Utah’s NHL team bringing new fans to the Delta Center
Jun 5, 2024, 1:30 PM | Updated: Jun 7, 2024, 8:00 am
COLUMBUS, OH - JANUARY 24: A general view of the NHL logo prior to the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Skills Competition at the Nationwide Arena on January 24, 2015 in Columbus, Ohio. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
(Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY— More than 34,000 deposits have been placed for season tickets for the inaugural season of Utah’s NHL team. A lot of the deposits are not from Delta Center regulars.
Tune into Dave and Dujanovic at 9:05!
Utah Jazz Chief Commercial Officer Chris Barney joined Hans and Scotty on the KSL Sports Zone on Tuesday. He broke down some of the numbers with people putting money down to watch Utah’s NHL team.
He said 92% of depositors are not Jazz season ticket holders. “A huge chunk of them, like 60% of them have not attended an arena event in the last year.”
“There’s just this incredible hockey community and audience that we are beyond excited to welcome,” Barney said. “We’re really really excited to engage with that audience.”
Smith Entertainment Group announced season tickets officially go on sale to the general public starting Friday, June 7.
Barney also commented on their efforts to ready the Delta Center for full-time hockey.
He said the arena will look a bit different than it has when it hosts Frozen Fury, which is a preseason matchup between two other NHL teams. Seating will be different, particularly near the ice.
“Our goal is to bring in some temporary retractables so that we can add some additional seating,” Barney said.
At this point, according to Barney, they estimate they’ll have just under 11,000 seats with a full view of the ice.
There are plans in the works to renovate the Delta Center so it can eventually seat more fans for hockey games. Those plans include revamping other neighboring downtown blocks around the Salt Palace Convention Center and Abravanel Hall.
The sales tax increase meant to help fund those renovations still needs approval from the Salt Lake City Council.
Related: A Downtown Salt Lake revitalization could be beneficial. How could it come to life?
