What kind of NHL owner would Ryan Smith be? What his Utah Jazz ownership tells us

SALT LAKE CITY — Ryan Smith understands that owning multiple professional sports franchises comes with some added pressure.

As part of a recent interview with The Athletic, the owner of the Utah Jazz was asked about the prospect of adding an NHL team to his portfolio. Smith invoked the names of Ted Leonsis and Larry Tanenbaum, who own NBA and NHL franchises in Washington, D.C. and Toronto respectively.

“Sometimes it’s probably easier to only do one. You just have fans yelling at you for part of the year,” laughed Smith.

Smith could be in line to inherit the Arizona Coyotes in the weeks ahead, which would put him at the top of the organizational chart for two franchises playing out of the Delta Center this fall.

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Smith’s passion for basketball is well-documented. He’s a lifelong fan who is present with a courtside seat for virtually every Jazz home game. Smith is involved in key decisions for basketball operations, but says he allows his leadership team consisting of Danny Ainge (CEO basketball operations), Justin Zanik (general manager) and Will Hardy (head coach) to have the loudest voices in the room.

“If those three agree on something, I’m probably not going to override them,” said Smith. “I am almost certain that if those three are aligned, I’m going to be aligned.”

The 45-year-old Smith acknowledges he will adopt a very similar approach if he secures an NHL franchise in Salt Lake City.

“When it comes to hockey, I’m going to want to know what’s going on. I’m going to want to be involved with the ins and outs of everything we’re doing. But do I want to micromanage every decision? Absolutely not,” said Smith. “I will be a better leader for everyone if I know what’s going on. But I don’t want to be a leader where every decision comes through me or the organization doesn’t move. Being involved and being in the know is very different than making sure you are the lynchpin in every decision. That is not my style.”

Smith purchased a majority stake in the Jazz from the Miller family for $1.6 billion in the fall of 2020. Since then, he has put his fingerprints on the organization in a myriad of ways.

To help NHL fans understand how Smith operates as a professional sports team owner, Tony Jones — the Jazz beat writer for The Athletic — has provided answers and analysis to a handful of questions. Jones has covered the Jazz for the entirety of Smith’s ownership in Salt Lake City.

What are the biggest changes fans in Utah have noticed since Ryan Smith took over ownership of the team at the end of 2020?

When the Miller family owned the Utah Jazz, they were a team that stayed competitive while typically playing things relatively close to the vest. John Stockton, Karl Malone and Jerry Sloan made the Jazz elite by the late 1990s and the franchise twice played for an NBA title. Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer took the Jazz to the Western Conference Finals in 2007. Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert made the Jazz the top seed in the Western Conference in 2021. The philosophy was always a bit safe. The franchise promoted a family atmosphere. The franchise put heavy emphasis on internal development, seeing that the Utah market wasn’t one that typically attracted elite free agents — Boozer notwithstanding.

Spending typically came with a cap.

Smith took control of the franchise in 2020. In his first year as majority owner, he paid the luxury tax. Soon after, he hired Ainge to oversee basketball operations. The changes to the franchise in the last four years have been many — some subtle, some overt. The changes have been aggressive, many that have worked, some that haven’t — like the rebrand to highlighter yellow jerseys.

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The biggest change, and one that the Smith family was always hesitant to do, has been embracing bottoming out. The Jazz, to be fair, did do this in 2013, and they somewhat did this the year after Malone and Stockton left the organization. But this is the first time the Jazz did this while trading two all-star-level talents in the prime of their respective careers. The Jazz bottomed out last season after the All-Star break. They’ve done the same this season. There isn’t a right or a wrong way to go about winning a title. But Smith has taken some hits on social media this spring while the Jazz went through a period of losing 24 of 27 games. Smith and the front office want a championship. And the way they are going about trying to do so does represent significant change from previous Utah Jazz eras.

If the Arizona Coyotes move to Salt Lake City, they would play at the Delta Center, home to the Utah Jazz. (Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

How long did it take before Smith put his “stamp” on the team? Did he overhaul the front office right away, or was he a patient owner when he first took over?

It took about a year before major change came about. Some of it was subtle, but then came the substantial change. Front office executive Dennis Lindsey was relieved of duties, with Smith having a central role in that. Quin Snyder resigned as head coach. Ainge was brought on board after leaving the Boston Celtics.

Then came the rebrand. Smith took over the franchise and he waited and took stock of where it was. But when the changes came, they came in droves. What we have is a franchise still very much in transition — at least on the court and in basketball operations. But it’s certainly being modeled after Smith’s liking.

In many ways, Smith is young, brash, not afraid of change, and certainly not reluctant to take chances. It’s how he was able to buy the Jazz from the Miller family, largely without much of a hint. It’s how he was able to relatively swiftly put himself in position to secure an NHL franchise. And it’s how he’s put himself on the potential shortlist for a Major League Baseball franchise, if one were to become available.

How would you describe his approach? Is he a win-at-all-costs guy? A fan-first owner?

Winning is what Smith wants, which is why he brought Ainge on board. To be fair, the two are longtime friends, but Ainge built the Celtics into a champion in 2008, and he was the architect of the current Celtics team that will enter the postseason as title favorites.

Look at the blueprint between the two franchises. Ainge dealt Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, secured a bunch of draft picks, bottomed out the franchise, and built it back to where it was by drafting Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. He’s trying to do the same with the Jazz, with the sole goal of winning a title.

But if you look at Smith, think of a young Mark Cuban. In that sense, Smith wants to have a say in basketball matters. He’s omnipresent courtside at almost every Jazz game. And to his credit, he’s been at almost every Jazz game this spring, when the Jazz haven’t been an easy watch. He’s not all the way Cuban in the sense of making decisions. He leaves that part to Ainge and general manager Justin Zanik. But the overall direction of basketball operations is a conversation he is a part of.

As a younger owner, he keeps the fans in mind and consistently has a presence on social media. He’s been known to give tickets away on X. The highlighter yellow jerseys of the rebrand were scrapped because Smith and his people listened to the fan base, who almost universally hated it. It shows an owner who has a bit of self-awareness, while being as aggressive and maybe even more aggressive as you might expect from a young owner in his first years of running a major franchise.

In addition to owning the Jazz, and his potential acquisition of the Coyotes, Smith owns Real Salt Lake, Utah’s Major League Soccer franchise. This is a person who dropped out of Brigham Young University in order to devote his time to managing Qualtrics, the company that built his fortune.

Smith was aggressive and a guy who took chances to get to where he is. And he’s been aggressive in moving forward since becoming owner of the Jazz.

Smith comes across as a progressive owner, particularly in matters related to social causes. How would you characterize his ownership style in that realm?

Smith has been a champion for social justice, particularly when it comes to matters within the state. When Izzy Tichenor, a 10-year-old bullied Black student from Utah tragically died by suicide, Smith was vocal in support of Tichenor’s family and the need for improved race relations in Utah. In 2021, Smith created the Utah Jazz Scholars Program, which gifted collegiate scholarships to a student of color for every Jazz win that season. The award covered the full undergraduate education for each recipient. It’s obviously one thing to talk about social justice and the need for social justice. It’s another to show action, and Smith has shown action in his time running the Jazz.

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(Photo of Ryan Smith: Alex Goodlett / Getty Images)