This season will include 100 exclusive regular-season games across ESPN, ESPN+, Hulu and ABC. More than 1,000 out-of-market games will be available to ESPN+ subscribers via NHL PowerPlay on ESPN+.
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In January, Smith Entertainment Group formally requested that the NHL initiate an expansion process and bring a team to Salt Lake City. This week, Smith took to X, asking for name suggestions for a potential NHL franchise.
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.”
The relocation plan, according to sources, would be for the Utah team to play out of the Delta Center, which Smith owns and is also home to the Jazz. The Delta Center has hosted NHL exhibition games five times, with another date scheduled for this coming fall.
However, sources told ESPN that NHL leadership has made it clear to Smith they would need hockey-specific renovations for the Delta Center to be a permanent NHL home, similar to the Kraken owners’ renovations to Key Arena before the team arrived. Smith is prepared to help develop that.
“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.
The NHL’s decision to develop two schedules comes as the Coyotes were in the midst of their latest plan to secure a new arena.
The Coyotes have been searching for a permanent home since their former owner took the franchise into bankruptcy in 2009. The team appeared to have stable footing at then-Gila River Arena, but the city of Glendale backed out of a multimillion-dollar lease agreement in 2015. The Coyotes had leased Gila River Arena on a yearly basis before the city terminated its lease following the 2021-22 season.
The team moved to Mullett Arena while seeking an arena solution in Tempe. The Coyotes believed they had one with a 16,000-seat arena in a proposed $2.1 billion entertainment district, but voters rejected that plan in May 2023.
The latest plan would not require a public vote. In March, the Arizona State Land Department Board of Appeals unanimously approved a $68.5 million appraisal of a 95-acre parcel of land in north Phoenix. The auction for that land is set for June 27.
If the Coyotes won the auction, Gutierrez said the team planned to start construction in the second quarter of 2025, adding, “We hope to drop the puck in the fall of 2027.” He said that was the same timeline the team had for its arena project in Tempe.
The last NHL relocation was when the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg in 2011. The confirmation of that move was made on May 31, 2011, at a news conference in Winnipeg.
