Salt Lake NHL and MLB News Thread
 

Some on the main SLC Development thread have complained about how much of the discussion has been taken over by conversations about the current efforts to land new professional sports teams in the area. Specifically, NHL and MLB. It looks like the moderators moved some of that discussion to the MSA thread but I don't think that is the place for it either so I am creating a new thread for this topic.

For context, here is a link to a KSL article about the MLB efforts:
https://ksltv.com/541136/how-does-sa...n-competition/

..and Ryan Smith's efforts to land us an NHL team:
https://www.deseret.com/sports/2023/...h-is-in-motion

With the "Big League Utah" announcement awhile back that explicitly identified the Power District as a "sports entertainment district", and with the diminishing office market that may be permanent with the rise of WFH, I think SLC has a leg up on "The Point" to get the NHL/Jazz arena too.

Quote:

Jazz owner talks new TV partnership, possibility of bringing NHL team to Utah

https://kjzz.com/news/local/jazz-own...-brand?src=rss

Do you have a link to the announcement they're creating a sports entertainment district?

There's nothing on the actual site: https://www.slcpowerdistrict.com/

(to be fair, the site hasn't been updated in a while it seems - as it doesn't even mention their association with Big League Utah)

I am not saying you're wrong but the only mention I've heard about a sports district, with the potential of a NHL arena, came from the initial report breaking the news from Building Salt Lake. They mentioned a source that said the site could become home to a NHL team - but there hasn't been anything beyond that I've been able to find.

I know Ryan Smith was initially approached by Mayor Mendenhall and a few others who wanted to have him commit to bring a MLB team to Salt Lake but communication stopped on his end as he kind of just ghosted those associated with the project after an initial meeting. That's when the Millers came into the picture.

But even still, I would be disappointed if the Power District was the site of a NBA/NHL arena because it's still not downtown - and it would remove a central focus of downtown that could still be devastating.

Granted, I'd still like that over Layton or the Point of the Mountain but it would be a disappointment.

Not MLB, NHL or even SLC related, but huge news for Utah in the sports world


PGA tour is coming to Black Desert golf course in Ivins (St George)

This is big!
https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/ar...-2024-or-2025/

That is major news Wrendog. That and I had no idea that the Black Desert Resort surrounding the Course was going to be such a big deal. Between the Mighty Five, the St. George area and the Wasatch, Utah is becoming one of the biggest four-season tourist draw States. The Park City/Heber area is becoming quite the golfing mecca also. Tiger Woods is planning a new course adj. to the new Mayflower Ski Resort. Having all of the existing courses in the Park City/Heber area like Red Ledges plus Tiger's new course is going to be a big deal. Few States can match the scenic backdrops that Utah's courses have in abundance.

No. This isn't going to work. You can't update this thread with golf. That's just inappropriate.

I probably should have called it the Salt Lake Sports thread or something like that. But. We are talking about St George here so, I guess it still wouldn't work.

Really cool for Utah overall though.

So not NHL or MLB related, but I stumbled on some interesting SLC related sports discussion today. I'm a big fan of motorsports, including NASCAR. This past week, NASCAR held its first ever street race in Chicago, and it was a smashing success, it completely blew expectations out of the water and was an instant classic of the modern era. In motorsports as a whole, street races are becoming a more popular option as they are cheaper and bring the racing closer to the fans. Building and maintaining purpose built circuits is costly, but street races can be done in a single weekend (with a few weeks of preparation beforehand) for much cheaper. Anyways, NASCAR is clearly interested in doing more street races, and this week put our a poll on their socials asking where people would be interested in seeing a NASCAR street race. The second most popular option? Salt Lake City, which really surprised me, but everyone was mentioning things like the views and wide streets and the geographic hole of racing in America that Salt Lake City could fill. The kicker tho was the NASCAR admin responding with something along the lines of "we'll keep our eyes on that option." The Chicago street race had over 100,000 attendees and over 4 million TV viewers, so there was a lot of eyes on it, and the city pulled in tens of millions in revenue from it. Now I'd imagine there isn't a lot of nascar fans on this forum, but I'm sure everyone could piece together an opinion on hosting a large motorsport event here, the effects it would have on our city, pros and cons, etc. I'm putting this here in this thread since it's becoming our defacto sports thread. Personally I think it'd be awesome if in the next 5 to 10 years we can get 2 new major league teams and a nascar race to the city, in addition to a possible Olympics announcement. It'd really solidify us as a sporting city

Anecdotally, from what I have seen, streetracing seems to be quite popular here. Not sure how it compares to other cities.

