Salt Lake City is one of the country’s fastest-growing cities and sports markets. And now local pro sports magnate Ryan Smith wants to add an NHL franchise to that expanding profile. 

Smith, the owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz (along with their Delta Center) and co-owner of MLS’s Real Salt Lake and NWSL’s Utah Royals, issued a public statement on Wednesday through his Smith Entertainment Group calling on the NHL to initiate a formal expansion process that would consider Salt Lake City, advancing two years of private discussions with league commissioner Gary Bettman. The development of a new, state-of-the-art hockey arena is part of Smith’s pitch for an NHL franchise, which he says is predicated “on making this happen as soon as possible.”

Though Bettman and the NHL are not currently focused on adding to the current 32 teams, the league was still supportive in its initial response to Smith, issuing its own reply statement, saying in part, “Utah is a promising market, and we look forward to continuing our discussions.”

Hot Market

Regardless of the outcome of the NHL quest, there is no denying Salt Lake City’s elevation as a major U.S. city and as a sports town. Salt Lake City hosted last year’s NBA All-Star Game; the Utah Royals will return to the NWSL this year after a prior iteration of the franchise became the Kansas City Current; the 2034 Olympics are likely to be held there; and the city is now bidding to be a temporary home of the Oakland A’s—a move aimed in part at advancing an existing MLB expansion effort. 

Underpinning all this Salt Lake City activity is the continued rise in population in the metro area, and Utah broadly. The state led the 2020 U.S. Census in population growth, with a 18.4% spike between 2010-20 to nearly 3.28 million—more than doubling the national rate. More recently, a local technology boom and lower costs in Salt Lake City relative to many other major U.S. cities have helped position the market as a high-growth area akin to Austin or Raleigh.

A transfer fee of $320,000 is not typically an eye-popping sum for a soccer club acquiring a new player. But that amount is the new record for an NWSL team, according to multiple reports, with the Portland Thorns in the process of buying midfielder Jessie Fleming from Chelsea, currently the top team in the U.K.’s Women’s Super League. Fleming also stars for the Canadian national team, which she helped lead to a gold medal during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. 

Earlier this month, the Thorns were sold to members of the Bhathal family for $63 million, representing the largest franchise purchase price in NWSL history. The Bhathals head up venture firm RAJ Capital, which also has a minority ownership stake in the Sacramento Kings. Portland finished second out of 12 teams in the NWSL’s 2023 regular season, before losing in the playoff semifinals. Now, the club’s new ownership isn’t wasting any time spending its resources to keep competing.

Just Getting Started?

The financial strategy of paying for top talent outside of the U.S. being used by the Thorns is likely the next evolution for NWSL clubs, as they strive for top-tier global status while building upon the league’s growth.

In the wake of the NWSL’s new $240 million media rights deals with ESPN, CBS, Amazon, and Scripps Sports, this offseason has resulted in record contracts for multiple NWSL players. The Chicago Red Stars gave Mallory Swanson a four-year, $2 million deal and the Houston Dash will pay forward María Sánchez $1.5 million over the next three years.

Meanwhile, the NWSL will play a record 26 matches per club this season, with more TV slots to fill and two incoming expansion franchises in Boston and the Bay area.