Any news about new ownership?... *crickets chirping* So, big gulps eh? Well, see ya later... *crickets chirping*
Extended to “Hopefully, by the end of the year”. https://www.ksl.com/article/5014502...l-salt-lake-to-local-investors-by-end-of-year
Garber is "bullish on prospects of the future." That of course doesn't mean much coming from Garber. He also said, "In Salt Lake, we've been working hard with local investors and there has been a lot of momentum and activity there to see who might come together to try to purchase that team," Again, words and phrases like "working hard", "momentum", "might come together", "try to purchase" are quite vague.
Wood may end up with RSL as early as our season opener in a couple weeks. Hamburg have terminated his contract, and Wood is said to be heading to Utah.
According to RSL Soapbox, he is headed to Denmark first for the birth and then heading straight to SLC in the next two weeks.
Is this his first child? This sounds like a first child decision in that he thinks leaving that shortly thereafter isn't a bad idea. This is a bad idea. Either get the whole family into SLC and have the baby here, or be with your wife for at least a month if she is having to stay in Denmark. Edit: According to the ESPN article, this is their second child "On Tuesday, local outlet Hamburger Morgenpost reported that Wood will first travel to Copenhagen in Denmark where his wife his due to give birth to their second daughter. The attacker will then head to the United States and join Real Salt Lake ahead of their season opener against Minnesota United FC on April 25." Still not in love with the idea if his wife is stuck in Denmark, but you do you Bobby
Well, if they have family in Denmark, then they'll be fine. Not everyone is so committed to a nuclear family being on its own like we are in the US.
yeah, didn't realize his wife (according to outlets) is Danish so should have a support network there. I still wouldn't count on Wood being a contributor until the second phase of games, though. Just doesn't align with the timing
Short article in The Athletic from Sam Stejskal about the state of the sale, which includes this probably very apt observation: "On the surface, it would seem to be prudent for any interested owner to wait before finalizing any transaction. Though it will open Rio Tinto Stadium to fans at near 50 percent stadium capacity to begin the season, RSL, which was often profitable in the years leading up to the pandemic, won’t be able to bring in a normal amount of revenue in 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions. Taking over towards the end of or after the 2021 season would allow any new owner to avoid most of the costs associated with running a team during the pandemic and could drive down the final price of RSL."
I guess that's a reason. Not sure that "the sale will be delayed because owning the team will be a massive financial burden" is making me feel a lot better, though.
This is way overstated. First of all, the owners took measures via invoking force majeure to hold the line on costs in anticipation of the early part of this season being at restricted attendance. But I'm guessing RSL will have 4 or 5 home games at 10K attendance limits. The reality is I think this team pulls 12-14K without restrictions. So in June/early July when full attendance is allowed it will be a decent bump but without unexpected early season success, I don't see RSL pulling regular sellouts (unless there are fireworks). What's gonna turn things around both competitively and financially is adding a new owner to steer the ship in the right direction. A prospective owner taking a strategy of waiting until late in the season, avoiding operating losses for the year, and also maybe getting a bargain deal is a silly one. Yes, they may get a "deal", but they're also going to get a much more damaged product (and market) and they're going to spend whatever they save in the short-run in an effort to rebuild all of that. Generally a fan of what the Athletic puts out, but this article just didn't make much sense to me.
potential owners who are billionaires bemoaning maybe a couple million dollar loss with this club is not the type of owner we want. I mean how penny wise pound foolish could you be. I maybe can understand the negotiation tactic of waiting and getting the league to lower the asking price, but that assume the value of the league/club isn't going to quickly recover post restrictions. That also runs the risk of a timeline where the league doesn't have such a strong position of the team having to stay in SLC. This isn't mentioned in the article, but it's not hard to argue that the longer the league has to operate the team, the less likely they're going to stand on said team being in one of the smallest metro's the league has a team in.
^ That. When the stadium was built I bought tickets on principle. The management team made STHs feel like owners. They shared plans, they listened, yeah, it may have been token gestures but it felt like we were investing in Soccer in Utah, and I was totally down with that. I'm not interested in going to an arena to experience over kill - flashing lights, loud noises, and an abundance of low-grade swill. I support excellence. When the team is well-managed, people will notice. When the play is fabulous, people will watch. When the leadership is principled, people will support the franchise. To see an example of this happening right now - look at what's happened with the Jazz - Team Chemistry, Positive News, Dwayne Wade buying in - all in part because the ownership group is principled. Ryan Smith not just talking about improving equity in America - but giving scholarships to disadvantaged students of color - is more than lip service. It's a form of leadership and it's changing the Utah narrative. This is the exact same angle he and others took with the Silicon Slopes front - fighting the same stigmatism associated with the same state. My sincere hope is that the next ownership group will be investing in Soccer in Utah. If they do that, they'll be competitive...and I'll return as a STH and make the 5 minute drive to see the games.
Soapbox article says there are six(?!) possible suitors It's kind of strange, because the means of making this (significant) announcement was through the Fan Council Meeting held on Reddit. That doesn't sound like the most formal of settings to make such a big claim, but what do I know. Though, the follow up as to what is holding back any of those suitors from making the purchase raised some critical eyebrow. "All are waiting to see how the fans respond to home games - attendance, adherence to the covid rules regarding masks/food areas, etc.. before making their decisions" That's... a reason, I guess. But when you're weighing the decision to spend roughly $300 million I think the gameday adherence is a bit of pinching those pennies.
Adherence is pretty good. The biggest problem I can see is that there are many seating situations where people are in seats directly behind occupied seats. I wouldn’t want to sit here for 2 hours with someone in the seat behind me breathing in my direction. I also see a few masks worn below the chin... but it’s not prevalent.
I think I'd be impressed with what the club/organization has accomplished with minimal resources from an absentee owner. Think what they could do with median level resources. Maybe the analogy we've heard about the Crew isn't as crazy as it sounded?