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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Jazz fans will be watching games next year on the same channel, but with a new name.
ROOT Sports regional networks nationwide will rebrand to AT&T SportsNet, the station announced Monday. The name change, the result of a 2016 merger between DirecTV and AT&T, will take place on July 14, though ROOT viewers will start to see promotional material announcing the name change immediately.
All of the coverage of teams remains the same through the name change. The rebrand also does not impact the streaming plan for Jazz games in place for the network.
One major impact of the change, though, will be in the graphics and visual elements used in the broadcast. The press release says that "the rebrand will include a more iconic graphics package, bringing in a mixture of photography and animation to replace the purely animated ones used before."
"We have had the same visual effects since 2011, so with this rebrand and new graphics packages, we’re excited to bring a new look and features to our teams and their fans for a truly immersive feel,” Patrick Crumb, president of AT&T Sports Networks, said in the release.
ROOT/AT&T SportsNet owns the rights to broadcast Jazz game through the 2020-21 season.
New Jazz dancer director announced
After an up-and-down season on the court led by multiple part-time choreographers, the Jazz announced a new director of the America First Jazz Dancers Monday.
Ashley Kelson, former Jazz dancer and current employee in the corporate sponsorships department of Larry H. Miller Sports and Entertainment, will manage all aspects of the squad.
Kelson will be responsible for the "auditions, practice and game scheduling, community involvement, choreography, marketing and overall administration" of the team, according to a press release issued Monday.
Tryouts for the Jazz dancers begin on July 8, though a meeting to answer questions for prospective dancers will take place at West High School on June 14. More information can be found here.
Vegas odds of Jazz championship
We're not yet done with the 2017 NBA Finals, but online sports book Bovada sent out its early odds of each team winning the 2018 NBA championship, and it's fair to say the Jazz are in the middle of the pack.
Despite their first round victory, Bovada says that the Jazz have 100/1 odds of winning the 2018 NBA Finals. That ties them for 12th among NBA teams.
The full list of odds:
International players withdrawing
Two international players who were previously considered likely to be drafted in the range of the Jazz in the first round are no longer in the running.
Jonathan Jeanne, the 7-foot-2 center from France, has been diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, according to The Vertical. The diagnosis means he is not medically cleared to work out for NBA teams.
On Monday, Rodions Kurucs pulled his name out of the 2017 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-8 small forward prospect who currently plays for the Barcelona B team had been slated to be drafted 29th in DraftExpress' latest mock draft.
The Jazz had not worked out either prospect, and it's not clear whether or not they were interested in either of them. But even if the Jazz weren't going to select Jeanne or Kurucs, having other teams select these two players may have made it more likely that their favored prospects fell to the Jazz's slots at No. 24 and No. 30.
