MLS Commissioner Don Garber Shares Update On Real Salt Lake Ownership

SALT LAKE CITY – Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber has given an update on the Real Salt Lake ownership front.

“I have to give a great shoutout to John Kimball. John Kimball has managed that club reporting to the league office without having the benefit of day-to-day engagement of an owner and with Pablo [Mastroeni] has done a tremendous job and is a great story for Major League Soccer and by the way, commercially their season ticket sales are up for 2022 but Pablo [Mastroeni] has done a great job with the resources that in many ways were under pressure so I am proud of what John [Kimball] has done,” Garber stated. “We continue to be engaged in discussions with potential owners, we are hopeful that we will be able to get something closed, we had a timetable to get that done by the end of the year and we will wait to see if that is still attainable as that is only a couple of weeks away, if not I am hopeful we’ll get something done soon.”

Major League Soccer Commissioner, Don Garber on the progress and sale of @realsaltlake to new ownership during the 2021 State of the League address. #RSL #DaleReal #MLS pic.twitter.com/joQOr7afOg

— Andy Muñoz (@andymunoz48) December 7, 2021

Real Salt Lake has been without ownership since the summer of 2020 following the dismissal of former owner Dell Loy Hansen. Despite the lack of ownership, Real Salt Lake went on a playoff run that concluded with a 2-0 loss at Providence Park against Portland in the Western Conference Final.

A few weeks ago Sportico released a story suggesting that an ownership group led by David Blitzer, co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils among multiple other global soccer clubs, is in the final stages of coming to an agreement with the league to take over ownership at Real Salt Lake.

Garber also answered a question on if the Real Salt Lake ownership delay is a concern for league buyers to which he said “the absolute opposite is true. I would say without a doubt, the level of interest and energy in investing in Major League Soccer has never been higher.”