Utah Hockey Club’s new name to be decided by fan vote; down to three options
The NHL’s “newest” team is getting close to finding its new brand.
On Wednesday, the Utah Hockey Club announced that it’s down to three names, and they will be hosting a fan vote to determine the franchise’s identity.
The final three names are Utah HC, the Utah Mammoth, and the Utah Outlaws.
According to Smith Entertainment Group (SEG), headed by owners Ryan and Ashley Smith, this is a one-of-a-kind scenario where fans are a part of the final process of naming a franchise.
Mike Maughan of Smith Entertainment Group says the idea of keeping fans involved has been important to the owners.
“It would be very easy for us to just jump in and select a name for the team,” Maughan said. “But we recognize that this is a community asset, and Ryan and Ashley Smith view this as a really exciting opportunity to do something that has never been done in the history of professional sports, which has involved fans to this level, and go with them through this entire process as we seek to name a team together.”
One of the original options in the final thre was Wasatch. It was in reference to the Wasatch Front, part of the Wasatch Range that is based on the western part of the Rocky Mountains. However, after the first night of voting, fans made it clear they wanted a different option, so the team swapped out Wasatch for Outlaws on Thursday.
Utah HC and Mammoth have been in the running since the first stage fan vote last year.
Patrons have three more games to cast their votes at the Delta Center. Fans are allowed to go up to iPad kiosks stationed around the arena and cast their votes on which identity they like most. Fans will be exposed to two potential logos along with the three names. For the Mammoth, the extinct figure will be highlighted on the crest, while Utah HC has a logo featuring a mythical snow creature in the form of a yeti.
Maughan says the creature is going to be portrayed as “the Mountain Defender.”
“To add the Wasatch mountains and the mythical snow creature,” Maughan explained. “That brings together that Utah-centric approach to an idea that fans have been very enthusiastic about…All of them are designed in a very fierce and appropriate way for an NHL hockey team.”
The Outlaws logo wasn’t described in the update on Thursday.
Voters will get a chance to see a variety of combinations of logos and names.
“We will show examples of that logo on a jersey, on the ice itself and various other iterations where people are able to select how they like those together and what looks good together.”
Last June, Utah announced it had narrowed down the list of candidates to six possible selections: Blizzard, Utah HC, Mammoth, Outlaws, Venom, and Yeti. Of those six, only the Mammoth and Outlaws haven’t been denied. Yeti was taken out of contention due to the U.S. Patent Trademark Office refusing the nickname, citing a “likelihood of confusion” with the YETI brand of coolers, bags and drinkware.
Maughan says the recent news of “failed” trademarks hasn’t caught anyone from SEG off guard and that the organization was ready to deal with any and all eventualities.
“Nothing that has come out in the last week is a surprise to us. We’ve known about all of those for months and have strategies to deal with anything that would be coming out from the trademark office regarding any of the names that were previously on the list or that remain on the list today.”
Maughan says the organization is “very confident” that the Utah HC, Mammoth and Wasatch names will be available to be used for the franchise moving forward.
The idea of having fans voting in-house is nothing new to the Delta Center. The NBA’s Utah Jazz had their new “Mountain Basketball” line of jerseys voted on by the folks attending games in the lead-up to this season. This survey methodology is being replicated at this stage of the team-naming process.
In today’s age of smartphones and various devices, there is a question of whether the potential names, jerseys and logos will be leaked before the process is said and done. Maughan hopes that fans will honor the process and keep things under wraps.
“We’re hopeful that based on how we’ve set this up based on the volunteers we have and the great deployment, and honestly, the faith in the community that people will take this survey and express their opinions, but also do it in a respectful way.”
Maughan renewed the plan to announce the hockey team’s name and brand before the 2025-26 season starts. While he didn’t give a definitive timeline, he assured that the reveal wouldn’t happen until the conclusion of the current campaign.
On the ice, Utah (21-21-8) is trying to stay within earshot of a playoff spot. Heading into Thursday night’s action, the club is sixth in the Central Division, six points back of the Vancouver Canucks for the last Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
SPONSORED BY bet365