With the successful expansions in Las Vegas and Seattle, the prospect of owning an NHL franchise is becoming popular.

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The two franchises have proven to be popular and profitable, for both the teams and the NHL. Which would of course attract more potential owners to the league, which is why the Smith Entertainment Group, who owns the Utah Jazz would be interested in moving forward with expansion.

The ownership group has been considerably aggressive with their negotiations with the NHL and is determined to bring a team to Salt Lake City.

While expansion hasn’t officially happened, that hasn’t stopped Smith Entertainment Group from laying the groundwork for expansion, as they have decided to move forward with a potential team name.

Ryan Smith, the owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, and potential owner of the next NHL expansion in Utah has offered fans in the area a survey to complete, to name the franchise in Utah.
“If an NHL team were to come to Utah, what should we name it?” Ryan Smith said in a post on X.

Undoubtedly, there’s excitement for the NHL to expand into the Utah area, as a major city center in the United States would be very profitable for the league and Gary Bettman.

The cost for a new NHL franchise would be expensive as the fee for a future NHL team could be upwards of $2 Billion, which is $1.3 Billion more than the Seattle Hocke Partners invested into the Kraken in 2021, a group led by David Bonderman.

Should Smith and Company win an expansion spot, the future NHL team would undoubtedly play out of Vivint Arena, the current Utah Jazz home.

The arena in Salt Lake City has already hosted three NHL pre-season games in the past and will host another between the Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights next September.

With Salt Lake City being a prospective city for the 2034 Winter Olympics, it seems like a new Arena will be built before then, the likely home of the Utah team.