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Could Another Arizona Team Follow in Mammoth's Footsteps?

The Utah Mammoth may not be the only team to move to Salt Lake City from Arizona.
Jon Alfano|
A general view of Delta Center before the game between the Utah Hockey Club and the Seattle Kraken.
A general view of Delta Center before the game between the Utah Hockey Club and the Seattle Kraken. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

In the span of 13 months, the Arizona Coyotes suspended hockey operations, had their assets transferred to the fledgling Utah Hockey Club, then watched as that team rebranded as the Utah Mammoth just weeks ago.

Clearly, that saga left some scars in the desert.

Danny Seidon, president and CEO of the Arizona chamber of commerce, recently appeared on a radio show to discuss potential renovation plans for Chase Field, home of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks are seeking more than $500 million for the only stadium they've ever called home, but if that doesn't work out, Seidon fears they could suffer a similar fate as their NHL cousins.

"Utah is being very aggressive, Oregon is being very aggressive. They're passing legislation — $800 to $600 million — to pay for a new baseball stadium," Seidon said. "That's not anything the Diamondbacks are looking for. They're looking for some recapture of income generated that they can bond off of. The team will put way more — hundreds of million dollars more — than any public dollars that will go to keep that asset here."

"I mean, if we're not careful, we're going to see the Arizona Diamondbacks become the Utah Pika, or whatever awful animal they'll change it to. They took our Coyotes and turned it into the mastodon, the elephant — it's something terrible. It hurts my heart. We can't let that happen to the D-backs."

The Diamondbacks began play in 1998, two years after the Coyotes arrived in the desert, and are the newest franchise in Major League Baseball alongside the Tampa Bay Rays. Unlike the Coyotes, however, they actually have some positive history in Arizona. They won the World Series in just their fourth season in 2001, becoming the fastest expansion team to ever win a championship, and just appeared in their second Fall Classic in 2023.

The Diamondbacks also seem to have stable ownership under Ken Kendrick, something the Coyotes never had throughout their 28 years in Arizona.

For those curious, about Seiden's remarks, the pika is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal native to North America and Asia (no, it's not the inspiration for Pikachu). Not exactly a threatening mascot for a team, but if Utah were to acquire an MLB franchise, be it through relocation or expansion, it would likely come up with a better name.

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

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