SANDY, Utah (Wednesday, January 16, 2019) – Real Salt Lake announced on Wednesday that the club has restructured the front office and hired Rob Zarkos as Executive Vice President of Soccer Operations.
In his new role, Zarkos will handle oversight and management of all operations for Real Salt Lake, Real Monarchs SLC, Utah Royals FC and the Real Salt Lake Academy, reporting directly to Owner Dell Loy Hansen. Zarkos is returning to the club where he previously served as President of Real Monarchs and Vice President of Soccer Administration for the organization from 2014-2018.
“I’m excited for this opportunity and it gives me the authority to get things done and execute Mr. Hansen’s vision,” Zarkos said. “This will allow us to integrate from top-to-bottom efficiently. We’ve grown very quickly and it’s time to integrate everything, put in systems, processes and procedures and generally operate better. I come from a background of building companies and optimizing them, so when it came time to optimize the team side, I jumped at it.”
Zarkos first came to the RSL organization as President of the USL’s Real Monarchs in September of 2014. Prior to moving to Utah, Zarkos had spent the previous five years working for Mr. Hansen as in-house counsel and VP of Operations in the Wasatch Company's real estate side. Now a resident of Park City, Zarkos has an expertise in business operations and contract administration, providing a foundation for an acute sharpness for the organization with Major League Soccer’s compliance guidelines and lead the club’s strategic competitive investments.
With the return of Zarkos, General Manager Craig Waibel will narrow the focus of his duties exclusively on executing the vision of building the roster for Real Salt Lake while still overseeing the rosters and technical departments of Real Monarchs SLC and the Real Salt Lake Academy teams. In addition, Utah Royals FC has promoted Stephanie Lee to General Manager from her previous role as Managing Director and Dan Egner will remain in the role of General Manager for Real Monarchs.
Real Salt Lake opens training camp on Monday, January 21, with the regular season beginning with a road match against the Houston Dynamo on March 2 and the home opener on March 9 against Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
