Editor’s note: The following story was originally published on December 18 as part of City Weekly’s 2025 Year in Review issue.
As Ryan Williams stood atop the dirt mound, helmet lifted over his head, he let out a primal scream to the heavens. The electricity of landing a double backflip—a trick that had never been done on a dirt ramp before—seemed to pulse through him.
He jolted along the barrier of the course and high-fived every fan he could reach, grinning and shouting along the way before climbing the ramp to take it all in.
While 2025 was a bit of a sleepy year for Utah professional sports, there were some truly unforgettable moments. Chief among them was the 35th anniversary of the X Games, held at the Utah State Fairpark, where Williams accomplished his double backflip and where action sports legends like Nyjah Huston, Garrett Reynolds and Colby Raha wowed crowds with high flying stunts. Even Tony Hawk made an appearance.
For the teams and athletes who call Utah home, it was a year of many firsts. The Utah Hockey Club found its permanent identity as the Utah Mammoth, the Salt Lake Bees cut the ribbon on a shiny new ballpark in South Jordan, and League One Volleyball brought Olympic-level players back home to bump, set and spike on American soil.
A Fandom is Born
The novelty of namelessness for the newly-relocated Arizona Coyotes in 2024 was certainly fun (some National Hockey League fans will never let the nickname “Clubbers” die), but it was about time to settle on a permanent identity for the Utah Hockey Club.
Owner Ryan Smith and team spent months deciding on the name. The process involved four rounds of fan surveys and more than 850,000 votes cast, team officials said.
The options were narrowed down to three: remaining as the Utah Hockey Club; the Outlaws; and the Mammoth, which was announced as the winner on May 7. “Tusks up!” is the team’s new slogan, and the light blue, black and white color scheme from the first season was made permanent.
On the ice, the then-Club finished 11th in the Western Conference at the start of the year with 89 points, seven short of a playoff spot. And so far in the 2025-26 season, the Mammoth finds itself in a similar position, on the fringe of the playoffs.
The Utah Jazz’s Best Prospect in Years
Despite having the best odds of getting the No. 1 draft pick and a chance at highly-touted prospect Cooper Flagg, the Utah Jazz fell to fifth position at the NBA lottery on May 12.
The Jazz used that pick to select Rutgers forward Airious “Ace” Bailey, who was viewed as a top-three prospect before some dubious predraft shenanigans by his (now former) advisor.
While there have been some bright spots in a stronger-than-expected start to the 2025-26 season (Keyonte George has been excellent), it appears that the team is poised to move All-Star Lauri Markkanen for a haul of future picks around the trade deadline in February.
That means fans are in for a whole lot more rebuilding.
The Jazz will get another bite at the apple in what is shaping up to be a stacked 2026 draft, including star BYU forward AJ Dybantsa.
A Real(ly) Underwhelming Soccer Season
With two of the team’s best attacking players out the door at the end of the 2024 season, and no significant signings made to replace them in 2025, expectations were low for Real Salt Lake coming into the season.
Head coach Pablo Mastroeni deployed one of the youngest rosters in all of Major League Soccer week in and week out. Their inexperience showed.
And yet, Mastroeni managed to lead the squad to a ninth-place finish in the Western Conference before RSL bowed out to the Portland Timbers on Oct. 22 in a winner-takes-all match for a spot in the playoffs.
The Real fanbase isn’t particularly pleased with Mastroeni or the front office, especially given the lack of signings to bolster the attack. All indications are that the same staff will be back for 2026, though.
On the bright side, Diego Luna is the highest-performing pro athlete in the state—full stop. Luna balled out once again in 2025, scoring nine goals and adding seven assists across all competitions. All signs are pointing to Luna making the roster for the United States Men’s National Team in next year’s World Cup.
A name to watch in the future: Zavier Gozo, an 18-year-old academy product who performed well at the U-20 World Cup in October.
On the women’s side, the Utah Royals once again finished outside of the playoffs with just 25 points on the season. The Royals traded star prospect Ally Sentnor to the Kansas City Current on August 1.
Professional Volleyball in the Beehive State
Utah’s newest professional sport is women’s volleyball, with matches at Salt Lake Community College.Courtesy photo
Salt Lake’s League One Volleyball squad were the new kids on the block in 2025. LOVB (pronounced love) is one of a few efforts to bring professional women’s volleyball to the United States after decades of exporting college stars to Europe to play as pros.
It would appear that LOVB is the most well-funded and organized effort, though, as the local team gets ready for its second season starting in January. LOVB Salt Lake’s roster includes 2020 Olympic gold medalists Jordyn Poulter and Haleigh Washington, as well as local legends Roni Jones-Perry (BYU) and Dani Drews (U of U).
The team plays its matches at Bruin Arena on Salt Lake Community College’s Redwood Campus.
LOVB Salt Lake’s inaugural season ended in disappointment after a five-set heartbreaker against eventual champions LOVB Austin in the first round of the playoffs on April 10.