Former Vancouver Centerback / Right Back Claimed Via Waivers, Arrival Imminent to Utah Side;
Expected Availability During Leagues Cup
HERRIMAN, Utah (Wednesday, July 31, 2024) – Real Salt Lake added defensive depth to its roster with today’s signing of DF Javain Brown, the Jamaican international and former Vancouver Whitecaps centerback / right back, who was claimed via Major League Soccer’s waiver protocol. Brown is under MLS contract through the end of the ongoing 2024 season, with a Club option for 2025.
“I’ve always felt that RSL is a top club, in which I see a team and staff who have a great collective spirit,” said the 25-year-old Brown, en route to Salt Lake City from Vancouver. “I’ve experienced first-hand the quality of football RSL plays, it’s an exciting style for sure.
“I’m really looking forward to working under Pablo and I’m very appreciative for the opportunity to integrate with him, the staff, and obviously a very talented group of players. To the supporters, I am excited to represent you and this great city. I’ll give everything I have to help this club reach its goals, and I can’t wait to meet you.”
Brown, whose jersey number for RSL this season is yet to be determined, boasts 29 appearances with the senior Jamaica National Team, as well as nine appearances with the Reggae Boyz U20 and U23 youth international sides.
Born on March 9, 1999, in Kingston, Jamaica, Brown was selected 23rd overall by Vancouver in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft following three seasons playing college soccer with the Univ. of South Florida. The former Harbour View (Jamaica) professional started 81 of his 107 appearances with the Whitecaps during his four seasons (2021-2024) at BC Place, recording two goals and adding 10 assists across all competitions. Brown helped Vancouver win back-to-back Canadian Championships in 2022 and 2023, also scoring his first MLS goal on July 30, 2022, against Nashville.
# __ – Javain Brown
Pronunciation: juh - VANE
Position: Defender
Hometown: Kingston, Jamaica
College: Univ. of South Florida
Date of Birth: 9 March 1999 (25)
Nationality: Jamaican
How Acquired: Claimed via MLS waivers on July 30, 2024
TRANSACTION: Real Salt Lake claims Jamaican international DF Javain Brown off MLS waivers from Vancouver on July 30, 2024
ABOUT REAL SALT LAKE:
During the first week of January 2022, the RSL compendium of properties was acquired by global sports entrepreneur David Blitzer – who boasts interests in the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), the New Jersey Devils (NHL), the Cleveland Guardians (baseball) and the Washington Commanders (NFL) – as well as several European soccer entities, including Crystal Palace (England), FC Augsburg (Germany), Estoril (Portugal), ADO Den Haag (Netherlands), Alcorcón (Spain), SK Beveren (Belgium) and Brøndby IF (Denmark). The Blitzer group partners with Utah-based Smith Entertainment Group (SEG), which owns the Utah Jazz (NBA), led by Ryan Smith and including Dwyane Wade, among others.
Real Salt Lake recently kicked off its 20th Major League Soccer season, its third full season under Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni, who led the Utah side on an interim basis for the final 100 days in 2021. RSL is the lone Western Conference side to have advanced to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the 2021, 2022 and 2023 campaigns, amassing 13 postseason appearances in the last 16 years, as well as on five occasions in the last six seasons.
RSL's MLS Cup 2009 victory marked the state of Utah's only major professional championship in nearly 40 years, the title preceding an historic run to the 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League Final. Buoyed by a passionate base boasting several thousand season ticket holders and opening its permanent home in Sandy just over 15 years ago; since October, 2008, RSL’s 163-59-75 (W-L-T) mark at America First Field – home of the “RioT” Supporters Group umbrella – equates to a 1.91 points per game average and a 0.679 win pct, one of the truly amazing value proposition in North American sporting landscape today.
For the 2024 season and beyond, Real Salt Lake’s Blitzer / Smith ownership groups have partnered to bring the National Women’s Soccer League back to Utah, as Utah Royals FC returned this Spring. Led by Head Coach Amy Rodriguez, President Michelle Hyncik and Sporting Director Kelly Cousins, URFC aims to seize upon the success the NWSL enjoyed during its first iteration on the Wasatch Front from 2018-20 and grow the game to even greater heights going forward. Led by visionary sports business entrepreneur Jess Gelman – the founder of the Sloan Sports Analytics Institute, along with innovative NBA executive Daryl Morey – Utah Royals FC blazes new trails in 2024, with kickoff next Saturday, March 16 at America First Field.
In 2015, the club expanded its development pyramid with the addition of Real Monarchs SLC, one of several MLS-operated clubs playing in the USL Championship, the United States' Division II setup. The Monarchs boast a pair of titles in its brief history, as the 2017 USL Championship Regular-Season champions, later winning the USL Championship title in 2019. For the 2022 season and beyond, Real Monarchs compete in the newly-launched “MLS NEXT Pro” as part of a joint United States and Canada endeavor to complete the professional player pathway by connecting youth academies in MLS NEXT to first teams in Major League Soccer. The 2024 campaign will see the Monarchs represent the Club in the historic Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, a tourney open to teams from all levels of the U.S. Soccer pyramid, the first trophy hoisted back in 1914.
The entire competitive RSL setup, which includes nearly 70 players representing the RSL Academy’s U-15 and U-17 teams, calls the expansive Zions Bank Training Center in Herriman, Utah their daily training home. With five world-class grass fields, two indoor turf fields, a residential dormitory, the STEM-based RSL Academy High School and the 5,000-seat Zions Bank Stadium located on a 42-acre campus, Utah’s sporting future is bright.
The RSL Community Foundation was established in 2016, created with the goals of being active in the community yearround, utilizing the popularity and reach of RSL, the Royals, the Monarchs and the Academy in promoting health and wellness in children throughout the region, engaging supporters of soccer to raise funds and volunteer time for various local initiatives.
2024 RSL Full-Season Ticket Packages NOW ON SALE at ***www.RSL.com*** or by calling 844.Real.Tix.
