Hockey fans in Utah already are embracing their new team.
After the NHL officially announced the relocation of the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City on Thursday afternoon, new owner Ryan Smith said that business is already booming.
Smith posted on his personal X account that 6,000 season ticket deposits were made in the first two hours they were available. "Utah is amazing!" Smith added.
Later on in the day, Smith updated the number, saying that 11,000 deposits had been made for season tickets.
Smith and his wife Ashley purchased the team in a $1.2-billion deal brokered by the league. The Smiths are owners of Smith Entertainment Group, whose portfolio includes the NBA’s Utah Jazz and MLS’s Real Salt Lake.
Utah's new hockey team will share the Delta Center with the Jazz until a new rink is built. That project is in the early stages of development ahead of Salt Lake City likely hosting the 2034 Winter Olympics.
The 6,000 season ticket holders may have to wait on an official team name and logo, as their new owner wants to make sure they don't rush the rebranding process.
“We’ll start with Utah on the jersey and we’ll figure out the logo and everything else, and what it is that we are, but that’s a one-way door,” Ryan Smith said. "You’ve got to do it once. And with this timeline, I think both the league feels better and we feel better to just run the process and then we’ll drop it when we drop it.”
Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo, who sold the team to the Smiths, will retain the Coyotes' name, logo and trademark, which is why the Smiths' group will have to rename the team.
— with files from The Associated Press
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