I have never cared about NASCAR but streetracing sounds allot more interesting than what they currently offer.

I couldn't care less about NASCAR or racing, and I don't like the thought of such a big disruption to traffic and bus routes for something like that. I guess my personal opinion depends on how much disruption it would cause, what route it would take, etc. Seems like it would be far more disruptive than a parade or even the marathon.

But it would bring a lot of money and people like it, so ce la vie I guess.

Saw this and thought I'd share it. Agree with him that the renderings aren't the best. It would be nice to get both a better rendering and a full plan for The Power District from RMP.

• Video Link

Another wildly successful UFC event has Utah dreaming of Year 3 — and more

https://www.ksl.com/article/50697820...ar-3--and-more

Gonna be exciting to see these out in Draper. The winner can hit up Swig afterwards!

Comrade, let's not stop there! Let's hit both Swig and Crumble!

Totally disagree. I think North Temple is perfect. It really could be become an extension of downtown. Also there is a huge plot of land currently occupied by RVs across the street… years in the future that might offer a good opportunity to expand a sports complex for the NFL (it will be a while)… but we also have the fair park on North Temple… and the whole street is rapidly being redeveloped. I really do feel like it could just become an extension of downtown town… a sports and big events district. then that leaves space for skyscrapers in the central downtown district.

I actually think the Delta Center should be moved to this new sports district on North Temple, along with the baseball stadium, to be used for hockey and basketball. I think that the current Delta Center should be demolished and used for a salt Palace expansion. if we want to maintain big conventions like outdoor retailer, we really need to think about that. The parking lot block that is currently being used by larger conventions is not going to be there forever. The block where the current Delta Center sits offers a perfect opportunity for convention expansion and also connect it with Gateway entertainment district.


As for the current Delta Center, it’s definitely got to go. Even after its extensive remodel, it still considered a joke and outdated within the NBA. They should’ve just rebuilt it in the first place, and not wasted the money. Whether or not you think North Temple is perfect. It’s a hell of a lot better than moving it to West Jordan or Draper. I won’t be going to any games out there that’s for sure.

It won't ever become an extension of downtown.

You literally have a massive interstate dividing the two - not to mention the tracks.

It can be a unique little area but it absolutely will not be an extension of downtown.

I don’t see why not. Phoenix has a massive interstate separating its downtown core from its CenPho area. I admit that it’s not exactly considered “downtown” but over time I could see the two merging. I could see the same happening in SLC with North Temple / Fairpark. Granted, I-10 in PHX is underground at that point, but if designed right, I don’t think the interstate has to be a major barrier. I think projects like the rio grande plan will go a long way toward helping that.

I don't think it will ever be considered "downtown" but it doesn't really matter. It could still become a very interesting, downtown adjacent neighborhood. In 10 years, I don't think North Temple will be anything like what it is.

Maybe when we're about to check out in 40 years.

But it seems unlikely we'll see a true connected area in our lifetime.

It can still be an interesting entertainment area. I do worry it will directly compete with downtown, tho.

Not pro sports, but it is increasingly looking like Utah and BYU will be in the same conference again. That feels right.

Done deal now. BYU and Utah in the Big 12 next season

Ick. Oh well.

(and not really because of BYU...just the thought of all that travel and playing UCF, Cincinnati and Houston is not appealing to me)

With a 16 team league, most travel will stay fairly regional, IMO. Travelling to UCF, Cincy and Houston will be like once every 4 years or something.

Unless Utah is playing just the three other teams out west, I don't really consider the rest of the conference regional lol

Ames is like over 1,000 miles from Salt Lake.

In the Pac-12, the farthest team was Washington at just over 800 miles.

