David Blitzer is in advanced talks to sell controlling stakes in both MLS’s Real Salt Lake and the NWSL’s Utah Royals, multiple sources with knowledge of the discussions confirmed to The Athletic.

Blitzer will retain a stake in both teams, the sources said, but will sell the controlling stake to the Larry H. Miller family. It is unclear what percentage of the teams Blitzer will retain. The Miller Family are the former owners of the Utah Jazz, but sold 80 percent of their ownership stake to Ryan Smith in 2022. Smith is a minority owner of RSL and an alternative governor for the team in MLS. Sources were not sure if Smith was selling part or all of his stake in this potential transaction.

A sale would make Blitzer’s tenure as controlling owner of RSL a brief one. He bought the team in 2022 in a sale process led in conjunction with MLS. Former owner Dell Loy Hansen put the team up for sale after revelations of racist behavior were reported by The Athletic in 2020. Blitzer bought the team along with Smith and Arctos Partners, a private equity platform.

The Miller group expressed initial interest in being a potential buyer soon after Hansen put his soccer holdings up for sale, but after in-depth conversations didn’t immediately materialize the franchise was left in limbo and was operated by the league until Blitzer finalized the purchase of the franchise. 

Reports at the time indicated Blitzer, Smith and Arctos paid just under $400 million in the deal, which included RSL, Rio Tinto Stadium, the Real Monarchs MLS Next Pro side and the club’s training facility and academy. 

After Blitzer and Smith purchased RSL in January 2022, the pair also kept the NWSL expansion rights for the Royals to potentially return to the league. After the fallout surrounding Hansen, the first iteration of the Royals were sold and relocated to Kansas City, where the organization would become the Kansas City Current. A year into their combined tenure as owners, Blitzer and Smith, along with NWSL, announced that the Royals would return to the league starting in 2024.

Reports indicate Blitzer exercised the NWSL expansion rights at a $2 million price point. NWSL Denver earlier this year paid a $110 million expansion fee and will begin play in 2026.

The MLS board of governors meets in April and could potentially review or approve a sale at that time.

Sportico first reported news that Blitzer was nearing a sale.

Representatives from Real Salt Lake, the Utah Royals, the NWSL and the Larry H Miller Company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives of the Blitzer group could not immediately be reached.

(Top photo: Bryan Bedder/Sportico via Getty Images)

Utah Hockey Club (32-29-11, in the Central Division) vs. Florida Panthers (43-25-3, in the Atlantic Division)

Sunrise, Florida; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Panthers -253, Utah Hockey Club +205; over/under is 6

BOTTOM LINE: The Florida Panthers host the Utah Hockey Club after Sam Reinhart’s two-goal game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Panthers’ 4-3 shootout win.

Florida is 23-10-2 in home games and 43-25-3 overall. The Panthers are 10th in NHL play with 224 total goals (averaging 3.2 per game).

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Utah is 32-29-11 overall and 17-15-4 on the road. The Utah Hockey Club are sixth in league play serving 9.5 penalty minutes per game.

The teams meet Friday for the second time this season. The Panthers won the last matchup 4-1. Jesper Boqvist scored two goals in the victory.

TOP PERFORMERS: Brad Marchand has scored 21 goals with 25 assists for the Panthers. Aleksander Barkov Jr. has five goals and five assists over the past 10 games.

Nick Schmaltz has 17 goals and 40 assists for the Utah Hockey Club. Clayton Keller has two goals and six assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 6-4-0, averaging 2.4 goals, 4.1 assists, four penalties and 9.7 penalty minutes while giving up 2.1 goals per game.

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Utah Hockey Club: 4-4-2, averaging 2.7 goals, 4.6 assists, 3.8 penalties and 9.6 penalty minutes while giving up 3.8 goals per game.

INJURIES: Panthers: None listed.

Utah Hockey Club: None listed.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, opioid deaths spiked in the United States. But three months into 2025, drug overdose-related deaths have gradually decreased, yet remain the most common death amongst adults ages 18 to 44, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Recent CDC data reported that between October 2023 and September 2024, the United States saw its lowest death rate in a 12-month timeframe since 2020. During that period, there were 87,000 deaths compared to 114,000 the year before.

“It is unprecedented to see predicted overdose deaths drop by more than 27,000 over a single year,” said Allison Arwady, Director of CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, per the report. “That’s more than 70 lives saved every day,” and is happening because “we are more rapidly identifying emerging drug threats and supporting public health prevention and response activities in communities across America.”

Utah continues to face a significant drug trafficking threat, as demand indicates the state is a destination for illegal sales. Victims of drug-related deaths in Utah more frequently succumbed to synthetic opioids like fentanyl or methamphetamine mixed with other substances, and less to prescribed medication, which was historically more common, according to the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner.

Fentanyl is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine, while carfentanil — an opioid used to tranquilize elephants — is 10,000 times more potent. A fatal dose of fentanyl may be as little as 2 milligrams. Similarly, just 0.02 milligrams of carfentanil can end a life. Both are being trafficked for use in the state of Utah.

“The sharp increase in the number of fentanyl-involved deaths outpaces reductions in deaths from prescription opioids,” Dr. Deirdre Amaro, Utah’s chief medical examiner said. “We will likely see an increase in the drug overdose death rate if this trend continues.”

U.S. and Utah see slight decrease in opioid-related deaths

The U.S. saw a slight drop in opioid-related deaths since its yearly peak ending mid-July 2023 at 85,387 deaths, Addiction-Rep shared with the Deseret News via email, highlighting detailed statistics from their national report on America’s opioid crisis.

By June 2024, national opioid-related deaths decreased by 16% to 71,484 deaths the following year.

The following opioid statistics regarding the U.S. were also shared:

• From June 2023 to June 2024, synthetic opioids like fentanyl remained the most common drug involved in opioid deaths in the state but decreased by 20% year-over-year.
• Deaths caused by heroin have seen a “drastic” decrease, showing a fallen rate in the last five years from 14,743 in 2019 to 3,242 in 2024 — a nearly 80% decline.
• Men are the most common victims of drug-related deaths on a state and national level. But, fatality rates have decreased in both men and women by 19% year-over-year.

For Utah specifically, from June 2022 to June 2023, the state experienced 492 opioid-related deaths. By June 2024, the rate increased to 503, “still, when looking at Utah’s rate of deaths per 100k people, the state experienced a modest year-over-year decline of 0.2% (due to the Utah population increasing).”