Business of Sport Ep.9: Ryan Smith, Owner @ Utah Jazz & Real Salt Lake, 'We're going to bring the NBA Championship to Utah'

This week, we are delighted to welcome Ryan Smith. Ryan is the owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, and co-owner of Real Salt Lake in the MLS. He is also founder and executive chairman of Qualtrics, an experience management software company he built from the ground up, and the co-founder and chairman of Smith Entertainment Group.

Ryan and his wife Ashley purchased the Utah Jazz in late 2020 as part of the launch of Smith Entertainment Group (SEG), which also includes the Delta Center, SEG Media, Real Salt Lake (MLS), the Utah Royals (NWSL - coming in 2024), America First Credit Union Field, Salt Lake City Stars (NBA G League), Utah Jazz Gaming (NBA 2K League), Real Monarchs (MLS NEXT Pro), and other Utah-centric business ventures.

On today’s show, we discuss:

From tech to sports ownership:

• How to apply learnings from business and entrepreneurship into a sports environment.
• What does it take to buy an NBA franchise and how to make sure you can run a sustainable organisation without compromising on success?
• Building a culture everyone can get behind and the importance of passion to drive performance.
• What are the responsibilities of an owner? How to build a team on and off the court to match your ambitions.

Utah Jazz and the NBA:

• The business of the NBA and franchise development: is team ownership a good way to spend your money?
• Ryan’s passion for sport in Utah and using it to build value in the state.
• How the ownership model has changed: a rise in price means we are seeing more ‘group’ acquisitions rather than wealthy individual control.
• Fan experience is everything. The importance of building an occasion that is tailored to exceed the expectations of everyone in attendance.
• New media deals at the local level to take control of content distribution and access.

The rise of MLS

• Messi’s contract with Inter Miami has changed the game for MLS. How are the other franchises gaining from his participation?
• A new age of athlete contracts: how a deal with Apple and global promotion takes the product to a new level.
• From owning the Jazz to Real Salt Lake. The importance of David Blitzer to Ryan’s ownership and how he manages his time between the two.
• The opportunity offered by the security of the franchise system vs the open league that is great for competition but not for overall asset value.