The Utah Hockey Club has chosen three finalists for the permanent team name it will adopt beginning with the 2025-26 NHL season.
The franchise will use a final round of fan voting to decide among the Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and, now, Utah Outlaws. The team on Thursday announced it was switching out the unpopular Utah Wasatch options for Outlaws.
“Hey Utah hockey fans! We listened to your feedback and dug into all the Qualtrics data from last night’s survey,” the team posted on social media. “For the team name, it’s clear that Outlaws should be in the mix instead of Wasatch, so we’re swapping it out.”
Team officials backed away from including Yeti as a finalist after being unable to work out a coexistence agreement with Yeti Coolers to use the name in branding and merchandising.
“They have a unique trademark that allows them to prevent the use of the word Yeti or Yetis,” Smith Entertainment Group executive Mike Maughan said Wednesday. “They made a determination for the sake of their brand that they didn’t want to enter into a coexistence.”
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office earlier this month refused a request by the club, citing a “likelihood of confusion” with other notable brands using the name, such as Yeti Coolers. An email sent Wednesday by The Associated Press to Yeti Coolers LLC seeking comment was not returned.
Fans in attendance at the next three home games will continue voting at designated iPad stations at the Delta Center to help decide the team’s name and logo. It gives a first look at designs for the logo, jerseys and branding associated with each choice.
Only fans in attendance will be allowed to vote during the games against Columbus on Friday, St. Louis on Sunday and Philadelphia on Tuesday. The permanent team name and logo will be unveiled ahead of Utah’s 2025-26 regular-season opener.
Wasatch initially took the finalist spot intended for Yeti. Wasatch is a reference to the Wasatch Mountains, which run north to south along the east side of the Salt Lake Valley.
___
AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
