There certainly seems to be room for more than one professional team in Salt Lake City.
The arrival of the ex-Arizona Coyotes generated enormous interest, as more than 34,000 deposits for season tickets were placed within the first 48 hours of their release. Only 8% of people who deposited with the Utah Hockey Club are also season ticket holders of the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
Which means club owners Ryan and Ashley Smith just gained thousands of new customers.
“Another interesting point,” said Smith Entertainment Group’s vice-president of revenue and business strategy, Chris Barney, “is that 63% of these people have not attended an event in an arena in the last year. You rarely get the chance in sport to shape a new audience. »
The Jazz moved to Utah in 1979 after five years in New Orleans. The team has cultivated new fans by focusing on a young audience, with the Junior Jazz program. According to Barney, it is the largest youth basketball program in the United States. The idea is to create a program similar to hockey.
Utah HC intends to solidify existing programs rather than starting from scratch. The Utah Outliers have won three consecutive titles in the last three years and the club plans to increase its offering to players younger than the 17-20 year olds it currently oversees.
The Outliers hope having the NHL in their backyard will pique the interest of younger players.
In addition to caring for young hockey fans, Utah HC must educate those who have not watched much or any hockey in their lives, but are curious.
“We will have to find the balance between educating new fans and not adopting a condescending tone with those who are hockey experts,” said Utah HC and Jazz Vice President, Broadcasting Travis Henderson. We are aware that we need to find the right balance. »
Utah HC is the new toy of this metropolis of 1.2 million inhabitants, who have already shown a lot of enthusiasm towards the team, which played in an arena of 5,000 seats during the last two campaigns.
“The reaction was as good as anyone could have hoped for,” said Salt Lake City sports radio host Patrick Kinahan. The city is poised to become a major sports town and hockey takes them one step closer.
“I went to the first preseason game to take the pulse and really, it felt like a Jazz game in the home stretch of the season when the team is about to make the playoffs. »
The attention of sports fans is greatly sought in the region. In addition to the NHL and NBA, BYU and Utah universities have a large base of supporters, while Real Salt Lake of the MLS attracts an average of more than 20,000 spectators per game.
How long will the honeymoon with the NHL team last?
“I don’t put a time frame on this stuff,” Barney said. We’re in the midst of a 292-game stretch at capacity with the Jazz, even though the team hasn’t qualified for the playoffs the last two seasons. (…) Our supporters are simply incredible. »
