Ryan Smith | |
---|---|
Born | |
Alma mater | Brigham Young University (BS) |
Title | Executive chairman, Qualtrics |
Spouse | Ashley Smith |
Children | 5 |
S. Ryan Smith (born June 28, 1978) is an American billionaire businessman and chairman of Smith Entertainment Group. He is the executive chairman and co-founder of Qualtrics, an experience management company based in Provo, Utah. [1] [2] [3] Smith is also owner of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Utah Hockey Club of the National Hockey League (NHL) in Salt Lake City, and co-owner of Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS) with sports investor David Blitzer.
Smith was born on June 28, 1978, in Eugene, Oregon. [2] [4] His father, Scott Smith, worked as a university professor and his mother, Nancy Smith Hill, holds a PhD in information systems. [5] [6] While he was attending Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Business, he founded Qualtrics with his father, and his brother, Jared. During his junior year he dropped out of school to spend more time working on Qualtrics, though he returned to school and finished his degree in 2016. [2]
On October 28, 2020, Smith bought a majority stake in the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from Gail Miller. The sale also included Delta Center, the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League, and management of the Salt Lake Bees. [7] [8] [9] The sale was unanimously approved by the NBA on December 18, 2020. [10]
In January 2022, Smith and investor David Blitzer purchased Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS) and America First Field, which included affiliate Real Monarchs and Zions Bank Stadium, from Dell Loy Hansen. [11] [12] The pair also reestablished the Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2023, with the original team becoming the Kansas City Current in 2020. [13]
As early as 2022, Smith and his Smith Entertainment Group (SEG) discussed moving a National Hockey League (NHL) team to Salt Lake City, either via expansion or relocation. [14] [15] In January 2024, SEG issued a formal request for the NHL to open an expansion process, stating they were "ready to welcome the NHL" to Salt Lake City. [16] SEG officials also said that the team could play immediately at the Delta Center, and perhaps later in a new to-be-constructed arena in the Salt Lake City area. [17]
On April 18, 2024, Smith purchased the Arizona Coyotes assets (personnel, draft picks, roster) from Alex Meruelo for $1.2 billion. Meruelo retained the Coyotes brand, allowing Smith to establish a new franchise in Salt Lake City. [15]
Smith lives in Provo, Utah, and is married with five children. [6] He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and spent two years in Mexico as a missionary. [6] [18] In 2016, he was included in Fortune's "40 Under 40." [19] As of September 2021, Forbes estimated Smith's net worth at $1.6 billion. [20]
The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the team has played its home games at Delta Center, an arena they will share with the Utah Hockey Club starting the 2024–25 NHL season. The franchise began as an expansion team in the 1974–75 season as the New Orleans Jazz. The Jazz relocated from New Orleans to Salt Lake City on June 8, 1979.
The Arizona Coyotes were a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area, which competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division and the Pacific Division (1998–2020) in the Western Conference, and the West Division (2020–2021). They played at America West Arena in downtown Phoenix from 1996 to 2003, at Glendale's Gila River Arena from 2003 to 2022, and at Mullett Arena in Tempe from 2022 to 2024.
The Winnipeg Jets were a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. They began play in the World Hockey Association (WHA) in 1972. The club joined the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1979 after the NHL merged with the WHA. Due to mounting financial troubles, in 1996 the franchise moved to Phoenix, Arizona and became the Phoenix Coyotes. The team played their home games at Winnipeg Arena.
KJZZ-TV is an independent television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CBS affiliate KUTV and MyNetworkTV affiliate KMYU in St. George. The stations share studios on South Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City; KJZZ-TV's transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains, southwest of Salt Lake City. KJZZ-TV is the ATSC 3.0 host station for the Salt Lake City market; in turn, other stations broadcast its subchannels on its behalf.
Larry H. Miller was an American businessman. He owned the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Utah Jazz and the Salt Lake Bees, a minor league baseball team. Miller and his companies also owned more than 60 automotive dealerships throughout the western United States, and a variety of other ventures, including Prestige Financial Services, Jordan Commons, Megaplex Theatres, KJZZ-TV, Miller Motorsports Park, the advertising agency Saxton Horne, and the Delta Center. The Fanzz chain of sports apparel stores was also owned by LHM Group until its sale to Ames Watson Capital in 2018.
