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SALT LAKE CITY — Fans who enter the Delta Center from its primary northeast entrance may inadvertently walk directly into the joint Utah Jazz and Utah Hockey Club team stores this season, as some behind-the-scenes adjustments have been made to accommodate a second major sports franchise in the building.
Yes, with two teams and no additional space, crews got to work this summer to remodel the store, adding about 1,500 square feet by expanding it outward into the front concourse. Patrons can actually see scuffs, holes and other marks on the floor where the old store footprint will be.
Doing this meant that some doors leading into the concourse now go into the store. It's just one example of the changes coming to the fan experience this year simply because Salt Lake City is now home to an NHL team.
"It'll be probably the first thing they notice," said Parker Bushnell, director of retail at the Delta Center for the product vendor Rank + Rally, after giving reporters a tour of the building on Tuesday.
Fans may also notice a few new changes this season to reflect an arena that now hosts two teams.
Outside of the arena, the J-Note statue has returned to a new location and a new color. Crews worked on Tuesday to add a purple wrap to it. A second statue will be added sometime after the Hockey Club's final name is revealed.
Inside, there's new merchandise and food options for fans.
New merch
While fans may notice an expanded team store this season, what they likely won't see is another expansion in the building. Construction crews also built an on-site two-story warehouse to store all the new Utah Jazz and Utah Hockey Club gear because having two teams creates double the gear to sell to fans.
There's also a new Hockey Club exclusive store on the fifth floor, offering more shirts, hats and other team gear.
Beyond finding space, the toughest merchandise challenge so far has been getting Hockey Club sweaters — the hockey slang for jerseys — on the racks. That's because it normally takes up to a year to get approved designs and printing to manufacture jerseys. Given the unique circumstances, Bushnell's team has gone through an expedited process to get sweaters on the market as soon as possible.
He initially believed the store would be able to sell sweaters in either January or February at the earliest, but he now believes they will be available in stores as early as next month — possibly in time for the holiday season. Once in, there will be a customization station at the arena like there already is for the Jazz.
However, a brand new team creates sort of a logistical nightmare when it comes to fan merchandise in other ways.
It's easy to guess Utah Jazz trends because fans know the team colors, logo and top players. That's why you can't go far without seeing Jordan Clarkson or Lauri Markkanen gear. You can find an almost equal number of Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Connor Ingram or Clayton Keller jersey T-shirts in the team store right now because merchants are still trying to see who fans gravitate to.
Bushnell said his team brought in some data from the Arizona Coyotes and NHL, but since the team got rebranded and moved into a new market, the information isn't very helpful. That's why they're actively tracking to see what colors, logos and players stand out more than than others to refine the marketing process.
"We've got to learn from the fan base ... but this is a learning hockey market," he said. "There are definitely die-hard hockey fans here, but everyone's got a new team that they've got to find their favorite player."
Some unlikely early favorites have already popped out. Liam O'Brien isn't the team's top scorer or captain, but his energy and "Spicy Tuna" nickname quickly won over the crowd during a team introduction event in April. "Spicy Tuna" T-shirts are one example of what can come from the data.
There is one other looming challenge, however. The team almost certainly won't remain the Hockey Club forever, so many of the items now are being sold as future throwback gear for people to show off for the one year that the team had the Hockey Club name.
With tickets online, merchandise is often one of the few takeaways from games or certain periods in team history.
"That's the element we're looking for," Bushnell said. "It's an obligation on the retail side of things to be able to be able to engage with your fans and allow them to bring something home to tangibly attach to a memory."
New eats
Smith Entertainment Group already announced a new "fan-friendly concessions menu," where some of the standard food items — water, popcorn, nachos, hot dogs and ice cream — are capped at $2-3.
However, that's not the only change this year.
- MOZZ Pizza is the arena's newest vendor, replacing Maxwell's. It will also offer chicken wings.
- Summit Snacks and Tenders will now sell Frazil frozen drinks and hot chocolate, the latter an option added particularly for fans who experience the colder interior during hockey games. The Frazil drinks come in a hockey stick or basketball cup.
- Proper Burger is now offering a "Slapshot Burger" with American cheese, barbecue sauce, candied bacon, picked jalapenos and fried onion straws.
- Santorini's added a new brown butter cake shooter.
- There are new souvenir cups for both teams, but Salt City Smokehouse will also offer "Smoked Pork Nachos" with smoked pork, sour cream, pico and cheese sauce" out of a novelty Hockey Club helmet.
- Five Wives, High West and Old Town Cellars — all local hard alcohol brands — will be sold in premium spaces.
Dallas Balzly, senior director of operations for Salted Honey Hospitality, said packaged beer distribution areas were tripled for hockey games. Yet, he appeared most excited to talk about the new "VS Menu" available for people seated in the Toyota Club or other premium spaces.
The menu will include food inspired by the opposing city facing the Jazz or Hockey Club that night. For instance, it may future Chicago-style hot dogs on nights against the Bulls or Blackhawks.
With the NHL and NBA having different cities, there's plenty of room to play with options.
"Our culinary team and our chefs are hard at work putting those menus together," he said. "It's going to make it (possible) for us to add to the variety."
