RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen Apologizes For Comments On Match Canceled In Protest

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen joined a local radio program to apologize for his comments from earlier in the day in regards to the club’s players and the canceled match against against Los Angeles FC.

RSL was scheduled to host LAFC on Wednesday, August 26.

The next morning, Hansen was a guest on the X96 radio program, “Radio From Hell,” to talk about the boycotted match. A few hours later, the MLS club owner apologized during “The Drive with Spence Checketts” on ESPN 700.

Hansen owns Broadway Media, which operates the X96 and ESPN 700 stations.

Dell Loy Hansen apologies for comments on canceled match

Hansen began his interview with Checketts by stating that he was “feeling a little remorse” for the comments he made only hours before on X96.

“I’m feeling a little remorse today that there’s a lot of pain in our society and I love to just express the love that I have for Utah and the Real family of players, fans, and sponsors. We’ve suffered a lot together and grown a lot together. I’d like to take a minute to, after pondering, you know, the sides to the question and sincerely apologize to all being felt or heard or believed that I personally do not see the profound purpose of the Black Lives Matter movement. I do.”

Listen to “RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen on his earlier remarks on MLS/RSL protests + more” on Spreaker.

The owner went on to list ways that he’s participated in social justice causes before explaining his remarks from earlier in the day regarding Real Salt Lake’s match against LAFC, which was canceled after players from both clubs decided to play in protest. The match was set to have a sold out crowd of 5,000 fans.

“There’s a lot of injustice in our society that takes structural and change and I believe profoundly that I would like to see that change both personally and in our society,” Hansen continued. “I felt sorry, as we prepared through COVID, we have a double edged sword happening to us that we are fighting through COVID trying to find a way back to employ people. To invite fans to participate with our team. And we put an extraordinary amount of effort into that, to be surprised, which was my surprise by the, the cancellation the game. And I think I expressed overly the pain that I felt for those people who have made a great sacrifice to come support us.”

Hansen continued by saying he “probably misinterpreted” the intentions of Real Salt Lake’s players in their desire to cancel the match.

“I think we can choose to believe in Black Lives Matter, and the COVID come back, and the players intentions were probably misinterpreted on my side, that I felt we had a duty to the community, they felt they had a duty to a greater purpose and they acted on that greater purpose and I can respect them for that.”

The RSL owner said that he’d spoken with MLS commission Don Garber and apologized for his previous remarks. He said that he hasn’t spoken with Real Salt Lake players directly aside from goalkeeper Zac MacMath about the club’s next match but has spoken with the coaches.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Hansen’s remarks

“I appreciate Dell Loy Hansen’s efforts to build the sport of soccer in Utah. His commitment to MLS, the NWSL, and the USL, as well as the game at the youth level, has been significant. However, I strongly disagree with the comments he made today and tehy way they were expressed. They do not reflect the views of MLS,” Garber said in a statement. “This is a time for all of us to work together in the pursuit of racial equality and social justice. Major League Soccer and all of its clubs will continue to support and create initiatives that enact real change.”

Statement from MLS Commissioner Don Garber pic.twitter.com/JLY0rffi8U

— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) August 27, 2020

LAFC vs. RSL Canceled

Shortly before the match was scheduled to kick-off on Wednesday, both teams were united on the field in boycotting the game, like many other sporting events on Wednesday, in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake.

“In solidarity with the players from both teams, tonight’s match has been canceled,” the club posted on Twitter after the match was canceled.

In solidarity with the players from both teams, tonight's match has been canceled. pic.twitter.com/ryxJhrVTk6

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) August 27, 2020

Dell Loy Hansen’s first comments on boycotted match

On Thursday, August 27, Hansen joined the “Radio From Hell” program on X96 in Salt Lake City to discuss the canceled match.

“Obviously, there’s a profound disappointment that the spirit that is Real was abandoned last night,” Hansen began his remarks. “We went through a profound amount of preparation during the COVID era to still be able to create our sense of community where people could be invited. Obviously we failed at a profound level.”

.@NickRimando, @spidadmitchell, and @JozyAltidore responded to comments made by @realsaltlake owner Dell Loy Hansen following the club’s match that was canceled in protest on Wednesday. #RSL #RSLonKSL #MLS https://t.co/72jd7IUvso

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 27, 2020

The Real Salt Lake owner continued by saying that RSL’s player didn’t support the local community or club by their decision not to play against LAFC.

“We’re all sitting here at an organization trying to build support and love around a team that supports the city. All I can say is they supported other issues nationally; they clearly did not support our city or our organization. That’s fairly clear,” Hansen said. “It’s a moment of sadness. It’s like somebody stabbed you and you’re trying to figure out a way to pull the knife out and move forward. That’s what it feels like. The disrespect is profound to me personally.”

Hansen closed his comments by saying that the events from August 26 took “wind out of my sails” in regards to building up the club.

“It’s taken a lot of wind out of my sails, what effort I want to put into recruiting players and building a great team,” the club owner stated. “It just seems that’s not a very good path to take.”