Industry News
Last week, the National Hockey League announced that the Arizona Coyotes will relocate to Salt Lake City starting in the 2024-25 season.
Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and his wife Ashley of Smith Entertainment Group will take over the team in a transaction that includes the current Coyotes owner selling the team to the league, and Smith buying it from there. The reported price paid for the franchise is between $1.2 and $1.3 billion. It is expected that $200 to $300 million of the proceeds from the sale will be distributed to the other NHL owners as a relocation fee.
A state like Utah, known for cold winters and abundant snowfall, seems like a more logical location for an NHL team than Arizona, which is more known for hot deserts. Additionally, Salt Lake City is a winter sports town, is currently experiencing an economic boom, and is expected to host the 2034 Winter Olympics.
“As everyone knows, Utah is a vibrant and thriving state, and we are thrilled to be a part of it,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a news release. “We are also delighted to welcome Ashley and Ryan Smith to the NHL family and know they will be great stewards of the game in Utah. We thank them for working so collaboratively with the League to resolve a complex situation in this unprecedented and beneficial way.”
A wealthy owner like Smith, who badly wanted an NHL franchise, was influential in securing the team. Not only did he have an arena to house a team, but he had formally requested the NHL to initiate an expansion process and bring a team to Salt Lake City.
Why the relocation?
The Coyotes, who relocated to Arizona from Winnipeg in 1996, were facing uncertainty regarding their future arena plans. They had been seeking a new home since the city of Glendale terminated its lease with the Coyotes at Gila River Arena after the 2021-22 season. The Coyotes then moved to Mullett Arena while attempting to find an arena solution in Tempe. The taeam thought it had one with a 16,000-seat arena in a proposed $2.1 billion entertainment district, but voters rejected that plan in May 2023. The uncertainty created the opportunity for Smith to acquire his coveted team via relocation.
The new team will play at the Delta Center, where the NBA’s Utah Jazz play. However, the state Legislature passed a bill that would fund a new sports and entertainment district around the arena with $1 billion of taxpayer money. Smith had applied to work with the city on a proposal to revitalize that part of downtown.
What will the new team name be?
The name for the team is still to be determined, but it will be the ‘Utah something’ and will not have ‘Salt Lake’ as part of it. Smith intends to do a bracket-style competition to determine the name, where fans will have a say. He has also contracted with Doubleday & Cartwright, an independent creative studio that has worked on brand identity with pro sports teams and companies like Apple and Nike to help.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has already received applications for the names Utah Hockey Club, Utah HC, Utah Blizzard, Utah Venom, Utah Fury, Utah Yetis, and Utah Outlaws. Whatever the name, sports fans in Utah are excited for a new team in town.
