The Return of Royalty
When David Blitzer and Ryan Smith bought Real Salt Lake in January of 2022 they said ‘it was a matter of when not if’ the Royals would return to Utah.
On March 11, 2023 that promise came true. The return of royalty was official. It was announced by the NWSL that the Utah Royals would begin play for the 2024 season.
Expansion teams are not born overnight however. Countless hours of work spanning the course of months brought the team to this point. In this rundown you will see all that went into bringing royalty back to Utah.
When conversations began as to how the Utah Royals should be announced it was unanimous that Women’s History Month was the perfect timeframe to aim towards. Conversations were in the works on how RSL was planning to celebrate Women’s History Month and the idea of hosting a luncheon/panel for the women’s soccer teams of the local colleges to hear from females in the sports industry.
That idea truly came to life when putting those efforts towards the Utah Royals launch. We would still invite the local college soccer teams but make it more elevated and exclusive, like a prelaunch to the announcement per se. The more conversations that were had the clearer it became to host a Women’s Empowerment Luncheon on March 10 the day before the official launch of the Royals. This prelaunch would give 200 local women in the Salt Lake community to be the first to hear about the exciting announcement that would follow on March 11. The opportunity to work with Kyle Schroeder, Director of Community and Player Engagement on this project is one that I am most proud of in my career.
We knew a luncheon dedicated to the team returning needed titans in their respective industries putting the show together. We worked to find local female vendors that we could utilize to put on the luncheon. The rest was history.
We worked with all female small owned businesses in and around Salt Lake City to bring the Women’s Empowerment Luncheon to life. Our goal behind the luncheon was to empower women and make their voices heard. Finding women owned businesses that could help announce the return of the Utah Royals I believe did just that. The Women’s Empowerment Luncheon would not have been possible without our incredible vendors. If you’re in the Salt Lake area be sure to check out these small locally owned women businesses.
Return of Royalty Sign - Alpha-Lit, Owner Julie Johnson
Balloon Arch - Blown Out of Proportion Balloons, Owner Mallory Robbin
Floral Center Pieces - Native Flower, Owner Pamela Olson
Coffee - Buzzed Coffee Truck, Owner Sierra Hibl
Appetizer Empanadas - Tina’s Empanadas, Owners Valentina Udabe & Agostina Alvarez
Lunch - Exquisite Affair Catering, Owner Susan Stutchbury
Ice Cream - Roonies, Owner Stacey Harfert
Cookies - Fillings and Emulsions, Owner Katie Ray
MC - Nayo Campbell, Utah Jazz Reporter
On March 11, 2023 the Utah Royals posted for the first time on the account since the ownership group bought the Real Salt Lake organization back on January 6, 2022. The response from the fanbase, NWSL and women’s soccer community was unparalleled. The state of Utah deserves this team and I am honored to have played a small part in their return.
Since the launch of the team back in March of 2023 the organization has announced their first president, Michelle Hyncik, their first Head Coach, Amy Rodriguez and their first Sporting Director, Kelly Cousins. I was fortunate enough to sit down with both Michelle and Coach Rodriguez prior to the announcements to hear their visions for the team first hand.
The future of Royalty in Utah is so bright. I’m fortunate to have been a part of this journey.
Follow along to keep up to date on all the exciting things happening with the Utah Royals: