Sandy – The Miller family extends its sports property portfolio five years after sold Utah Jazz to Ryan Smith.
Miller Sports and Entertainment announced its acquisition on Friday of majority interest in RSL Football Holdings, which manages both Real Salt Lake in MLS and Utah Royals FC in the NWSL.
The official announcement occurred at a press conference at America First Field which featured the commissioners of the two leagues, as well as the governor of Utah Spencer Cox.
The former majority owner David Blitzer was also present and will remain as the second owner behind the Millers, while Smith Entertainment Group will leave the football sphere.
“I am very happy to work with everyone and to continue to rely on the successes of RSL and the Royals of Utah, and finally to bring championships to UTAH,” said Blitzer.
Smith congratulated the co-founder of Larry H. Miller Company, Gail Miller, for the purchase of the two football clubs in a statement on Friday.
“We are happy that football stays in Utah, and Gail Miller is an ideal local intendant to direct professional football franchises in the future,” said Smith. “With so much growth on the horizon for Smith Entertainment Group … It’s the right time to tighten our concentration on the NBA, NHL and other areas where we can have the greatest impact on our state, our community and the world of sport.”
The Millers maintained a smaller role in the UTAH sports scene after its sale of jazz with continuous management on the bees of Salt Lake, which included the moving of the minor league to a new stadium in Daybreak.
ESPN reported in March that the Miller family was interested in buying RSL three years ago when Smith and Blitzer took over, and now they are lucky to manage professional football in the state of UTAH.
Steve Miller, president of the Larry H. Miller Company, will be president and governor of the two clubs. Blitzer remains as an alternative governor for RSL and former president of Utah Jazz and CEO of Larry H. Miller, Steve Starks, will be the alternative governor of the Royals.
“The values of these clubs align so closely with the values of our family and the way we think of professional sports,” said Steve Miller. “We love the way football has grown here in Utah. We think it is suitable for families, and he includes communities.
“We have built our business headquarters here in Sandy, not far from where we are, and we are impatiently awaiting and are grateful for the opportunity to continue investing in the state as well as in these solid teams.”
The Millers are owners of the Jordan Commons Business Area through State Street from America First Field, which also includes the company’s megapplex theaters. Starks is committed to keeping the teams in Sandy and said that it was planned to develop both the stadium and the areas that surround it to improve the Gameday experience.
Athletics reported the value of Friday sales to a thousand at $ 600 million. Smith and Blitzer bought RSL for around $ 400 million in January 2022 and brought the Royals back to UTAH last year as an expansion team for 2 million dollars at the NWSL.
Although in short, the era of the Smith-Blitzer property included the two largest purchases of players in the history of RSL in Andres Gomez and Chisho Arango, and the biggest sale when Gomez was sent to the French club Rennes in August 2024.
The ownership group also invested massively in the return of the Royals by building a new training and performance center for the NWSL side linked to RSL facilities in Herriman.
The MLS commissioner, Don Garber, commented at the press conference that the Friday event was the biggest club announcement he attended in MLS and also the first event to present both himself and the commissioner of the NWSL, Jessica Berman.
“The fact that we together can take this sport and combine the power of what makes sport so important and how it can enrich and improve lives,” said Garber. “In particular in a state like UTAH which has such participation, speaks of the momentum and the vision and the opportunity that this sport, this club and our sister club, the Royals, can have for our country a powerful football nation.”
The property transition to the Thousands arrives at an interesting moment, with the closure of the MLS transfer window on Wednesday, April 23, and reports claiming that the club pushes to bring in a proven attacker for Rsl before this deadline.
RSL and the Royals are organizing a rare double-match weekend at America First Field this weekend, from Friday at 7:30 p.m. MDT with the Royals faced by the Chicago stars and continuing on Saturday with a match between RSL and Toronto FC, also at 7:30 p.m. MDT.
