Real Salt Lake (RSL) and the Utah Royals, of North America’s Major League Soccer and National Women’s Soccer League, respectively, have agreed to a major sponsorship deal with local-based Intermountain Health and its insurance arm Select Health.
Intermountain Health’s primary shirt deal with the men’s Real Salt Lake franchise will see the Select Health logo feature across the front of players' jerseys, replacing LifeVantage, which has held the designation since 2010.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The logo will also feature on the sleeves of RSL shirts, as well as the sleeves of the Utah Royals (returning to the NWSL after a four-year gap), as well as at both America First Field home stadium and the Zions Bank Training Center.
The deal is worth a reported $75 million over eight years.
Intermountain Health becomes the official medicine partner for both RSL and Utah Royals – both owned by David Blitzer – and will provide medical care for players and coaches of both teams, as well as players of MLS Next Pro’s Real Monarchs and the nearly 70 athletes under the RSL Academy umbrella.
As part of the partnership, the franchises will in addition work together with the insurance firm to expand community health and wellness initiatives in the area.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataRSL president John Kimball said: “This is so much more than a typical partnership for us. As we crafted this collaboration with Intermountain, the words that continually resonated for both organizations were community, mentorship, awareness, and wellness.”
“Our players, coaches, staff, fans, and Intermountain caregivers will connect in both traditional and innovative ways to strengthen our region, promote growth, provoke and catalyze change, and create cohesion in our community.”
The major sponsorship deal adds to RSL’s growing commercial partnership portfolio headlined by financial institution America First Credit Union’s 15-year stadium naming rights deal struck in 2022.
Formerly known as the Rio Tinto Stadium, the venue in Sandy, Utah is now known commercially as the America First Field.
That deal was brokered by Playfly Sports, the US sports marketing agency, which was tasked with finding a naming rights partner for the stadium and delivering “custom-branded content to engage potential sponsors.”
Both clubs are owned by Blitzer, the investment tycoon with a bulging stable of sporting interests and clubs, and Ryan Smith’s Smith Entertainment Group (SEG), which bought RSL in January 2022.
Blitzer's holding company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment has stakes in US teams including the NBA basketball team the Philadelphia 76ers, ice hockey’s New Jersey Devils, the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League, the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League, and the esports organization Dignitas.
He also has stakes in multiple European soccer clubs including English Premier League’s Crystal Palace, German Bundesliga’s Augsburg, Belgian club Waasland-Beveren, Danish Superliga team Brøndby and Portuguese side Estoril Praia. Outside of sports, he is a senior executive at private equity firm Blackstone Group.
This season marks the return of the Utah Royals to the NWSL as an expansion team, four years after they ceased operations amid allegations of racism and toxic work culture at the club.
America First Credit Union is the Royal’s front-of-shirt partner for the inaugural season.
The Royals played in the NWSL for three seasons from 2018 to 2020 when the team was owned by Dell Loy Hansen, who also owned RSL. He sold both clubs following reports of racist behavior and toxic work culture at the Royals and RSL.
The Royals ceased operations in 2020 and its players were transferred to the Kansas City NWSL expansion team, which joined the league in the 2021 season as Kansas City Current, which is now co-owned by Patrick Mahomes, star player of the National Football League’s Kansas City Chiefs.