I don't think, outside the Arizona schools and BYU/Colorado, there's one school within 1,000 miles of Salt Lake. Maybe Lubbock - barely.

Oh, I get it. But man, the P12 just destroyed themselves. Crazy to see it gone.

I don't think the distance will be much of a factor. PAC 12 or BIG 12 most of the teams are 1 hour time zone difference away. They are just east instead of west now.
I am assuming theses teams fly to the games? flight times aren't going to be much different between the two conferences (with the exception of UCF and Cincinnati)

It's gonna be a big difference. Not for the football team but the smaller sports? Yeah they're gonna struggle. But there was literally no other option. Utah wasn't going to end up back in the MWC with Boise lol

Looks like the coyotes may have found an arena. If this works out, expansion is SLCs next hope. Who knows when that may happen

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2023/...een-simplified

Expansion has always the been the best path for SLC, the Yotes have never once said they plan to leave and the owner has not once said he plans to sell the team. All of that chatter has only been speculation by outsiders, many of which don't understand the dynamics of the team.

I agree. The yotes have always wanted to stay in PHX area. There was just that small hope that it wouldn't work out and SLC would be able to pick them up. I'd rather have expansion, but there is no timeline for that at this point, so a bit disappointing

Yeah, I agree a new team makes the most sense. I’ll get excited about SLC pro-team expansion when I see a real stadium plan, until then everything is pretty low probability. Fun to talk about but it’s mostly fantasy without a plan.

Milwaukee possibly on the potential relocation list. Looks like they are wanting 500 million for stadium upgrades otherwise they want to move.

That's bonkers as the stadium is only 20 years old. But hey, if it helps SLC get a team...

The problem with relocation is that oftentimes, it's the current ownership looking to relocate rather than just selling the team (that can happen, of course - see the Sonics in Seattle).

And I'm guessing the Millers want to own the team outright.

True, but relocation somewhere else knocks off a potential competitor for expansion

Looks like Tampa has solved their stadium issue. As soon as the As get cleared to Vegas, expansion talk should start to ramp up. Hopefully.

Still can’t seem to understand if the site is approved and how it well be paid for? :shrug:

Funding for the stadium and surrounding areas is at least verbally confirmed.

The Stadium is set to be paid for by a mixture of Public and Private funds. RDA and TRT funds for infrastructure, parking, signage, etc.. Nearby entertainment, hotel, restaurants, and housing will be fully private funds. Stadium itself will be built with private funds but will receive post tax credits, similar to how the CCH was funded. The Stadium may receive additional tax deferred credits from the surrounding entertainment district.

There is also a verbal agreement on the land lease/purchase from RMP.

I don't have any other information but I know that if/when SLC is awarded an MLB franchise, things will be moving quickly.

All good news. Hopefully we will see some new stadium renderings soon. I've heard it's a mass timber design, which is cool.

Good to hear. I really hope (if it happens, of course) that this stadium district goes all out and isn't half assed. Entertainment, retail, condos, apartments, the works.

What do we have stating the funding is approved, especially the public piece? Does it have to go to vote?

Sorry! It won't work on the website. You have go on the YouTube.

Dupe

I don't think it works this way, I think you show the plan then get awarded, at least to the best of my knowledge. It all feels to speculative to me but maybe there's a lot going on privately that the public isn't able to see/hear about. I haven't seen a single thing published stating that a financing plan is in place, polls suggest that any type of public support is not a slam dunk either. The last comments from Cox on the topic was that no financing discussions have happened.

"There have currently been no discussions about financing, but the governor has been clear that protecting taxpayers will always be at the forefront of these discussions,” a spokesperson for Cox told the Deseret News."

https://frontofficesports.com/utah-r...l-mlb-stadium/

New article

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2023/...s-larry-miller

2 things:

A: ownership group seems very confident MLB to SLC will happen

B: if it happens, Bees will be staying in the market. New stadium breaks ground this month (still no renderings that I have found

What will they call 'em? The South Valley Bees? The South Jordan Bees? The Utah Bees? The Daybreak Bees?

The Salt Lake (County) Bees