The name of Utah’s new NHL franchise is at least partially in the hands of the people.
On Wednesday, Smith Entertainment Group announced that the process to name the team has formally begun with the launch of an online survey that fans can participate in.
Qualtrics, which franchise owner Ryan Smith founded and which led to him becoming a billionaire, will spearhead the survey process. The process will take place in multiple parts, with the first one beginning Wednesday and running through May 22.
The survey has 20 team name options, and fans are encouraged to select up to four of their favorites. The list of 20 was compiled via a Qualtrics survey Smith issued online a few days before reports surfaced that the Arizona Coyotes could relocate to Utah.
The fine print of the survey says, “The final name of the team remains in SEG’s sole discretion at all times.”
The 20 team name options to vote on are as follows:
“Utah’s NHL team is a community asset, and we want to make sure that the community has a say in what the name is,” Smith said in a statement. “Utah has shown up for this team from the moment the NHL awarded us the franchise less than three weeks ago, and it is only fitting that our fans get the rare opportunity to help name the team they’ll be cheering for. “
Smith has previously alluded to allowing hockey fans to choose the new team name, including when he made an appearance last month on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“We’re doing a bracket,” Smith told McAfee, “and I think we’re going to take us down from like eight all the way down, and the fans are gonna vote for this.”
Once the name is decided, it will be announced sometime during the team’s first season. SEG will be working with New York City firm Doubleday & Cartwright on the logo and branding (as Smith previously indicated).
Doubleday & Cartwright has worked with major league sports teams and big companies such as Nike and Apple in the past.
Because of how long the process will take, the team will not have new branding in place for its first season in Salt Lake City, which begins in the fall.
The team will wear sweaters (jerseys) that just say “Utah” on them, and all branding will also just say “Utah.” There will be no logo, mascot or other official colorway.
The new logo, branding and colorway for the team won’t be introduced until sometime before the beginning of the 2025-26 NHL season.
It is common for teams to let the community which they represent pick the team name when they arrive, though it won’t be a complete free-for-all, as the survey will provide guardrails.
“The study will employ best practice survey research methodology to ensure fairness, accuracy, and unbiased results including randomization, geo-location identification, progressive discrete choice analysis, the prevention of ballot box stuffing, encrypted data collection and storage,” Wednesday’s announcement said. “Backend analysis will also include deduplication and best practice statistical methods to ensure data integrity.”
