Such a good interview. I miss Trey’s weekly show he and Dunny/Matt did a couple seasons ago. Hearing him choke up is amazing, and infuriates me that the guys that really care about the club were forced out by the toxic culture of Dear Leader. I hope Trey comes back to the club.
This is certainly true in my case. Governance of the non-profit institution I worked for was turned upside down and the new folks in charge leveraged the CoVid chaos to roll back years of progress. These moments of stress bring out an individual's or an organization's true values. For better...or for worse.
Some quick comments (from someone who may or may not have good sources): From those who have interviewed Hansen - buffoon. There should be no surprise here that his mouth got him in trouble. In the past he was able to just let the attorneys handle it. From those who know Andy Carroll - one of the worst human being they ever had the misfortune to work around. (Side note - he was brought in by Bill Manning) Re Andy Williams. We love that you are willing to speak up. However, for those who want him back with the club, he has demons that would have gotten him fired from 99.9% of employers years ago. He was protected because he was a legend and a nice guy. But, no...new management and ownership cannot have him be part of the club. John Kimball - fantastic reputation. Good human. Likely left RSL because of Deloy and Andy. Great to have him back! .
Can someone tell me why so many are hot to trot with the Millers to buy RSL? Are they really the best fit? Some dude on twitter was all excited for them to put RSL in the MIller trust like the Jazz so they could never leave Utah. That's sounds nice and dandy but what if the Millers end up like Dell Loy? Treating RSL as not a top proiority? I think that could be a kind of devils bargain. Yes RSL stays in Utah forever but at what cost? Mediocrity? Larry worked his ass off to kill RSL and screw Dave Checketts. Gail Miller is still in charge and as we have watched play out you don't get to that level of success or stay at that level by being sweet as pie. Business is business. Sadly. I really don't see it. What have the Jazz really done under the MIllers besides never signing the 3rd super star to carry them to a championship? Props for consistency though. Everyone just assumes that the Millers will hire soccer people and that they will magically make everything hunky dory at RSL because..who the hell knows. This opportunity to refresh, recharge, and re-engage a fan base does not come around often. Just ask a NY Knicks fan or a Washington American Football team fan or on and on and on. Bad ownership can last a very long time. RSL just got lucky. Very lucky. I hope that The Don and whomever is in charge of finding a new owner takes a long look at all of the possibilities. Not just the low hanging fruit. I would like to see a larger, diverse ownership group over a single owner. Get this right and someone could really turn RSL into a model franchise again. This club is primed to become something truly amazing if they can get the right owner(s) to jump on board.
Honestly, I think I'd rather see Jozy's group come in and buy RSL, hopefully with the help of Ryan Smith. Maybe the LHM group could be a minority investor?
Arguably, i think the MIllers would be good because they've already made the mistakes. Early on, Larry was an idiot who thought he could coach the Jazz. As the years went by, the ownership learned that if they got great coaches and GMs the team would handle itself and they could just enjoy the games...and the $. Best case scenario would be that the Jazz use their connections to find qualified management, and then stay the heck out of the way and let the team go. Further, rather than working against each other, add in some synergies with the Jazz. Worst case: they buy them and ignore them and then sell them.
I wouldn't look at the Jazz as what you would expect from the Millers. I'd look at the Bees. They are a decently ran organization that falls second to the Jazz. We'd be roughly the same. Sure, we're not a triple A level franchise (well...) but the Jazz are top dog for the Millers. No arguing that and no reason to believe that would change. I would be all for them to be part of an ownership group. As sole owners I have hesitations like the above. I think the NBA and MLS are two very different animals, though. I worry the Millers wouldn't fully understand the pipeline process that soccer has and just how unique it is. The only real accurate comparison would be the Bee's in that regard, as well. Really, no matter what, I just want fresh/new ideas. The Trey interview was interesting in how much he wanted to say it was just 10% of the business that really needed to be changed. I don't agree. DLH has been involved far too long for the number to be truly that small. I'm not saying there aren't people at the club right now that are great and would fit into the new organization well, but I refuse to believe that 9 out of 10 people at the office we're really just quiet about it and didn't buy into the culture. Those statistics just don't make sense. New ownership should come in and say all of the positions at the club will (1) be reviewed for their necessity and value, (2) any gaps will be filled with either a new role or added responsibilities to where they make sense, and then, most importantly (3) all jobs will be open to applicants interested. nobody is guaranteed a job. If these folks are as good as Trey and others want to believe, then they shouldn't really have a hard time convincing new ownership of that. Hell, they might find they're overqualified and were just given a golden opportunity to climb the ladder.
