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Dell Loy Hansen

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Dell Loy Hansen
Born1951 or 1952 (age 72–73)
Salina, Utah, US
Known forOwnership of Real Salt Lake

Dell Loy Hansen (born 1951 or 1952)[1] is an American businessman and sports team owner. He is the founder and CEO of Wasatch Group, a real estate investment firm, and was the owner of Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer.

Career

Hansen was born in Salina, Utah, and raised in southern Utah by his father, working for the Soil Conservation Service, and his mother, a schoolteacher.[2][3] He graduated from the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in political science.[1][4]

Hansen started a home-building business that closed during a savings and loan crisis in 1988.[3] Hansen founded the Wasatch Group later that year, taking over government-seized real estate from the Resolution Trust Corporation for resale. The company later expanded into commercial office development and management, including the ownership of high-rise buildings in the Salt Lake City area.[1] As of 2013, the Wasatch Group manages 65 properties in the Western United States, worth an estimated $1.3 billion, and employs 500 people.[1][5] Hansen also owns Broadway Media, which manages several radio stations in Utah.[6]

Sports ownership

Hansen bought a minority stake in the ownership of Major League Soccer franchise Real Salt Lake in 2009 from Dave Checketts. His involvement with the club began with a political fundraiser at Rio Tinto Stadium during a U.S. men's national team match, his second time watching live soccer, where Checketts had pitched the stake to former Disney CEO Michael Eisner before Hansen negotiated his share.[5][7] Hansen's stake, originally 49 percent of the club, was increased to 62 percent in late 2012. Checketts sold his majority stake in the team to Hansen in 2013, giving him full control of the club, Rio Tinto Stadium, and sports radio station KALL.[1][5]

Under Hansen's ownership through Utah Soccer LLC, Real Salt Lake launched a reserve team, Real Monarchs, that began play in 2015. The team was moved to a new venue, Zions Bank Stadium, on the grounds of a soccer academy in Herriman, Utah, that was partially funded by Hansen and opened in 2018.[8][9] Hansen also negotiated a tax break with the Sandy city government for Rio Tinto Stadium, which was protested by city leaders in 2017.[10] RSL also launched a women's team, Utah Royals FC of the National Women's Soccer League, that began play in 2018. Hansen had approached Merritt Paulson of the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns about a franchise in the women's league four years earlier and bought the rights to defunct franchise FC Kansas City.[11]

Controversy and end of ownership

Following a multi-sport player strike that caused the postponement of MLS matches on August 27, 2020, Hansen expressed his disappointment in an interview with radio station KXRK, also threatening to cease funding the club due to players not playing to show support for Black Lives Matter and to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake.[12] The comments were criticized by prominent MLS and NBA players, which caused him to later retract his comments in an interview with ESPN700 and issue an apology.[13][14] An article published later that day in The Athletic reported a history of alleged racist comments made by Hansen about or in the presence of Black employees at the Wasatch Group and in the RSL organization.[15] Further allegations were also published in The Salt Lake Tribune, including Hansen's mimicking of Black employee's accents, triggering investigations from MLS and NWSL.[16] On August 30, 2020, MLS and NWSL announced that Hansen would explore selling Real Salt Lake, Real Monarchs, and the Utah Royals.[17][18] In December 2020, Utah Soccer LLC announced that the Royals would move to Kansas City while a new franchise in Utah would be re-established in 2023.[19]

Personal life

Hansen and his first wife Karla Axtell had eight children. His daughter Robin played college soccer for the Utah State Aggies in 2012.[20] He was later married in 1997 to Lynnette Hansen, a business executive and philanthropist.[21] Hansen is currently married to Julie Aiken Hansen.[22] Hansen is also an avid coin collector and acquired a rare 1894-S Barber dime for $1.3 million in 2019.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e House, Dawn (January 24, 2013). "Through life's lessons, Hansen has built an empire". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  2. ^ Jensen, Maren (April 9, 2017). "Person 2 Person: Dell Loy Hansen, businessman & Real Salt Lake owner". KUTV. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Oliphant, Aisely (January 25, 2016). "Dell Loy Hansen: At the Helm of a Modern Business Empire". Utah Business. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  4. ^ "Alumni and Friends Directory: Dell Loy Hansen". Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Falk, Aaron (March 18, 2013). "'I fix broken things,' says new RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  6. ^ Pierce, Scott (April 16, 2014). "Dell Loy Hansen makes management changes at former Simmons radio stations". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  7. ^ Black, Michael (November 19, 2009). "Hansen couldn't resist Real Salt Lake — and cacciatore". Deseret News. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  8. ^ Kamrani, Christopher (January 20, 2016). "Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen has plans for 'world-class' soccer facility, academy in Salt Lake Valley". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  9. ^ Genessy, Jody (February 28, 2018). "A silly daydream becomes a 'spectacular' dream come true with RSL's soccer campus". Deseret News. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  10. ^ Davidson, Lee (November 26, 2017). "How Real Salt Lake scored with a huge tax break that went unnoticed — until now". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  11. ^ Lee, Maddie (April 27, 2018). "How did Dell Loy Hansen end up with the Utah Royals? His friend, Portland Thorns owner Merritt Paulson, helped". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  12. ^ Carlisle, Jeff (August 27, 2020). "MLS, NWSL to probe Real Salt Lake, Utah Royals owner over alleged use of racist language". ESPN. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  13. ^ Carlisle, Jeff (August 30, 2020). "Dell Loy Hansen to sell Real Salt Lake, Utah Royals". ESPN. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  14. ^ Edward, James; McDonald, Ryan (August 28, 2020). "Dell Loy Hansen is now taking a leave of absence. Here's how things snowballed so quickly for RSL's owner". Deseret News. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  15. ^ Kamrani, Christopher; Stejskal, Sam; Tenorio, Paul; Linehan, Meg (August 27, 2020). "Dell Loy Hansen has history of racist comments as RSL owner". The Athletic. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  16. ^ Vejar, Alex (August 29, 2020). "New allegation of racist language by RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen surfaces". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  17. ^ Boren, Cindy (August 30, 2020). "Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen will sell teams after accusations of racism". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  18. ^ Walker, Sean (August 31, 2020). "As he navigates exit, Dell Loy Hansen leaves complicated legacy with Real Salt Lake, Utah soccer". KSL.com. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  19. ^ Vejar, Alex (December 7, 2020). "Utah Royals will move to Kansas City, but women's soccer may make a return here". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  20. ^ "2012 Women's Soccer Roster: Robin Hansen". Utah State Aggies. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  21. ^ "Utah State University Celebrates Old Main Society". Utah State University. October 17, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  22. ^ Stauffer, McKenzie; Curtis, Larry D. (August 28, 2020). "RSL owner's wife responds to criticism: 'No one supports equality more than this man'". KUTV. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  23. ^ Morgan, Charles (July 26, 2018). "Eclipsing Eliasberg: D.L. Hansen's Numismatic Moonshot for the Greatest Collection of All Time". CoinWeek. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  24. ^ Vejar, Alex (August 17, 2019). "RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen buys rare coin for $1.3M". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
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