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SALT LAKE CITY — The Arizona Coyotes' days of playing in the Phoenix area could be numbered.
Tempe residents voted to reject three propositions "by a seemingly insurmountable margin" that were all needed to pave the way for a new $2.1 billion arena development plan, the Arizona Republic reported last week. The vote leaves the future home of the National Hockey League franchise in doubt, leading to new speculation about where the team, which originated in Canada, could play next.
"What is next for the franchise will be evaluated by our owners and the National Hockey League over the coming weeks," Coyotes President Xavier Gutierrez told the Arizona outlet after the vote results came in.
And as that conversation continues, Salt Lake City is considered one of the favorites to possibly land the team, according to new odds released by Florida-based Bookies.com on Monday. Adam Thompson, an oddsmaker for the website, gives Utah's capital city an implied probability of 16.7%, which is third most behind Houston (28.6%) and Kansas City, Missouri (18.2%).
"Salt Lake City wants an NHL team, has the government backing and an arena that can house them in the immediate term," he wrote, adding that there is support "led by an owner with deep pockets and a deep interest in the sport," likely in reference to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, who reportedly met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman earlier this year.
Thompson added that the Salt Lake City area is a "growing and affluent area," as well.
Smith set local sports social media ablaze last month when he tweeted "in motion" in response to a tweet pleading for him to help get an NHL team to Utah.
Both Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall have referenced Salt Lake City, or the Salt Lake area, getting an NHL team in recent months, too. That's on top of the more public push for the city to land a Major League Baseball expansion team, led by the Larry H. Miller Company.
The governor said last week that he's been a part of some "high-level discussions" about the prospects of landing MLB and NHL teams, and he believes there is "actual substance" behind both of the opportunities.
"Baseball is good for the soul; hockey's fun. I think these are wonderful opportunities, and I'm grateful that we have people like the Smiths and the Millers who are pursuing these opportunities," he said during his monthly briefing with Utah reporters. "It doesn't mean that they'll happen. It's possible that neither of them happen, but I would say it's more likely than not that we get at least one, if not both of those, over the course of the next few years."
Mendenhall added that the NHL is "knocking at our door," along with MLB and the Winter Olympics, in a speech outlining her budget priorities earlier this month. She also asked residents to "imagine an NHL team that plays its games in the Delta Center — or its successor — and practices at a new, open-to-the-public facility in the Power District or Ballpark neighborhood," during the State of the City address she delivered on Jan. 24.
Houston is still Thompson's slight favorite to land the team largely because of its size and it's the only major sport that doesn't currently have a team in the city. The Census Bureau recognizes Houston as the fourth-largest city in the U.S. with an estimated population of 2.3 million people as of July 2022 — about 700,000 people more than Phoenix, the country's fifth-largest city.
"Houston boasts a ton of people, a ton of business, and it continues to grow," he wrote.
Atlanta (15.4%) is fourth on Thompson's list, followed by Milwaukee and Toronto (each listed at 10.5%). Hartford, Connecticut; Quebec City, Canada; and the field round out his list, though all have implied probabilities less than 10%.
Of all the options, Atlanta would complete an interesting full circle in terms of NHL relocation. The city was home to the Atlanta Thrashers from 1999 through 2011 before the team moved to Canada and became the Winnipeg Jets — a team that existed from 1972 to 1996 until it moved to Phoenix and became the Coyotes.
