After several weeks of rumors, today the Miller Sports + Entertainment purchased a majority ownership of RSL Football Holdings, the organization that owns Real Salt Lake, Utah Royals FC, Real Monarchs, and the RSL Academy. The sale also includes America First Field, Zions Bank Stadium and Zions Bank Training Center. The moves sees David Blitzer stay on as a minority owner, but Ryan Smith makes his exit as an owner.
Randal Serr
While Ryan Smith is no longer an owner, we owe a debt of gratitude to him for stepping in after the Dell Loy Hansen ownership tenure came to an embarrassing end. Smith is clearly a guy that cares about his community and came through when RSL was in disarray. He also helped bring back the Royals after a few years of them not being around.
That said, this is the next chapter and there is is a lot of reason for optimism among RSL fans with the Millers buying the majority ownership of the team. A few quotes from the press conference stick out:
Steve Starks make clear that “we pledge to invest”. David Blizter, who remains a part owner said “we aim to bring championships to Utah. That’s what we all strive for.“This next chapter for RSL and Utah Royals is going to be amazing…I intend to remain highly engaged…We will always strive to do the right thing and make you proud.”
If these statements are genuine, there is a lot to look forward to. We have seen a decent amount of ownership change over the years, but this one feels a bit different given the Millers notoriety and experience in this market. They have always been owners that value community first. Take for example their move to establish a legacy trust for the Utah Jazz in 2017 essentially ensuring that the team remains in Utah and is a public entity.
If they approach Real Salt Lake and the Royals with that same mindset, that is a really good sign.
The Millers know how to engage a fanbase and create an exciting product for fans to see. Part of that surely comes from the competitive spirit and enthusiasm for sports in this area. Given the investment in and growth of the academy combined with the intention putting a competitive team on the field, RSL very well could compete for championships in the coming years.
As for infrastructure, it is hard to know exactly what the Millers have in mind. However, Steve Starks did state on the radio that they plan on making the area in Sandy a “sports entertainment district” and that they plan to create more meeting spaces within the stadium to generate more revenue to also help keep ticket prices affordable across the stadium.
The only real concerns that come to mind are that 1) the Miller group, by their own admission, don’t really know soccer and 2) if and when Salt Lake City gets an MLB team, the focus will likely shift to that team. As fans, we probably should not worry too much since the Miller group does put a lot of power in the hands of those that manage the club day to day. In other words, they by and large let those with expertise run the show.
In my opinion, this is at the very least a move toward stability which has been in short supply for RSL over the past decade. In the best case scenario, this is a move that will strongly push RSL forward on and off the field.
Ryan Hamblin
As a long-time RSL supporter, I’ve learned how to brace myself whenever the Front Office goes and changes ownership hands. The last time RSL had fresh blood at the helm, was due to the toxicity of the club’s leadership at the time. We, as fans, were given a glimmer of hope that the new group would return the team back to the roots that have made us who we are as a franchise.
On one hand, Gail Miller and her siblings come into an opportunity with a track record of community-first ownership in Utah Sports. Their stewardship over the Jazz for over 4 decades prove they can juggle profitability with genuine investment into facilities, youth programs, and fan experiences. Now that Smith is passing the torch over to another local investor, I will look to see where the Miller group can come in and pick up where he left off with the momentum he seemed to have been gaining across all those things that have made the Millers successful.
In recent months, I have noticed that the ambitions of the club seemed to have ebb away as that momentum waned. So I find myself supporting a club who’s still in the wake of some drastic changes. Where does this leave us as fans? I remain (once again) cautiously optimistic and would ask the following of our new, local, ownership:
Will ticket prices remain affordable?
Will local youth academies get the kind of support that spun up the “Stockton-Malone” era?
Will the group deliver on their commitments to community engagement and continue to advance the culture of its supporters?
Will the group be interested in building out a strong team with a winning culture once again, or do we see yet another investment group, who may be seemingly interested in the growth of their portfolio?
Ultimately, the feeling of caution, doesn’t mean I’m not hoping to see answers to my questions to ease my troubled soul. But, given the state of our roster and our recent performances on the field, I’ll not be holding my breath.
Miles Dunn
We can all agree we are tired as a fan base. Tired of mediocrity, tired of not competing in any real, meaningful way for trophies, and tired of the near-constant decade-long turmoil within the front office and at times the locker room. A big part of that fandom fatigue is that with each change in ownership, senior leadership, or coaching, comes new hope. Hope that this is finally the corner we need to turn to get back to having a club we are proud of and that competes in a significant way.
Is this the change RSL needed to finally reach the promised land? Only time will tell. Do I have newfound hope? I hate to admit it, but yes. I’m in love with this club, and my only options are hope in the future or perpetual despair and self-loathing.
I am grateful to Ryan Smith and David Blitzer for acquiring the club from a toxic ownership group that had become a blight on Utah’s sports landscape. I am thankful they were willing to spend more than any previous owner to bring in top talent and sell that talent for record transfer fees. Had they not done that, who knows if Utah would have an MLS or NWSL team at all at this point?
That being said, Blitzer is a private equity guy; it always felt like this was a business venture, not a passion venture. I had high hopes for Smith, and he could’ve been an exceptional owner, but the opportunity to buy the Jazz and later an NHL team were moves he couldn’t pass up, and let’s be honest, likely took up much more of his time and devotion. His heart didn’t feel like it was in RSL the way you would hope, once the opportunity to purchase the Jazz and an NHL team came along.
So today I choose to be grateful to the previous ownership group for serving as an essential transitory ownership team to help us leave our toxic past behind. And I am cautiously optimistic that we finally have an ownership group with the same love and affection for the team that the fans have displayed year in and year out, and hopefully, the deep pockets needed to be relevant and competitive in MLS 3.0.
Wasatch Soccer Sentinel
