One of the NBA’s oldest ownership groups, the Utah Jazz’s Miller family, has decided to sell the team for more than $1.6 billion, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Ryan Smith, the founder of Qualtrics and a longtime Salt Lake City resident will take over. Smith had previously served as a minority owner of the franchise.
The Miller family purchased the team in the 1980s but in recent years had been governed solely by Gail Miller, the widow of the late Larry Miller. Now 77, Gail will move on from governorship of the Jazz and will make an incredible fortune for the team her husband initially paid $8 million for in the spring of 1985.
As Wojnarowski noted at ESPN, the Jazz have had the second-winningest record in the NBA since the Millers took over the team. Wojnarowski also notes the sale will not be final until the NBA Board of Governors approve it.
Smith will take over the Jazz ahead of an offseason in which Rudy Gobert’s future with the team will be a subject of much discussion. The team is likely to be among the best in the Western Conference once again in 2021, but has not yet broken through to the conference finals during this period of prolonged success.