[News] Coyotes relocating to Salt Lake City

[sureLoss]

Friedman confirms relocation is being brokered by the NHL with an announcement potentially coming April 18.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...ation-to-utah/

The league sent a memo to its Board of Governors indicating progress in talks to move the team to Utah, but several sources warned to be careful about making any absolute proclamations. “There is a lot that needs to be done,” one said, although it is clear this is a major priority, with maximum effort and speed utilized to reach a finish line.

The NHL is working as the broker, handling negotiations with both current Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo and prospective Utah steward Ryan Smith. Initially, the hope was to let the June 27 auction play out, but two concerns emerged: first, about what would happen if the Meruelo lost the auction, and second, the possibility of three more seasons at Mullett Arena. There wasn’t much enthusiasm for the latter.

Multiple sources indicate a real scenario is Meruelo being paid $1 billion for the team, and Smith paying $1.2 billion to purchase. But the real key is what the NHL will promise Meruelo to avoid this ending up in court.

Those same sources indicate he could be offered a five-year exclusive window to “bring back” the Coyotes as an expansion franchise — although there would be certain language stating what would need to be accomplished for him to return. (The league definitely desires a return to the market if it leaves.)

[GioforPM]

Coyotes are common in Utah. They may just keep the name. I heard that's been done before.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Friedman confirms relocation is being brokered by the NHL with an announcement potentially coming April 18.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...ation-to-utah/

Yeah I imagine dealing with Meruelo means you need to be prepared for anything.

But this kind of money for a money losing franchise is going to have his attention.

[Lanny'sDaMan]

Originally Posted by PuckSlap

Welp

Sent from my SM-F731W using Tapatalk

Wildly under-rated reference. Top Tier!!

[CalgaryFan1988]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Coyotes are common in Utah. They may just keep the name. I heard that's been done before.

Will they go by Salt Lake City or Utah I wonder? Utah Coyotes doesn't sound great.

[Toonage]

Utah Coyotes sounds fine IMO

I was told keeping the Coyotes name would be boring, and maybe a marketing misstep but I honestly see them doing just that at this point.

[btimbit]

I do think hockey can work in Arizona, but slap the reset button and try again later.

[Playfair]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Friedman confirms relocation is being brokered by the NHL with an announcement potentially coming April 18.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...ation-to-utah/

No longer just smoke visible. There are full grown Flames now. What? What did I do?

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Friedman confirms relocation is being brokered by the NHL with an announcement potentially coming April 18.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...ation-to-utah/

If they end up leaving the window open to return to Phoenix via expansion then there's no way the Coyotes name goes to Salt Lake City.

[rb_chimp]

The return of the Salt Lake Golden Eagles!

[TheScorpion]

Yeah and I don't imagine Smith wants any attachment to the disaster that was the Coyotes.

[thefoss1957]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

I have to ask has anybody on cp ever lived in Utah? If so what’s it like? I remember decades ago Dennis Rodman didn’t like it. Lol

I still do live in Utah!

As far as a post on the other thread by Erick Estrada, about SLC metro only having 1.2M residents, a team in SLC would also cover the professional sports deserts of Idaho and Wyoming, as well as Utah, as a "home" market, so the TV market is larger than would be expected.


The state is a huge plateau desert, geographically. There are a lot of animals that could be used for mascot/logo, including dinosaurs, which there are a lot of fossil deposits near where I live. SLC is fairly affluent, and there is a lot of tech money, available. Competition for winter sports money would be with an ECHL team in West Valley (which has about 6000/year as attendance), and the Jazz, which would be owned by the same owners that are fronting the cash for the relocation. As I said, the TV reach would be, geographically, large, include Idaho, Wyoming, and Northern Nevada.

[Ped]

If Arizona gets an expansion team I would think they would want to distance themselves from the Coyotes as much as possible. Fresh new start.

[Freeway]

If I'm paying $1.3B, I want to choose my own branding.

[thefoss1957]

Originally Posted by Puppet Guy

The Flying Elvises - Utah Chapter!

The flying Osmonds would be more appropriate!

[thefoss1957]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

Will they go by Salt Lake City or Utah I wonder? Utah Coyotes doesn't sound great.

I would almost guarantee that the marketing people would not limit the name, geographically speaking. It would be the Utah "Insert franchise name here."

[GioforPM]

FWIW the Dutch Oven is Utah's official cooking pot.

[Just a guy]

Utah Salt of the Earth or The Salt for short

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

FWIW the Dutch Oven is Utah's official cooking pot.

They try to cover that up.

[MissTeeks]

I hope their intro music is Spooky Mormon Hell Dream.