The Delta Center is an indoor venue in Salt Lake City. Opened in 1991, the arena is the home of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Utah Hockey Club of the National Hockey League (NHL). Over the years, it has also hosted other professional sports teams including the Utah Blaze of the Arena Football League and the Utah Starzz of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). With a seating capacity of 18,306 for basketball, up to 16,200 for ice hockey and indoor football, and 20,000 for concerts, the arena offers space for many kinds of events. It has 56 luxury suites and 668 club seats. During the 2002 Winter Olympics, the arena hosted figure skating and short-track speed skating competitions under the name "Salt Lake Ice Center". It is expected to host the same events during the 2034 Winter Olympics.
The Delaware Blue Coats are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Wilmington, Delaware. They are the G-League affiliates of the Philadelphia 76ers. The Blue Coats play their home games at Chase Fieldhouse. The Blue Coats are owned by Josh Harris and David Blitzer under Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), who also own the 76ers.
The Cleveland Browns relocation controversy—colloquially called "The Move" by fans—followed the announcement by Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell that his National Football League (NFL) team would move from its longtime home of Cleveland to Baltimore for the 1996 NFL season.
The National Hockey League (NHL) has undergone several rounds of expansion and other organizational changes during its history to reach its current thirty-two active teams: twenty-five in the United States, and seven in Canada. The newest additions to the league are the Seattle Kraken in 2021 and the Utah Hockey Club in 2024. The league has also relocated several franchises, most recently in 2011 when the former Atlanta Thrashers became the second and current incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets.
The following is a complete history of organizational changes in the National Hockey League (NHL). The NHL was founded in 1917 as a successor to the National Hockey Association (NHA), starting out with four teams from the predecessor league, and eventually grew to thirty-two in its current state. The NHL has expanded and contracted numerous times throughout its history, including in 1979 when four teams came over from the World Hockey Association (WHA).
Alex Meruelo is a Cuban-American billionaire who holds business interests in banking, real estate, media, restaurants, food, casinos, and professional sports. He is the owner of Meruelo Group, as well as Meruelo Media, which owns five radio stations and two television stations in Los Angeles.
David Scott Blitzer is an American investor and sports team owner. He is a senior executive at the private equity firm Blackstone and co-managing partner of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils. Blitzer also manages several association football clubs under Global Football Holdings, owns 25% of the MLB's Cleveland Guardians, and is a limited partner of the NFL's Washington Commanders, making him the first person to own team equity in the five major sports leagues of North America.
Karen Gail Miller, is an American businesswoman. Following the death of her husband, Larry H. Miller, she assumed the role of chairwoman of the Larry H. Miller Group (LHM) of Companies, now known as the Larry H. Miller Company (LHMCO). From 2009 until the sale of the team in 2020, she maintained a majority interest in the Utah Jazz, a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise located in Salt Lake City, Utah. As of 2023, she continues to retain a minority stake in the team and its associated businesses. Miller is a major supporter of Big League Utah, a campaign to bring a Major League Baseball team to Utah. She engages in philanthropy through her family foundation.
The Tucson Roadrunners are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play for the 2016–17 season. Based in Tucson, Arizona, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's (NHL) Utah Hockey Club, the Roadrunners play their home games at the Tucson Convention Center Arena.
The 2024–25 NHL season is the upcoming 108th season of operation of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Arizona Coyotes franchise was folded and its players and personnel were transferred to a new expansion team in Utah. The regular season is scheduled to begin on October 4, 2024, when the Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils are to play the first of two games in Prague, Czech Republic, as a part of the 2024 NHL Global Series. The Stanley Cup playoffs are then planned to begin in April 2025, ending with the Stanley Cup Finals in June.
The National Hockey League (NHL) began its second century in 2017. Since 2017, the NHL has added three new teams, with the Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken, and Utah Hockey Club joining the Western Conference. The COVID-19 pandemic was a major disruption to the league during the 2019–20, 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons. The NHL played games without spectators, in controlled conditions. The Arizona Coyotes indefinitely suspended operations following the 2023–24 season, becoming the first team to do so since the Brooklyn Americans in 1942; the team's hockey assets, including its roster and coaches, were transferred to the newly-founded Utah franchise. This era saw the emergence of Connor McDavid as a superstar, becoming the first player in nearly 30 years to record 150 points in a single season, among other accomplishments.
The Utah Hockey Club is a professional ice hockey expansion team that will be based in Salt Lake City. The team will compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and will begin play during the league's 2024–25 season. The team will play its home games at the Delta Center, the home of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA), with plans being made to remodel the arena to make it more suitable for both franchises.