Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia has his sights set on bringing hockey back to Arizona, Sportico reported Wednesday.
Arizona is now without an NHL team after the Coyotes relocated to Salt Lake City following the 2023-24 campaign. The franchise will have a new name come the 2025-26 season, but when it plays games this year, it will be known as the Utah Hockey Club.
“I’m definitely going to be part of the community, and if I can help bring hockey back, I’ll look at that,” Ishbia told Sportico. “It’s definitely something I’m interested in. It’s a four-sport town. I’m disappointed we don’t have a hockey team, but I understand what happened, and we’re going to try to fix that one day.”
Ishbia, 44, also owns the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA.
Footprint Center, home of the Mercury, hosted the WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday. There is also a new $100 million women’s practice facility, that Ishbia funded, behind the arena.
“I think our arena is first-class right now. I love our arena,” Ishbia said about Footprint Center. “But at some point we’re going to have to get a new arena.”
The Coyotes played games at 5,000-seat Mullett Arena on Arizona State’s campus in Tempe, Ariz., from 2022-24.
According to Sportico’s report, Ishbia did not reveal if he was in talks with the NHL, and the league also stayed quiet. Should hockey end up coming back to Arizona, Ishbia would have the new arena built in downtown Phoenix.
Former Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo sold the club for $1.2 billion.
–Field Level Media
