Ashley and Ryan Smith on the power of live sports
The co-owners of the Jazz and Mammoth were part of the Atlantic Across America Utah event, in partnership with the Deseret News.
The Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins sits with Ashley and Ryan Smith, co-founders of Smith Entertainment Group, to discuss the value of live sports in an AI-driven era, the evolving future of entertainment and their vision for revitalizing Salt Lake City, as The Atlantic Across America tour — a three-year, 50-state event series delving into important topics of our day — partners with the Deseret News in Salt Lake City on Monday, May 11, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News During the Utah Mammoth’s recent playoff appearance, team co-owner Ashley Smith witnessed 18,000 people “who don’t know each other, high-fiving and hugging and all holding their breath at the same moment and cheering at the same moment. ” “You can feel that it matters,” she said.
It’s a stark contrast to the modern reality of people in isolation on their own screens getting their own feeds. “Everyone’s living an alone life, a lonely life,” Smith said. “We’ve kind of programmed loneliness into our world, and sports bypasses that, and we’re all there, and we’re all in it.
” Smith, along with her husband Ryan, discussed the value of live sports in the modern era Monday with Atlantic staff writer and Deseret Voices podcast host McKay Coppins . The conversation was part of the Atlantic Across America Utah event , presented in partnership with the Deseret News, at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City The Smiths brought hockey to Utah in 2024 when they purchased the players and personnel from the Arizona Coyotes, establishing a new NHL franchise in the state . The Smiths had purchased the Utah Jazz in 2020 from the Larry H.
Miller family, which had saved the franchise from relocation in the 1980s. Former Jazz owner Gail Miller was in attendance Monday. “Gail sat us down multiple times and was ...