girl, is to have a hero. And to have these professional women playing in the same stadium as part of the RSL brand is fantastic for everyone.
“There’s nothing but optimism and excitement about the Royals coming back.”
In addition to her front-office role, a large portion of Hyncik’s job over the next year until kickoff will include engaging the community. That’s why the club’s front-of-jersey sponsor at America First Credit Union — the same financial institution that holds the naming rights to the fortress formerly known as Rio Tinto Stadium — rings true to members of the organization.
AFCU has been involved with RSL since the inception of the club. But when representatives from the Royals came to the credit union about investment in URFC, their first response was, “of course,” but quickly became, “how do we best impact the community?”
The club and bank will match each other on a $20,000 donation to local youth soccer initiatives in Utah, she said, providing a platform of success not only for the Utah Royals but Utah soccer in general.
“I think it speaks to how integral professional women’s soccer is to the fabric of our community, and what people are passionate about,” Hyncik said. “We are committed to partnering with people and organizations who see the potential on and off the field of what professional women’s soccer brings across America, and in Utah. AFCU is at the forefront of that, but we’re engaged with a number of prominent partners and couldn’t be more excited about what the NWSL is doing on that front.”
Almost exactly one year removed from Jessica Berman taking over as commissioner of the NWSL, a former star market now making a return to the league. One of the first stories that passed the rookie commish’s desk was finally coming full circle back to Utah.
“We know that NWSL fans are avid, that they care, and they are passionate,” said Berman, whose league is reportedly entertaining expansion in the Bay Area and Boston, as well. “We’re so excited to bring this team back to a community that has been asking for this team.
“When we at the league think about expansion, we think about the ingredients in a community that would make a team successful. You might commission studies and do fan research, but we actually have all the data to give us all the confidence we need that this community is ready to support this team.
“We want this team to continue to set records,” she added. “We at the league are going to be here to support you in every way to make sure that this team is successful. And we are so excited that this team is back.”
Abortion rights at forefront
The league has already leveraged the former Royals into upgrading its training facilities, accommodations and standard of living in other markets. The club is also elevating player support in a number of other areas, including one important area of women’s healthcare.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last summer, abortion and women’s reproductive rights have been on the docket at nearly every state legislature, and Berman has not been shy in publicly stating that such potential legislation would be under consideration in league expansion proposals.
"It's something that we look at not only for expansion teams, but for our incumbent teams,” Berman said Saturday. “And we have various markets where women's health and medical rights and resources are compromised and limited that it's our responsibility at the league office to the extent permitted by law to provide tools and resources for our players to have their medical needs met.”
"We have those safety nets and systems in place through the league office where players can have their medical needs addressed even if they have to leave the market, and we are here to support them to the extent that's necessary. And we know that the ownership group here is aligned to ensure that that's the case.”
With reproductive rights being a key issue addressed during the most recent Utah legislative session, Smith and Hyncik both said Saturday that abortion and reproduction issues would be a concern. The Royals confirmed in a statement that all employees of the organization — from RSL to Real Monarchs to Utah Royals FC staff and players — would be provided adequate travel expenses, if needed, to seek reproductive healthcare in another state.
“For all employees enrolled in our benefits plan,” the club said in a statement, “we have had a policy in place where if there is a medical procedure that is not provided in the state of Utah, we will provide a reimbursement of up to $4,000 towards travel and lodging costs.”
What’s next?
The next step for the Royals, beyond a nap for Hyncik, revolves around personnel. Plenty of hiring decisions are yet to be made — the aforementioned sporting director, general manager and head coach being top of mind, of course — with additional roles to round out in operations, logistics, communications, marketing, community relations, and so forth.
That’s even before assembling a roster.
But in putting together a group for the Utah Royals of the future, Hyncik won’t forget the Royals of the past, either.
“Trying to engage former Royals players is also a big priority, getting their perspective, getting their voice, and just having former players help us prioritize this year-long ramp-up,” she said. “Their voices are important in those hirings.”