Utah NHL Franchise Gives Fans Six Team Name Options to Vote On
Utah’s new NHL franchise has launched a second round of fan voting to help pick the name of the new team, asking fans to choose from six possible options.
The Arizona Coyotes are relocating to Salt Lake City next season after failing to find a new home in the Phoenix area. The team will play its first season with “Utah” on the front of its jerseys while the franchise develops a brand identity, but the team intends to play under its new name immediately. (The Utah franchise will technically be an expansion franchise, with the Coyotes franchise being declared inactive. Arizona owner Alex Meruelo can reactivate the franchise if he is able to secure a new arena within five years.)
The six options fans are being asked to choose from are as follows:
- Utah Hockey Club (Utah HC)
- Utah Blizzard
- Utah Venom
- Utah Mammoth
- Utah Outlaws
- Utah Yeti
The vote is being conducted on the website of software company Qualtrics, which is owned by Utah NHL owner Ryan Smith. Smith also owns the NBA‘s Utah Jazz.
This is the second round of fan voting that the franchise has conducted. The first round was conducted last month, with 20 options to choose from. The franchise says that it received 520,000 responses in the initial round of voting and that the six options in the second round of voting accounted for 60% of the initial votes. Voting will be open until June 20.