Coyotes sold, will move to Salt Lake City

The Arizona Coyotes are moving to Salt Lake City.

The National Hockey League announced early Thursday afternoon that the team had been sold to the Smith Entertainment Group, led by Ryan and Ashley Smith, and would be leaving the Valley.

"As everyone knows, Utah is a vibrant and thriving state, and we are thrilled to be part of it," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a press release from the league. "We are also delighted to welcome Ashley and Ryan Smith to the NHL family and know they will be great stewards of the game in Utah."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Now former Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo was approved by the NHL Board of Governors to reactivate the franchise in Arizona if he could get a new, state-of-the-art arena built within the next five years.

Meruelo had been looking at state land in north Phoenix for the project, but the land sale could not be completed until late June at the earliest.

The Coyotes had been playing at Arizona State University's Mullett Arena for the past two years after leaving Glendale. The arena, however, is significantly smaller than many NHL arenas and lacked amenities.

The team had tried to move forward with a Tempe arena, but the plans were rejected by that city's voters.

This story will be updated.