Ryan Smith Can Still Purchase Utah Soccer Holdings Despite Utah Jazz Transition

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Ryan Smith, Qualtrics founder and CEO, has purchased a majority stake of the Utah Jazz, it was announced earlier today. Smith has also allegedly had an interest in overtaking the ownership of Utah Soccer Holdings which consists of Real Salt Lake, Real Monarchs, Utah Royals FC, the Zions Bank Training Facility as well as other assets associated with the teams.

After 35 years of stewardship, the Millers have entered into an agreement to sell the Utah Jazz to Qualtrics founder @RyanQualtrics, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 28, 2020

If Smith does eventually purchase Utah Soccer Holdings, he would not be the first owner to own multiple sporting franchises.

Fenway Sports Group, for example, is the majority owners of both the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool.

Malcolm Glazer owns Manchester United and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Stan Kroenke owns the Colorado Rapids, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and the L.A. Rams.

The point here is that Ryan Smith can rather easily own both the Utah Jazz and Real Salt Lake and would not be the first, nor the last, to own multiple sports franchises.

He would need to create a group that oversees both projects and go from there.

Financially, Smith is more than capable. Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Smith will pay $1.66 billion to the Millers for the majority stake of the Utah Jazz. Dell Loy Hansen is attempting to sell Utah Soccer Holdings for a reported $500 million, which might I add is a stretch, but that story is for another time.

In January of 2019, Smith’s company Qualtrics was acquired by German company SAP for a reported $8 billion, it is still the largest private enterprise software acquisition of all time.

Ryan Smith wouldn't be the first owner to own both a soccer and basketball franchise…

It is still very possible he buys @realsaltlake. #RSL is selling for roughly $400-500 m, the Jazz was valued at 1.55 B in Feb, 2020.

Qualtrics was acquired for 8 BILLION in 2019…

— Tom Hackett (@TomCantHackett) October 28, 2020

Smith can afford to spend $2 billion on acquiring two sports franchises.

The news surrounding the Utah Jazz does not impact the future of professional soccer in Utah. A deal can still be done for Smith in regards to Utah Soccer Holdings.