What does NHL hockey in SLC mean for Real Salt Lake?

More professional sports are coming to Utah. Is too much of a good thing still too much?

The National Hockey League is coming to Utah, after the NHL’s board of governors approved the establishment of a franchise beginning with the 2024-25 season controlled by Smith Entertainment Group, specifically Ryan and Ashley Smith, for a reported fee of $1.2 billion.

The move relocates the Arizona Coyotes, rendering the franchise inactive while moving the Yotes’ hockey assets — including its full roster, reserve list, draft picks and hockey operations department — to the yet-unnamed Utah franchise. The Coyotes name, branding and intellectual property will remain in Arizona.

It’s the final step in a years-long battle in the desert where owner Alex Meruelo has struggled to find a suitable stadium for his franchise. The Coyotes have played the last couple of seasons in Tempe, Arizona, inside a 5,000-seat arena shared by Arizona State University, and have no immediate end to the drawn-out saga in sight.

If Meruelo can find an adequate place to play in the Valley of the Sun within the next five years, he’ll have the option of buying back the Coyotes franchise for $1 billion. The rest of the $200,000 fee paid by SEG will be distributed to the remaining league owners, according to several reports.

“As everyone knows, Utah is a vibrant and thriving state, and we are thrilled to be a part of it,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We are also delighted to welcome Ashley and Ryan Smith to the NHL family and know they will be great stewards of the game in Utah. We thank them for working so collaboratively with the League to resolve a complex situation in this unprecedented and beneficial way.”

In the mean time, Utah will join the league as the 32nd team, a member of the Central Division with the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets.

The team will play in Delta Center, home of the Utah Jazz since the 1991-92 season, as SEG promises to build a more suitable arena for both his basketball and hockey franchises. The current setup will have roughly 12,000 unobstructed view seats for hockey, with a proposed arena expansion to number roughly 17,500, Smith told the Associated Press.

“We want to actually use our arena and really spend time creating the best dual-sport arena that exists out there because we want to keep people as close as we possibly can or as vertical as we possibly can to watch both games,” said Smith, who added that 11,000 season-ticket deposits were collected in the first four hours after the sale was announced. “It’s super fun and challenging, but we’re going to do it.”

But what does the new team mean for Utah’s increasingly crowded sports market?

In a city where it was once thought professional basketball wouldn’t survive because of the popularity of the college game (spoiler alert: it did), Salt Lake will soon to be home to franchise in the NBA, NHL and Major League Soccer, as well as a Triple A baseball team and Major League Rugby team.

Add to it Power Conference football programs at the University of Utah and Brigham Young just 45 minutes to the south, and the competition for time, attention and wallets will increase.

Officials with Real Salt Lake aren’t too concerned with fans, though. The club has carved out a niche with average ticket prices around $30 per match between its MLS and NWSL sister club Utah Royals FC, and the 20,000-seat stadium now known as America First Field in Sandy hasn’t had trouble filling up for years.

Being located in a suburb may actually turn out to be a blessing for RSL and the Royals, who are partially owned by Smith Entertainment Group, as well (in addition to a group run by New Jersey Nets managing partner David Blitzer, retired Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn and others). The family friendly price point and diverse soccer fanbase located between Provo and Ogden should have no problem supporting the team.

But ticket sales are only a portion of a team’s overall revenue and sustainability. The greater concern may come from corporate sponsorships.

For its booming economy and increasing place on the national stage, Utah is still a state of just under 3.4 million residents, with a shade of 1.25 million in the Salt Lake City metro area. Beyond a bustling tech sector, there are only so many major businesses that would be interested in doing business with each franchise.

Having a shared interest in SEG may help alleviate some of the concerns. And none of the people we talked to for this newsletter expected that much of a dropoff in corporate spending for their individual franchise.

But to say there is no concern would be equally erroneous.

Still, the benefits dramatically outweigh the drawbacks. Another team means another fanbase, another passion, and another organization for Utahns to rally around — and if there is one thing Utahns know how to do, it’s rally.

But that may include rallying corporate sponsorship to support each of its teams, as well.

So welcome to the Utah NHL franchise. We’ll know more about the team in the coming days, weeks and months. But for now, it may be best to simply enjoy another avenue of entertainment.