Something I've been wondering about; if Jozy's group buys the club how does that work with Jozy as a TFC player? Isn't the a significant conflict of interests? Does he retire (way too young, IMO)? He is contracted with TFC through 2022, does he trade himself, or figure out a way to get out of the contract and play for RSL?
someone has to have dug into the MLS rules in this regard. Can a current player also be part of ownership? Coaching staff? Club Management? Where is the line and what is the rationale?
I don't think that this is a 50/50 proposition. My guess is it would be closer to 70/30 that the worst case scenario would win out. Especially if they get the team outright. With the money that they will have to fork out to keep the Jazz together I can't see them really going balls out on RSL signings if money is tight. I really hope that they don't get the team outright. If they are part of a group and they have little to do with the day to day and just support and make money off RSL that's cool.
The "Jozy Group" is so far just Jozy, as far as we know? He Tweeted about his group so quickly after DLH's initial radio interview that it was either formed already with the idea of getting a team if/when one came on the market, or wasn't an official thing at that time. What it is now is anyone's guess, but unless someone out there has some information to share, I can't get too excited about such an amorphous entity. Or even consider it a contender.
Agreed - I don't think serious Bees fans like LHM as owners. I'm not one, but I have a few friends who are including a friend who was a former major league pitcher (and local HS baseball coach) that feels LHM has been the worst thing that could ever have happened to the Bees. Salt Lake Golden Eagles fans can't stand LHM and what it did to that team, one of the most successful minor league soccer franchises in hockey in this country. My fear is a future of mediocrity or worse. From an owner whose headline sport has been mediocre for decades its hard to expect excellence from its side piece.
Yea, Larry bought the Golden Eagles and promptly sent them to Detroit. Why anyone thinks that LHM is just dying to buy RSL because they love Utah and want to grow soccer is beyond me.
Jozy followed up with a tweet that said "Let's go to work" and tagged Ryan Smith. Maybe they're teaming up.
I appreciate the link. The challenge for me is how liberally they need to use phrases like "could be" and "might include" and the like. But the brief Tweet from Smith is promising.
I agree with the general sentiment here surrounding the LHM Group. Unfortunately the rest of the internet seems to disagree as when I suggest anywhere else that RSL will always play second fiddle to the Jazz under the LHM group, I'm met with serious backlash. In my opinion the better ownership group would include: 1. Ryan Smith. He has a lot of money. His twitter feed suggests he is very competitive, has always wanted to own a sports team, and is also surprisingly progressive (don't really want to create political division here, but progressive is kinda what RSL needs right now). 2. Jozy. He was pretty quick to jump onto Ryan's coattails, so I'm not really sure he had a group of his own. Apparently he was on the phone with Rimando, which may suggest he just has a group of players/athletes in need of big money. He would be a great face for the club. 3. Rimando. Like Jozy, another face since his net worth suggests he probably couldn't afford more than 1% of the team. He is a local legend though and I think fans would really latch onto any ownership group that includes him. 4. JJ and Kealia Watt. Their interest is real: https://www.si.com/soccer/2020/09/04/jj-watt-utah-soccer-holdings-interest-real They would also bring a lot to the table. I don't know much about football, but he seems like a genuinely good guy who is genuinely interested in growing the game (especially the women's game). Kealia, a professional player with local roots, would bring another great face to the organization. What they don't bring to the table, however, is money. Ryan has them covered though: 👀👀👀 https://t.co/iKpLqLjJWm— Ryan Smith (@RyanQualtrics) August 31, 2020 5. Me. I provide nothing at all, but I really really want to be a part of the ownership group. To me this is the best group. A mix of money and great faces for PR. Of course in an ideal world LHM and Ryan would split majority ownership and give us two billionaire owners surrounded by a great supporting cast, but I'm not sure LHM would be interested in that. Anyway, I'm glad I'm having a super productive Saturday.
Beating a dead horse I don't get the irrational love for LHM. Maybe its all the times they have had to enlarge their championship trophy case. Oh they haven't? Never mind.
Continuing to beat that dead horse: I told a friend of mine - a huge Jazz fan - that LHM was in the running to purchase RSL. He informed me it was the best thing that could happen to the club since they are among the best owners in the NBA. Perhaps that's true, though I'm not sure what they have done to own such a title. Of course he is also one of those Jazz fans who spouts "this is OUR year" every season.
Ryan Smith is a very intriguing option.... I wonder if his interest is more than superficial though...
Here are some unnamed sources "with knowledge of the situation" who claim that the opening talks (is this a bid or an asking price?) around the sale are starting at $500 million. The senior mens team is expected to fetch $325 million. That's a little higher than I would have thought, so maybe it's DLH's asking price.