Could Utah get NHL team as soon as next season?
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 Sports) – Salt Lake City may be getting an NHL team sooner than was originally thought.
ESPN is reporting the Arizona Coyotes could relocate to Utah as soon as next season
The report says the NHL is preparing a contingency plan for the Coyotes to play at the Delta Center because the league is skeptical about the team’s plan to build an arena in Phoneix.
The NHL has prepared a backup option that would sell the team to Ryan and Ashley Smith, owners of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, in a relocation move to Salt Lake City, multiple sources said.
Smith has long coveted an NHL team, and unveiled plans to build a new arena. Smith told ESPN in January he didn’t care how he acquired the team, saying: “Our goal is NHL in Utah. And I’ll leave the rest up to Gary.”
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“The Utah expression of interest has been the most aggressive and has carried a lot of energy with it,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said at the NHL All-Star Game.
That shadow plan includes the NHL preparing two schedules for next season: one involving the Coyotes in Arizona and another for the team in Utah, as Daily Faceoff first reported Wednesday.
An announcement on relocation could come as soon as this month, sources told ESPN.
Multiple NHL sources cautioned that it’s a fluid situation. Though it is common practice for the NHL to come up with contingencies in a situation that has this much uncertainty, it’s not a done deal.
Relocation would need to be approved by the NHL’s board of governors, which is next scheduled to meet in June.
The Coyotes told ESPN they have no comment on reports the team could relocate to Salt Lake City starting next season. The NHL also had no comment.
The Coyotes have played their home games at Mullett Arena, a 5,000-seat facility on the campus of Arizona State, since the 2022-23 season as they sought a way to build a new NHL-sized arena.
The NHL would purchase the Coyotes from Meruelo in a deal believed to be worth around $1 billion. This would mark the second time the NHL would have owned the Coyotes, buying the franchise from owner Jerry Moyes in 2009 after he filed for bankruptcy. The league owned and operated the Coyotes until 2013.
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The league source said that after purchasing the team, the NHL would then sell the Coyotes to Smith at a price that could be as high as $1.3 billion.
“Utah is what I would call friendly for business,” Smith told ESPN in January. “I think that’s what’s helped us create a tech ecosystem.”
Smith is already receiving support from government leaders. A bill supporting an NHL arena and entertainment district in downtown Salt Lake City advanced through Utah State Senate and has approval from the governor, but has not yet passed. The bill includes a 0.5% sales tax increase to help with funding. That increase would go into effect by Jan. 1.
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