SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 6, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — The potential names for Utah’s NHL team have been whittled from 20 to six following more than 520,000 fan votes in an online poll last month.
Six options accounted for more than 60% of the first-round voting to advance to the second round, which got underway Thursday:
- Utah Blizzard
- Utah Hockey Club (Utah HC)
- Utah Mammoth
- Utah Outlaws
- Utah Venom
- Utah Yeti
Voting in the second round will be open until June 20, with fans asked to select only one of the six options here.
The team will make its NHL debut in the 2024-25 season with a placeholder name and will wear jerseys branded only as Utah, according to Smith Entertainment Group.
“Once the team name has been selected, SEG will work diligently to craft the team identity — logo, mascot, colors, and other branding elements — which will debut for the 2025-26 NHL season,” the website says.
The final steps in the name selection process will be announced “in the coming months,” according to SEG.
SEG is partnering with Qualtrics, the feedback and experience management provider Utah NHL owner Ryan Smith co-founded, and creative consultants and design studio Doubleday & Cartwright on the franchise’s branding process.
“Qualtrics will employ best practice survey research methodology to ensure fairness, accuracy, and unbiased results including randomization, geo-location identification, progressive discrete choice analysis, the prevention of ballot box stuffing, encrypted data collection and storage. Backend analysis will also include deduplication and best practice statistical methods to ensure data integrity,” the website says.
The NHL Board of Governors approved the Arizona Coyotes’ sale to SEG owners Ryan and Ashley Smith on April 18.
The new team will begin play in the 2024-25 season at the Delta Center, though the Smiths ultimately plan to renovate the shared arena with the Utah Jazz — which they also own — to make it more hockey-friendly.
