The Utah Jazz, owned by Ryan Smith and his wife Ashley, have welcomed a new hockey team to Salt Lake City, formerly known as the Phoenix Coyotes.
However, this new team is distinct from the Arizona Coyotes, as the Phoenix franchise is now inactive. Instead, the Jazz acquired the contracts of the Coyotes coaching staff, players, and administrative personnel from the NHL.
The Coyotes faced challenges in securing a sustainable future in the NHL, ultimately leading to their status becoming inactive. Consequently, Salt Lake City was granted an expansion team, with Ryan Smith purchasing the club for $1.2 billion.
Despite this transition, the history of the Coyotes franchise remains with the city of Phoenix and its owner, Alex Meruelo. While Phoenix aims to build a new arena and revive the Coyotes, this does not impact the new Salt Lake City team, which retains all draft capital, players, and assets.
This situation parallels the relocation of the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in 1996, where the Browns’ name, colors, and history remained in Cleveland while the relocated team became the Baltimore Ravens.
Similarly, the Salt Lake City team will operate independently, with Smith engaging fans to suggest potential nicknames, with “Yetis” emerging as a popular choice.