SALT LAKE CITY — Yeti, long considered the favorite to become the Utah Hockey Club’s team name, is out.
A copyright disagreement between the NHL club and the Yeti cooler company has resulted in the team deciding to move on from that name. It wasn’t a lock that Yeti would become the team name in Utah, but public sentiment was moving in that direction.
Legalities were not.
“There’s been a lot in the news lately,” Smith Entertainment Group executive Mike Maughan said at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon at the Delta Center, a few hours before Utah’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“Nothing came from the trademark office that was surprising in any way. We have engaged with Yeti coolers. The NHL has helped engage with them. At the end of the day, they have a trademark that allows them to print Yeti on clothing and other merchandise.”
And so, Yeti is out. Maughan said that the franchise and the NHL discussed the ongoing copyright concerns with Yeti coolers and decided it was time to move on.
The franchise has decided on three possibilities for the team name:
- Utah Mammoths
- Utah Wasatch
- Utah Hockey Club
Fans attending each of the next four Utah home games at the Delta Center, beginning with Wednesday’s game, will have the opportunity to vote on the path forward.
“There will be iPad stations throughout the arena,” Maughan said. “Fans can take the survey on potential names and logos.”
Though the team wants public input, the process is still quite secretive.
Reporters on hand Wednesday were given a sneak peek at the three new logo proposals but were not permitted to photograph or share them in any way.
The franchise wants the new logo designs to remain visible only to fans who are attending these four games, so fans will not be permitted to take photos, either.
Two assigned employees will be with each fan as they vote to ensure secrecy.
“Phones must be put away,” Maughan said. “Integrity of the images must be protected.”
The Utah Jazz used a similar approach a few years ago when they had Delta Center fans take surveys regarding the team’s new jerseys.
Maughan didn’t say the fan vote over the next four games will definitively result in a finalized name and logo, though that seems likely.
“This is the next iteration,” he said. “Could it be the final iteration? Potentially.”
Maughan said there will be “no other opportunity” for fans to vote on the logos and team names if they are not attending one of the next four games.
The copyright issues have become a hot topic in Salt Lake City, but Maughan didn’t seem particularly surprised.
“Not at all,” he said. “There is no name, other than a made-up name, that doesn’t have some kind of trademark conflict. Think about everything that’s had to happen. How the NHL has rallied behind us. The incredible fan base. The team. The fact that that has all happened in such a short period of time. It’s an entirely new NHL team, a new brand identity. We will honor that forever.”
Regardless of how the voting unfolds over the next four Utah home games, fans will have to remain patient. The franchise wants to have a name in logo in place before the start of the 2025-26 season, but don’t expect the name and logo to be revealed until after this season.
“We do not anticipate revealing the name during this season,” Maughan said. “We will stick to that timing.”
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(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
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