How Ryan Smith Turned Utah Into One Of The Country's Hottest Sports Destinations
Less than six months after the Coyotes played their last game in Arizona, the NHL team officially kicked off a new era in Salt Lake City this week. The Delta Center sold out its 11,131 full-view tickets months ago, with nearly 5,000 additional fans buying obstructed-view tickets, fully knowing they wouldn’t be able to see the entire rink.
Utah Hockey Club, a temporary name, beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 to earn the franchise’s first win — and everyone had a great time. In fact, the NHL team later announced that the Delta Center did $120,000 in beer sales alone that night, which is more than any sporting event had ever done in that arena on a single night.
It was a party, plain and simple. Utah billionaire Ryan Smith had been in talks with the NHL for several years about a potential expansion team. Then, earlier this year, Smith received a call from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman asking him if he wanted to buy the Arizona Coyotes for $1.2 billion and relocate them to Salt Lake City, Utah.
Smith jokes that he had “a day” to decide. There was legitimately no plan in place other than the fact that Smith wanted a team, and the NHL now had one available.
Still, Ryan Smith and his wife, Ashley, flew to Arizona on April 18. They signed the deal, which the NHL brokered, and celebrated with an introductory press conference.
Next came the hard part. Smith had to tell hundreds of Coyotes players and employees they were moving 600 miles north to Salt Lake City, attempting to soften the blow by offering them help with moving expenses. The practice facility? Well, Utah didn’t have one, so Smith initiated a plan to build a temporary one from scratch inside the Utah Olympic Oval, promising players they would eventually get a nicer, new one.