Arizona Coyotes move to Utah officially approved by the NHL Board of Governors… becoming the league’s first relocated franchise since 2011

The Arizona Coyotes, after years of struggling to find a new permanent home to keep hockey in the desert, are officially moving to Salt Lake City, Utah after the NHL’s Board of Governors approved their sale.

It marks the third time in franchise history that the team has relocated – originally hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada as the first incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets.

Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo has officially sold the team to the Smith family, owners of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, for a reported $1.2 billion. The Smiths will now prepare the franchise for competition in the upcoming 2024-2025 season as a team to be named.

The team played its last game in Arizona on Wednesday evening, a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Sean Durzi scored the last goal in Coyotes history.

The fans in attendance, knowing the sale was inevitable, broke out into chants of “Salt Lake Sucks” as they watched the team they had cheered on for 28 years play in the “Valley of the Sun” for the final time.

Fans came out for the team’s final game in Arizona on Wednesday night

“As everyone knows, Utah is a vibrant and prosperous state, and we are thrilled to be a part of it,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a news release.

“We are also excited 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 with the League to resolve a complex situation in this unprecedented and beneficial way.”

Bettman added, “The NHL’s faith in Arizona has never wavered. We thank Alex Meruelo for his commitment to the franchise and Arizona, and we fully support his continued efforts to secure a new home in the desert for the Coyotes.

“We also want to thank Arizona’s loyal hockey fans who have devotedly supported their team for nearly three decades as they grew the game.”

It’s the first time the NHL has seen a franchise move since 2011 – incidentally, when the Winnipeg Jets were reborn after the Atlanta Thrashers moved north.

After giving the franchise as much leeway as possible (some might say much more leeway than necessary) to find a new home, the NHL called time on the team’s efforts to find an arena and build.

The Arizona Coyotes greet fans after their final game of existence on Wednesday

Fans brought signs to the final home game at Mullett Arena in Tempe, Arizona

The team will be rebranded in time for the 2024-2025 season, with Meruelo retaining rights to the Coyotes name, logos and trademarks.

Meruelo will retain these trademarks in hopes of establishing an expansion franchise in Arizona. He will continue to build a $3 billion arena in North Phoenix – with the NHL giving him five years to get it done.

According to TSN Pierre LeBrun, the team will be called “Utah” and not “Salt Lake City,” whose nickname has yet to be determined. LeBrun added that the team could “go into next season without a nickname” in the same way it did when the Washington, D.C.-based NFL franchise was called the Washington Football Team for two seasons.

According to the release, the Coyotes are now considered an “inactive” franchise that could be reactivated if Meruelo builds that arena.

Of the $1.2 billion, Meruelo will keep $1 billion, while the remaining $200 million will go to the NHL, which is brokering the deal. If he gets the expansion team, he will pay the $1 billion back to the NHL as a franchise fee.

Meruelo also remains owner of the Tucson Roadrunners, the Coyotes AHL affiliate.

The Coyotes played their games at a college facility in an undersized lineup

For years, the Coyotes were one of the worst-performing teams in the National Hockey League, and these problems were exacerbated by the franchise’s eviction from its former home in Glendale, now known as the Desert Diamond Arena.

Since that eviction, the team has struggled to find a new and future home, with multiple plans for various locations in the Phoenix metropolitan area falling apart.

The Coyotes played their games at Mullett Arena, home of the Arizona State University hockey team. It is a move that has been criticized because the facilities are substandard for professional hockey.

But these problems will soon be behind the team as they will move to the Delta Center, home of the NBA’s Jazz, next season. That arena will undergo some renovations to make it more attractive for hockey.

Meruelo bought the Coyotes in July 2019 for $425 million. At the time, Arizona was the least valuable NHL franchise – with an estimated value of $675 million.