Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- The Utah Royals unveiled a new uniform inspired by the Great Salt Lake.
- The team will donate $10,000 to the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust.
- The initiative aims to raise awareness for the lake's preservation efforts.
Editor's note: This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake.
HERRIMAN — The Great Salt Lake attracts millions of migratory birds every year while also padding snowpack levels and providing many other environmental and economic benefits for the state.
It also serves as the muse for a new soccer kit.
The Utah Royals unveiled their new secondary uniform on Thursday, featuring "Great Salt Lake blue" outlined in a pattern meant to reflect the saline lake's "beauty and significance."
Greatness lives here. Introducing the Great Salt Lake kit. pic.twitter.com/mbZmVg8tPs
— Utah Royals FC (@UtahRoyalsFC) February 27, 2025
The measure, club officials say, also seeks to raise awareness of ongoing efforts to preserve the lake after the lake dropped to an all-time low in 2022. To that end, the Royals announced the team would also make a $10,000 donation to the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust, in partnership with sponsor America First Credit Union, that could go toward getting water to the lake, maintaining healthy salinity rates, removing invasive species and improving diminishing wildlife habitats.
"For us to be able to shine a spotlight on the iconic Great Salt Lake with the donation from America First Credit Union and the kit design defines what our club is all about. Community first," said Tyler Gibbons, vice president of marketing for the Utah Royals.
The Royals are far from the only local team to highlight unique attributes of the state. Real Salt Lake unveiled a "Grid City" alternate kit this year to celebrate Salt Lake County's grid system.
Last year, the Utah Jazz announced new color schemes and designs as part of a shift back to its mountains. The team also highlighted southern Utah through its first two City Edition uniforms, a measure the NBA and Nike debuted in 2017 to create special uniforms specific to every team's market.
The Utah Warriors, in 2021, debuted uniforms that honored the ghost town of Iosepa.
However, members of the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust — an organization jointly managed by the National Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy after it was formed by the Utah Legislature in 2023 — say they're touched by the Royals' decision to include the Great Salt Lake.
Marcelle Shoop, the trust's director, said in a statement the organization is "grateful" for the donation. It comes as lake levels remain about 5-6 feet below the lake's "minimum healthy level" of 4,198 feet elevation.
"This funding will support the important work of the trust, namely, preserving the irreplaceable waters and wetlands of Great Salt Lake that support wildlife and Utah's economy," she said. "This donation exemplifies the impact of collaboration and the importance of recognizing the role we all play when it comes to the future of Great Salt Lake."
The Royals' new kits are now available for purchase online ahead of the 2025 season, which starts against Bay Football Club on March 15.
