Will NHL in Utah (Salt Lake City) be a success? Are there any non hockey fans in Utah who will give the new team a chance?

[Buzz Rules]

Will NHL in Utah (Salt Lake City) be a success? Are there any non hockey fans in Utah who will give the new team a chance?

https://www.nhl.com/news/utah-hockey-club-prepares-for-first-nhl-preseason-game

 

[Buzz Rules]

https://www.nhl.com/utah/

 

[Buzz Rules]

Any new hockey fans in Utah due to their new team's performance?

 

[EACarlson]

The excitement will hold them over for the first couple years. Whether they will last longer than that, I believe rests on them getting a better building. Regardless of who's paying for it, a better building is a necessity. The Delta Center was designed for basketball, with hockey as an afterthought, it might actually be a downgrade from the ASU facility the organization was at previously. My wife and I will probably make a trip out there at some point and catch a game. Ticket prices will determine if we go to Utah or Vegas.

 

[RedAngie]

Gee, move from Winnipeg into a basketball arena in Phoenix.

Move to Salt Lake City into a basketball arena. Makes sense.

The Arizona State university arena was actually a great facility, although way too small for the NHL.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Gee, move from Winnipeg into a basketball arena in Phoenix.

Move to Salt Lake City into a basketball arena. Makes sense.

The Arizona State university arena was actually a great facility, although way too small for the NHL.

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MSG, Rangers and Knicks make it a great experience.

 

[EACarlson]

MSG, Rangers and Knicks make it a great experience.

It can be done, but the thought needs to be there when the arena is designed. The building in Utah looks almost as bad as the old arena in Winnipeg that caused the team to leave in the first place. Except the Delta Center has suites. United Center in Chicago and American Airlines Center in Dallas do it well. Delta Center is probably better than any of the others as a basketball arena, because there weren't those design trade offs made to accommodate hockey well.

 

[Babs Johnson]

I cannot support any team that cannot come up with a suitable name. “Utah Hockey Club.” Give me a break. Sounds like the owners themselves think it’s only going to be in Salt Lake temporarily.

 

[Buzz Rules]

I cannot support any team that cannot come up with a suitable name. “Utah Hockey Club.” Give me a break. Sounds like the owners themselves think it’s only going to be in Salt Lake temporarily.

They are probably being called the Yeti in the future. There is a legal issue over the name at the moment.

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2024/10/08/utah-hockey-team-name/

 

[bcla]

They are probably being called the Yeti in the future. There is a legal issue over the name at the moment.

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2024/10/08/utah-hockey-team-name/

They won't do it because the trademark registration was rejected by the US Patent and Trade Office on the basis of being too easily confused with other "Yeti" trademarks.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id...ck-permanent-name-yeti-rejected-patent-office​

The USPTO rejected a trademark application from the team for "Utah Yetis" because of the "likelihood of confusion" for consumers to other companies and brands that use the name. Utah Hockey Club was seeking to use "Utah Yetis" on a variety of clothing items. The USPTO said a database search turned up "a number of third-party marks registered for use in connection with the same or similar goods and/or services as those of both applicant and registrant in this case."​

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Among those parties was Yeti Coolers LLC, which makes drinkware, coolers and clothing.​

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"We engaged deeply with Yeti Cooler Company and worked with them over a process to see if there was some coexistence agreement that we could engage with them on," said Maughan. "They have a unique and strong trademark on anything published Yeti or Yetis. We did not have a coexistence agreement with Yeti and therefore have decided to move on from that name."​

I looked up the trademark registration history. There's one pending, but there was another filed in 2023 that was abandoned. I think they got the message that it's no longer pending but denied.