This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Doesn't include future seasons. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(October 2024)
On November 16, 2017, Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer announced that it had acquired a franchise in the National Women's Soccer League.[4] On November 20, 2017, the league announced that FC Kansas City of the National Women's Soccer League would fold their club, and the team's player contracts, draft picks, and other rights would be transferred to the new Salt Lake City club.[5] As of August 2017[update], Utah's six NCAADivision I women's soccer teams outnumbered the men's,[6][7]a seventh women's soccer school moved from Division II to Division I in 2020,[8] and the state has the highest rate of girls' high school soccer players recruited by Division I colleges.[9] Attendance at Division I women's soccer games in Utah is among the highest in the NCAA.[9] The decision to bring a NWSL team to Utah was based on the established interest in men's soccer in the state as well as Dell Loy Hansen's gut feeling and longtime interest in a team.[9]
The new Salt Lake City team announced its hiring of former Seattle Reign FC coach Laura Harvey as its inaugural head coach on November 27, 2017.[10]
Gunnhildur Yrsa Jónsdóttir scored the first goal in franchise history on March 24, 2018 in the third minute of the club's inaugural match against Orlando Pride in Orlando.[11] 18,500 tickets were sold ahead of their first home match (with only club seats and standing-only tickets remaining).[12] Official attendance the day of the match, in which they played the Chicago Red Stars, was reported as 19,023.[13]
In August 2020, Dell Loy Hansen announced plans to sell Utah Soccer LLC—the parent company of the Royals, Real Salt Lake, and Real Monarchs—following reports and allegations of racist and sexist behavior by staff across the properties.[14][15] Utah Royals FC were officially dissolved on December 7, 2020. The club's parent company, Utah Soccer LLC, sold the team's NWSL player contracts and franchise rights to Chris and Angie Long and Brittany Mahomes, who founded a new team provisionally named Kansas City NWSL and later renamed Kansas City Current.[16]
The sale of the Royals included a provision that any entity that purchased Real Salt Lake would be granted the option to launch an expansion team using the Utah Royals FC identity no sooner than the 2023 National Women's Soccer League season.[16]
On March 11, 2023, Ryan Smith and David Blitzer—whose groups had jointly purchased ownership of Real Salt Lake—announced that they would exercise their option to launch an NWSL team alongside investment from a group known as 42 Futbol Group composed of Jessica Gelman, Daryl Morey, and Amy Reinhard. The new expansion team would begin play in the 2024 National Women's Soccer League season, joining alongside fellow expansion team Bay FC in San Jose, California.[15] The agreement reportedly allowed the Royals to enter the league at a considerably lower expansion fee of $2–$5 million, compared to around $50 million for Bay FC.[15][17]
The team was officially launched on December 1, 2017 with the announcements of its name, branding, season tickets, and social media.[19][20] The badge features a gold Lioness head and “Claret Red”, “Cobalt Blue” and “Victory Gold” colors. Two stylized balls surround the name “UTAH ROYALS FC” in the lower half of the badge which represent the team's connection to the organization's MLS and United Soccer League teams.[21] Rio Tinto Stadium, now known as America First Field, was named as the team's playing ground.[22] By the end of December 2017 over 2,000 season tickets had been sold.[23] By early April 2018, the number of season tickets sold had increased to 5,000.[24]
Sponsorship
In February 2018, the Royals announced a three-year multimillion-dollar deal with Conservice, a utility company based in Logan, Utah.[25] The company's logo is featured on the front of the team's jerseys.[26] Utah announced a multi-year partnership deal with Young Living Essential Oils on April 2, 2019. The Young Living partnership will include an original video series called ‘Rise up to Royalty’ which profiles URFC players personal lives. This 12-episode series, will run throughout the course of the 2019 season.[27]
Stadium
Utah Royals FC play at America First Field (known before September 2022 as Rio Tinto Stadium), located 15 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City in Sandy, Utah, as the men's team, Real Salt Lake, does.[19] America First Field is a soccer-specific stadium which opened on October 9, 2008.[28] The pitch features Kentucky Bluegrass[29] and is 120 × 75 yards.[30] The stadiums seats 20,213 for soccer matches.[30]
The Utah Royals announced that all matches in 2018, except for their six NWSL Game of the Week appearances on Lifetime, would be broadcast locally on KMYUMy Utah TV and streamed on the KSL app, as an extension of the broadcast rights agreements with Sinclair Broadcast Group and KSL with Real Salt Lake.[40]KALLESPN 700 would carry the majority of Royals games on local radio – as it does for Real Salt Lake and Real Monarchs.[40] On August 17, 2018, KSL announced that Utah Royals games would no longer be broadcast on television or radio, but they would continue to be streamed on the KSL website and app.[41]
