Salt Lake NHL and MLB News Thread

[airhero]

Not crazy about Yetis. Seattle is named Kraken because there is only one Kraken. There is also only one Yeti. It’s like calling a team sasquatches or bigfoots.

Outlaws is fine. It’s cool and there’s a lot you could do with that one thematically. It has maybe slightly more significance for Utah with the Butch Cassidy connection. Though I don’t believe when people think Utah that they think outlaws. I keep hoping for something I like more but maybe I’m being picky because it’s our team. I think Seattle nailed it with Kraken. It’s a cool name.

[Comrade]

Yeti/s seems to be pretty polarizing of a name. People either love it or hate it. I feel Outlaws is probably the least-polarizing of the two (and the rest aren't polarizing at all because most people hate 'em).

I would rather go with the Sasquatch.

Or instead of Blizzard, go with the Squall.

[wrendog]

Whatever name is chosen, some people will like it, some hate it, some ambivalent. But, after a few years? It'll just be normal.

To be fair, some team names are incredibly stupid taken at face value, but just fine because they are so normal. White and red sox? LOL. Jazz? yeesh. Wild? gah. Athletics? LOL. Browns? Come on...

[Comrade]

I think the Jazz as it relates to New Orleans was a great choice. Very unique and stood out without sounding too silly.

The rest you listed? Outside the Wild, they're all really old fucking franchises where name and brand wasn't nearly as important as it is today.

I think if Utah goes with something like the Blizzard or Venom or Fury, it'll be a bad choice. The Coyotes was such a cool name and to go from that to some generic create-a-team name would be such a downgrade.

And honestly, in today's day, you need names that market well. That's why Kraken was so cool.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by Comrade

I think the Jazz as it relates to New Orleans was a great choice. Very unique and stood out without sounding too silly.

The rest you listed? Outside the Wild, they're all really old fucking franchises where name and brand wasn't nearly as important as it is today.

I think if Utah goes with something like the Blizzard or Venom or Fury, it'll be a bad choice. The Coyotes was such a cool name and to go from that to some generic create-a-team name would be such a downgrade.

And honestly, in today's day, you need names that market well. That's why Kraken was so cool.

Yes, unique to New Orleans but still weird. Just because something is unique, doesn't mean awesome. The point is, a name can be dumb and weird at first, but will be old hat after a few years. Kraken was a stupid name, IMO when it came out. Normal now.

[RC14]

The Jazz is a really dumb name for Utah and we need a team with a name that hits it out of the park to make up for it.

If I was king of the world, I would move the Jazz back to NOLA and the Lakers to Salt Lake City.

I think the name Utah Outlaws sounds cool but, from what I've seen, people outside the market don't understand the relevance to the market.

So far, Yetis is still may #1. I also kind of like Black Diamonds but that name probably wouldn't appeal to the general population.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by wrendog

Yes, unique to New Orleans but still weird. Just because something is unique, doesn't mean awesome. The point is, a name can be dumb and weird at first, but will be old hat after a few years. Kraken was a stupid name, IMO when it came out. Normal now.

It is awesome, though. Just not awesome for Utah. And Utah gets hell for it all the time. It's probably the most-mocked name in the NBA.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by Comrade

It is awesome, though. Just not awesome for Utah. And Utah gets hell for it all the time. It's probably the most-mocked name in the NBA.

I love the name because it's the name of MY NBA team. That's it.

Again, the point is, names are incredibly subjective. Whatever is picked will not be unanimously loved. No way, no how. But, no one will care in 5 years. It'll just be the name.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by wrendog

I love the name because it's the name of MY NBA team. That's it.

Again, the point is, names are incredibly subjective. Whatever is picked will not be unanimously loved. No way, no how. But, no one will care in 5 years. It'll just be the name.

I just disagree. I think naming can go a long way toward building goodwill and momentum. It also can help a fledging franchise.

The Jazz get mocked but they have 40 years of really good success. This team is coming with a blank slate in an era where branding is far more important than it was in the 1970s when the Jazz relocated here.

