Read on Twitter
This suggests that Hansen retains the investor-operator rights to an NWSL team in Utah, while the league, as a single-entity, retains the rights to Utah Royals FC name and to the Royals players, which it allocated to the expansion team, whose owners will pay NWSL an expansion fee https://twitter.com/JeffKassouf/status/1335951199904927745
This is the same transaction structure MLS and Precourt used for his move from Columbus to Austin, except that in this case the Utah investor-operator rights will presumably be suspended unless and until a new owner is found.
One question is whether Hansen's rights in NWSL remain active during this period while he attempts to find a buyer for his soccer holdings, including for the NWSL investor-operator rights in Utah. Seems more likely they have been suspended, but I don't know if NWSL has confirmed
My assumption is that the 2023 date for a resumption of Utah Royals was a deadline negotiated by NWSL (not an expectation based on a prospective ownership group), after which Hansen's investor-operator rights and an agreement to use the Royals name will terminate.
If 2023 is an NWSL drop dead date, this incentivizes Hansen to find new owners by then or lose the value of this asset completely. Hansen may have granted NWSL an option to lease the facilities he owns as consideration for not terminating the investor-operator rights before 2023.
