Early reaction to Utah Hockey Club entering crowded Salt Lake market is strong

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Jazz have done more than make a place for themselves in this city.

They became an institution in Salt Lake City and continued to draw big crowds long after Stockton-to-Malone eventually became a rebuilding team and could well have moved on for a third straight year, just missing the playoffs.

It turns out there is room for more than one big professional team in the city.

Arrival of the team formerly known as Arizona Coyotes It has generated huge interest, with more than 34,000 season ticket deposits made within the first 48 hours of its launch. And only 8% of these deposits Utah Hockey Club There were also Jazz season ticket holders, which meant more customers for Ryan and Ashley Smith, who owned both teams.

“So we immediately became very, very optimistic about the demand from the community,” said Chris Barney, head of revenue and commercial strategy at Smith Entertainment Group. “One really interesting nuance about this group is that 63% of these people have not even attended an arena event in a year. “You don’t really get a chance to build a new audience in sports.”

After five years in New Orleans, the Jazz moved to Salt Lake in 1979 and created fans for the future by developing them at a young age through Junior Jazz. Barney said it is the nation’s largest youth basketball program and its goal is to create a similar legacy in hockey.

However, the Utah Hockey Club plans to support existing programs rather than dictate the path of youth programs. The Utah Outliers youth team has won championships the last three years and plans to expand its 17- to 20-year-old program with younger teams as it moves to a new 2,000-seat facility in Park City, Utah.

to have NHL in the neighborhoodOutliers general manager and coach Paul Taylor hopes this will only increase interest among potential young players.

“I think once the team starts you’re going to see a lot of interest and kids are going to start choosing the hockey stick over the basketball or the football or the football,” Taylor said. “It’s your dream that the best players in the world come to your backyard and become part of your community as your home team.”

Beyond building a young fan base, he also has a mission to educate those who don’t watch much hockey but are curious.

There may also be people who have some interest in sports, have occasionally watched a match on TV, but do not fully understand the difference between icing and offside.

“But we know there are hockey fans here, too,” said Travis Henderson, senior vice president of UHC and Jazz broadcasting. “So we’re just striking that balance of teaching and elevating the game, but not belittling the hockey fans that we know are here and have watched their entire lives. “So it’s an interesting balance, but we’re aware of it.”

Utah games will be broadcast live and available through a streaming service, including behind-the-scenes content. Various broadcast packages are available, including one combining UHC and Jazz.

The Utah Hockey Club is the shiny new toy, and the metro area of ​​more than 1.2 million people has already shown great enthusiasm for a team that has played in Arizona State University’s 5,000-seat arena the past two years.

“I think the response has been as good as anyone could have expected,” said Patrick Kinahan, longtime co-host of Salt Lake sports talk radio. “This town is ready to explode into a major sports town and hockey is taking them one step closer to that. I went to the first friendly just to get an idea.

“It felt like a late-season Jazz game with the team gaining momentum heading into the playoffs.”

Utah has a young group of players led by Clayton Keller and a defense that has been improved with some offseason moves. Exchange for Mikhail Sergachev. General manager Bill Armstrong has built mostly through the draft and is hesitant to predict whether the team can make a legitimate push for the playoffs this season.

He’s opting to stick to the day-to-day approach for Utah, which will open its season at home against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 8.

“We’re probably still the second or third youngest team in the National Hockey League,” Armstrong said. “This is part of the restructuring. “Some nights you’ll look like a world champion and go 9-0, and other nights you won’t.”

There are many rivalries beyond the NHL and NBA teams that will interest sports fans. BYU and Utah are Power Four Conference teams with passionate fan bases. MLS’s Real Salt Lake averages more than 20,000 fans.

It is not yet known how long the honeymoon will last for the NHL team.

“I never actually put a timestamp on it,” Barney said. “We are in the middle of the Jazz’s 292-game winning streak and have not made the playoffs for two years in a row. If you were in our final regular-season game against the Rockets last season, you’d be like, ‘Are both of these guys chasing a playoff spot for home-field advantage?’ Our fans are truly incredible.”

But he also acknowledged the reality of how the results could impact fans’ overall experience.

“There is something, and our data shows it,” Barney said. “When we win, the hot dogs get hotter and the drinks get colder.”

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL