The value of NWSL teams has soared in recent years. The latest data point: The Utah Royals were valued at $100 million by the buyer in their recent sale to the Miller family, according to three people familiar with the transaction who were granted anonymity because the details are private.
The value was 50x the expansion fee for the team, which started play in 2024.
In April, Gail Miller and her family bought a 40% stake in the Royals and MLS’ Real Salt Lake. The enterprise value of the transaction was $580 million, including $150 million in debt, per the sources. The deal was approved unanimously by owners in both the NWSL and MLS. Miller is Utah’s richest person with a net worth of $4.6 billion, according to Forbes.
When David Blitzer bought RSL in January 2022, the sale included the option to relaunch the Utah NWSL team at a future date. The initial expansion fee, which dates back to the 2020 relocation of the original Royals to Kansas City, was roughly $500,000. That payment was bumped to $2 million when Blitzer took over; NWSL prices were already on the rise, and that was in line with what Angel City and the San Diego Wave paid when they were awarded teams in 2020 and 2021. The expansion fee for Bay FC, which debuted at the same time as the Royals, was $53 million. This year’s Denver expansion bid fetched $110 million.
In the Miller deal, Blitzer sold down his stake to just over 20% and will stay on as the alternate governor for the MLS team—Steve Miller will be the governor of the MLS and NWSL teams. There are built-in options in the deal that could have Blitzer reduce his interest in the teams at escalating valuations in future years.
Ryan Smith, who was a limited partner in the teams, sold his entire stake after declining his right of first refusal last year to buy the two teams, Sportico previously reported. Smith told Sportico in April his focus is on his other sports teams, the NBA’s Utah Jazz and NHL’s Utah Mammoth, as well as the $1.8 billion redevelopment project around the Delta Center.
Arctos Partners had a 12% stake in the teams but sold a portion, so that its share is now in the single digits. The private equity firm is still the third-largest shareholder in the teams behind the Millers and Blitzer. Last year, Arctos sold a portion of its interest in the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning when Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz bought just over 50% of the franchise at a $1.8 billion valuation.
Representatives for Blitzer and Arctos declined to comment on the details of the transaction, while the Miller family could not be immediately reached. The deal also included MLS NEXT Pro team Real Monarchs and the RSL Academy, as well as real estate assets America First Field, Zions Bank Stadium and Zions Bank Training Center.
The Miller family owned the Jazz for 35 years before they sold 80% of the NBA club to Smith in 2020. They currently operate the Salt Lake Bees, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, as well as The Ballpark at America First Square, the team’s new privately financed $140 million home that opened in April.
In January, Real Salt Lake was valued at $525 million in Sportico’s MLS valuations, a number that included the NWSL team. The Royals alone were worth $70 million, according to Sportico’s NWSL valuations from September.
The Miller transaction allocates $480 million toward Real Salt Lake in the first MLS team sale since Blitzer bought RSL in early 2022. San Diego FC started play this year after Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour paid a $500 million expansion fee. The fee is over multiple years, resulting in a net present value of between $400 million and $450 million, depending on the discount rate applied.
A pair of MLS teams are currently on the market. In December, the Vancouver Whitecaps hired Goldman Sachs to sell the team. John Fisher recently retained Moelis & Co. to sell the San Jose Earthquakes. In addition, Haslam Sports Group just sold a 10% stake in the Columbus Crew at a $900 million valuation.
The Utah Royals have struggled on the field this season, with only one win in their first 13 games. Real Salt Lake sits 12th in MLS’ 15-team Western Conference.
With assistance from Eben Novy-Williams
