Salt Lake NHL and MLB News Thread

[RC14]

I would also argue that it forgets people in Southern Idaho, Wyoming and Eastern Nevada who would also be in our market, at least for NBA. Eastern Nevada would probably root for the Knights in the NHL.
Also, Salt Lake has the international airport, I - 80 and much better transit infrastructure making any venue more accessible to more people. I think the infrastructure alone would make up for not being closer to Utah County.

[Comrade]

Originally Posted by Atlas

One comment I see a lot from people in southern SL County and Utah County is that "The Point" would be a "central location" for MLB/NFL/NHL, and therefore makes more sense than SLC.

It's like they forget that Weber County, Davis County, Tooele County, and Park City (pop. ~715k combined) exist.

Downtown is the central location.

Downtown is also the easiest location to get to - including its distance from the airport. It's built for large crowds.

There's a reason most suburban arenas are in the middle of massive parking lots and away from any level of major development and it's because these communities lack the overall infrastructure to support something that size. Granted, with The Point being a mass-planned community-type deal, they can lessen the impact. But it's still an area that isn't likely to handle traffic nearly as well as downtown.

That's one positive about Salt Lake's wide streets I guess.

[Atlas]

Trib article today saying what we have all been thinking.

Could the Utah Jazz leave downtown one day? Why Salt Lake is ‘working hard’ to avoid that possibility

[ucsbgaucho]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Trib article today saying what we have all been thinking.

Could the Utah Jazz leave downtown one day? Why Salt Lake is ‘working hard’ to avoid that possibility

The obvious available land spots are I'm sure all being looked at; personally I think the land directly west of Salt Lake Central, and up against I-15, would be a perfect spot. Highlight the arena and entertainment district for all that drive by, it's currently a patchwork of construction and industrial buildings, and obviously Frontrunner and TRAX next door. There's 3 blocks going north-south that could be developed, with 400S running between two of the parcels. But eventually, hopefully once the Rio Grande Project is adopted and built, Salt Lake Central will go away and now you've got underutilized blocks going east toward the Rio Grande that could be developed.

My problem I see is you've got the LHM Group wanting to bring MLB and develop an entertainment district at Power Station, and now you've got the Smith Entertainment Group wanting to do the same with an NBA/NHL arena, but somewhere else. Ideally the two forces would join together; pick one location with an arena at one end, entertainment district on the middle, and MLB stadium at the other end. Surround it with hotels, high-rise and mid-rise residential, shopping, whatever. But if these 2 groups are going to develop their separate districts, I think that'd be a big fail. Obviously they'd be far enough apart that they won't directly compete with each other, but one unified entertainment district with both stadiums would be amazing.

Here's Milwaukee's Deer District and arena superimposed on two spots in downtown SLC.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Trib article today saying what we have all been thinking.

Could the Utah Jazz leave downtown one day? Why Salt Lake is ‘working hard’ to avoid that possibility

I'd still be a jazz fan, but that would be disappointing.

I'm in San Antonio and the Spurs built an area only 8 minutes outside of downtown and there is already talk about moving back downtown and building a new arena. Crazy to think, but all the development that was for seen with the new arena is not coming to fruition. It's in a terrible neighborhood.

We'll see what happens. Fingers crossed for downtown SLC

[bob rulz]

It would be absolutely insane to locate a new NBA arena outside of downtown. But the suburbs are king in Utah, so sadly I wouldn't be surprised.

[Atlas]

Unless the state changes some laws regarding proximity to public parks, the "Entertainment District" at The Point would likely not have any establishments serving alcohol.

-No restaurants with alcohol within 300 ft of a public park
-No bars within 600 ft of a public park
-Not enough bar licenses

Context:

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Unless the state changes some laws regarding proximity to public parks, the "Entertainment District" at The Point would likely not have any establishments serving alcohol.

-No restaurants with alcohol within 300 ft of a public park
-No bars within 600 ft of a public park
-Not enough bar licenses

Context:

I mean, that's just phase 1, right? Phase 2 could include an entertainment district

[Atlas]

Aside from the fact that this kinda blows up the idea of Phase I being a desirable place for new restaurants, and that a stated goal of this entire project is to have a lot of green spaces, here's another thought: the state is not actually selling any of the land, so would an arena (owned by the state) be considered a public park or "community location"?

If so, it and any of its parking lots and surroundings would be dry.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by Atlas

Aside from the fact that this kinda blows up the idea of Phase I being a desirable place for new restaurants, and that a stated goal of this entire project is to have a lot of green spaces, here's another thought: the state is not actually selling any of the land, so would an arena (owned by the state) be considered a public park or "community location"?

If so, it and any of its parking lots and surroundings would be dry.

The point (lol) is, if they wanted to build an arena at the Point, they would make it work somehow.

Fingers crossed they don't

[Comrade]

LOTS of blowback from people on the idea of relocating the Delta Center. Hopefully that's enough to make Smith rethink the idea.

To be honest, I've slowly disengaged from the Jazz really ever since Sloan retired. I did enjoy periods of the Hayward-Gobert-Mitchell era for sure but if Salt Lake lands a MLB team, I could absolutely see my focus shifting entirely to that.

[PR_Utah]

Moving the Jazz from downtown would be a terrible idea! Time after time, cities who have moved their major attractions or sporting venues away from their downtown cores into suburbs have proven what a mistake this is. The surrounding developments and “entertainment” districts NEVER come to fruition (case in point, see REAL Salt Lake stadium in Sandy for a local example). The Jazz (and any other major sports team) belong in our capital city!

Here's a rough idea I through together to reinvest in downtown! Build a new “Jazz Temple Center” across the street in the unused parking lots owned by the Church. Where the Delta Center now sits can be turned into an expansion of the Salt Palace and an “Olympic Legacy” park with a life size replica of Delicate Arch.

[bob rulz]

I like that proposal. It's definitely too ambitious to come to fruition in Utah, but it would be cool to have!

[Comrade]

The only sports venue that makes any level of sense in the suburbs are NFL stadiums.

Even MLB stadiums rarely work out in the suburbs.

[wrendog]

New MLB article. Looks like new renderings will be coming out soon! Obviously still concept, but hopefully more better/more detailed than the ones we got in April

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2023/1...nk-about-what/

[Comrade]

Just get a MLB team so I can give up being a Jazz fan.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by Comrade

Just get a MLB team so I can give up being a Jazz fan.

While I absolutely abhor the idea of the Jazz moving to Draper, the only way I could stop being a Jazz fan is if they move out of state. It's too much in my blood.

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by wrendog

New MLB article. Looks like new renderings will be coming out soon! Obviously still concept, but hopefully more better/more detailed than the ones we got in April

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2023/1...nk-about-what/

Sorry! I can’t read the article. Because it’s on subscribe. Please give me a free news article on the website.

[Evo5Boise]

Originally Posted by N830MH

Sorry! I can’t read the article. Because it’s on subscribe. Please give me a free news article on the website.

Here you go.

https://archive.is/r7WE2

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by Evo5Boise

Here you go.

https://archive.is/r7WE2

Also, future tip: All you have to do is click a sltrib link and then click on the stop loading button on your browser. Sometimes you'll have to refresh and stop a couple times, but it always works.