It would be monumentally stupid to pick a name like Venom or Fury or Blizzard, that are not just disliked by some but hated by most, as you're trying to get a foot in the market. Why handicap yourself with a stupid name?

Yeti isn't the best but it does seem fairly popular and marketable. Same with Outlaws.

But Fury? Yeah, no.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by Comrade

I just disagree. I think naming can go a long way toward building goodwill and momentum. It also can help a fledging franchise.

The Jazz get mocked but they have 40 years of really good success. This team is coming with a blank slate in an era where branding is far more important than it was in the 1970s when the Jazz relocated here.

It would be monumentally stupid to pick a name like Venom or Fury or Blizzard, that are not just disliked by some but hated by most, as you're trying to get a foot in the market. Why handicap yourself with a stupid name?

Yeti isn't the best but it does seem fairly popular and marketable. Same with Outlaws.

But Fury? Yeah, no.

I mean, sure, but based on the majority of people, I doubt Venom or Fury have any chance whatsoever

[RC14]

Originally Posted by wrendog

Again, the point is, names are incredibly subjective. Whatever is picked will not be unanimously loved. No way, no how. But, no one will care in 5 years. It'll just be the name.

I agree that nobody will care in 5 years, but I think a well chosen name will create a stronger and more passionate fan base.
I think the Jazz would have more fans if they weren't named the Utah Jazz.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by wrendog

I mean, sure, but based on the majority of people, I doubt Venom or Fury have any chance whatsoever

I hope not. I also don't believe we'll have a true bracket where fans 100% pick the name. I suspect Ryan has a name he's leaning toward and will use to this to see if it's a total dud.

[PHX31]

Originally Posted by Comrade

I just disagree. I think naming can go a long way toward building goodwill and momentum. It also can help a fledging franchise.

The Jazz get mocked but they have 40 years of really good success. This team is coming with a blank slate in an era where branding is far more important than it was in the 1970s when the Jazz relocated here.

It would be monumentally stupid to pick a name like Venom or Fury or Blizzard, that are not just disliked by some but hated by most, as you're trying to get a foot in the market. Why handicap yourself with a stupid name?

Yeti isn't the best but it does seem fairly popular and marketable. Same with Outlaws.

But Fury? Yeah, no.

Is it Utah Yeti or Utah Yetis? Like one singular Yeti? Or a team of them?

[locolife]

Why are they making such a big deal out of something that will surely appease less than the majority of people? There's no winning this... a lot of people will dislike any name they pick. And at the end of the day, it's a name.

If the owner there learned anything about the Yotes it should be that you'll build buy-in and followers by winning. That is what matters, 8 total playoff appearances in nearly 30 seasons is what doomed the Yotes in Phoenix. That was a result of instability at ownership, poor decisions by the various ownership groups, and a lot of other complicating factors.

If you win and compete, nobody gives a sh*t if you're called the Utah Jacka**es.

[RC14]

Allot of people have been making this point but I think it's the other way around. Of course winning is important but I also think that, in a way, the name and branding are the team. There are teams that have loyal fans even during their terrible years. For example, the 76ers cerca 10 years ago, 49ers cerca 8 years ago and the Chicago Cubs for over 100 years.

[atx-adam]

Interesting ESPN article from 2020 about how Seattle chose the Kraken:

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/...-became-kraken

Since the process was so prolonged, the team was paranoid about leaks. Over the past few weeks, need-to-know staffers have used "Seattle Cascades" as a code word or have sometimes written "Seattle K" in emails. Dettmer maintains a spreadsheet of names of people working for NHL Seattle, agencies and Adidas employees, detailing what type of NDA they have signed and what level of access they had: Do they know the name? Have they seen the logo? Have they held the markups?

Seattle NHL filed three trademarks -- Kraken, Sockeyes and Breakers -- and registered five domain names -- Kraken Hockey, Sockeyes Hockey, Evergreen Hockey, Renegades and Seattle Renegades.com -- so they could use some as decoys. The team also worked with a company in Hawai'i to do some registration and consulted with a firm in London to deflect attention.

The NHL's plan to return to the ice

With the NHL on pause since March 12, the league and players' association have come up with a return-to-play format featuring 24 teams.

• Details on the return-to-play plan
• Guide to all 24 postseason teams
• Latest updates from around the NHL

The final trademark was approved exactly a week ago, at which point they were ready to go full steam ahead.

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by RC14

Allot of people have been making this point but I think it's the other way around. Of course winning is important but I also think that, in a way, the name and branding are the team. There are teams that have loyal fans even during their terrible years. For example, the 76ers cerca 10 years ago, 49ers cerca 8 years ago and the Chicago Cubs for over 100 years.

Team name and branding really don't have anything to do with that team's following, it's a mixture of history, success, community outreach and the market itself. The LA Chargers have no following in Los Angeles, and a change in team name and branding wouldn't do a bit of difference. The New Orleans basketball team was the Jazz, then they got the Hornets, then they now have the Pelicans name... They're not any more or less popular as the Pelicans as they are the Hornets, just depends on the success of the team.

People here won't decide to support or not support the team based on the name or branding. They may choose to buy less or more merchandise based on that, but the overall support of the team has nothing to do with the name. You'll support the players if you like them, or if they're winning.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by ucsbgaucho

Team name and branding really don't have anything to do with that team's following, it's a mixture of history, success, community outreach and the market itself. The LA Chargers have no following in Los Angeles, and a change in team name and branding wouldn't do a bit of difference. The New Orleans basketball team was the Jazz, then they got the Hornets, then they now have the Pelicans name... They're not any more or less popular as the Pelicans as they are the Hornets, just depends on the success of the team.

People here won't decide to support or not support the team based on the name or branding. They may choose to buy less or more merchandise based on that, but the overall support of the team has nothing to do with the name. You'll support the players if you like them, or if they're winning.

I get what you're saying but you're really arguing irrelevant points.

No one is saying the franchise would be doomed with a bad name. So, it's silly to kind of use that as the foundation for your argument, Moreover, the examples you list are not comparable. If this hockey team came to Salt Lake as the Coyotes, which I think most find a pretty cool name (and one that can work with Utah as we have coyotes too), established itself and then changed its name, that would be different.

But that isn't happening. This will be the name. So, not only are they going to work to establish themselves in a market that has never had another major league team (outside soccer) other than the Jazz, they're going to do so with a team that isn't the most successful right now. We hope that the young talent will lead to success but the franchise they're inheriting has made the playoffs just once in the last twelve years.

It's not going to make or break whether they succeed but it absolutely helps. Having a good name creates positive momentum and energy and helps sell the team to the local community that has never supported another major league like the NHL.

This is all new territory.

Hell, when the Jazz moved to Salt Lake, they were likely doing so temporarily. That's why they didn't spend the money they didn't have to change the name. Salt Lake was never a destination but a pitstop on the way to either Minnesota or Miami. But then the Jazz started winning and by the time it became clear they were going to remain in Salt Lake, the name didn't matter. They were winning.

Theoretically, this team is here to be here - not here just to get them out of Mullet Arena. Ryan Smith didn't buy the Coyotes operations just to temporarily move them to Salt Lake like with what we likely saw with Sam Battistone and the Jazz in the 1970s.

Regardless, new teams have a completely new world to navigate. Branding is much more a thing today than it was even when the Hornets relocated to New Orleans.

At the end of the day, a bad name might not sink the NHL team (one that is still trying to find its hierarchy in the Salt Lake sports scene) but it absolutely could be an avoidable blunder.

I do hope there's more names put out there because yeah the names tossed around so far haven't been great.

[wrendog]

Apparently 30,000 season tickets deposits and only 7% of those are Jazz season ticket holders....

[Comrade]

Names I like that haven't been added yet (or maybe won't ever be) that a realistic (so no Ligers lol):

Utah Shredders
Utah Summit
Utah Goblins (after Goblin Valley)
Utah Hoodoos