I started writing this post on Halloween morning. It was just about finished, so I set it aside with plans to come back the next morning with fresh eyes for a quick edit. I wanted to send it out on November 3. It’s now December 19, so I deleted the part about the MLB playoffs, since, you know, they ended a long time ago.
The crux of the post centered around a little rumor that surfaced during the mayoral debate, but didn’t really get much notice—until last week. Andy Larsen wrote a big article in the Tribune, and it’s been all over social media since then.
I thought the Ryan Smith era was a blessing—especially since the organization was kind of in limbo after Larry H. Miller died. Remember when his son, Greg Miller, was in charge? That guy did not give a single fuck about the Jazz. All he wanted to do was drive 4-Runners and sell cars. Smith is a local guy, and we were all relieved that it meant the Jazz were staying in Utah.
But I guess he never specified where in Utah he wanted to stay.
I had no reason to think the Jazz wouldn’t continue playing in downtown SLC until the past few months when these rumors started. It turns out that Smith kind of loves the Miller family’s plan to take the Bees down south, and has been looking into that for his own team.
The old prison at the Point of the Mountain has been torn down, and suddenly there’s a lot of available real estate down there. Smith has been trying to get an NHL team, too, and met with Commissioner Gary Bettman earlier this year. The Delta Center apparently isn’t great for hockey sightlines, so the league would want an arena better equipped for that before sanctioning a new NHL team. Coincidentally, Utah was just chosen as the host of the 2034 Winter Olympics. That means there’s a bunch of money about to be spent on facilities, which could help someone trying to build a new hockey arena in town.
Smith hasn’t said anything about it, and didn’t comment for the Tribune story. That’s a huge red flag for me, and I’ve kind of resigned myself to the fact that this is going to happen. I’d love to be wrong, but Ryan Smith has been on Twitter complaining that people are being too mean to billionaires, so I just assume he’s going to move them out of ‘liberal’ Salt Lake City for spite.
The upside to this is that moving is still a long ways away. I would say it’s almost impossible for this move to take place before 2030 at the earliest, but I still hate that it’s even being talked about. I’m also not sure that Ryan Smith has learned anything from the last couple of years of owning the team. Smith Entertainment Group is looking at Milwaukee’s “entertainment district” as influence of what an arena location can do, but seem to forget (or not care) that those places have a lot of bars and restaurants where people can get a drink before a game. Downtown SLC has that. Something tells me that Utah County isn’t all that interested in bars, but I can’t quite put my finger on what that might be. Also, can you imagine trying to leave Sugarhouse on a Friday night to make it to a 7:30pm tipoff at The Point? That’s one of the reasons I stopped going to RSL games.
Beyond that, we’re looking at huge representation problems. Remember when Donovan Mitchell left the Jazz and gave an interview about how excited he was to leave, and how hard it was living in Utah because he barely saw any people of color in the crowd? I guarantee that problem isn’t going to get *better* moving away from Downtown SLC.
Between moving to Utah County, and trading in the purple, gold, and green color scheme for black and yellow, Ryan Smith seems determined to make the Jazz the most boring franchise in the NBA. I think a move out of Salt Lake City would be the final nail in the coffin for me.
Luckily, by the time this actually happens, the NBA will likely have ushered in two expansion teams (though the Pistons being utterly terrible might single handedly derail the argument that “the league is deep enough talent-wise to expand again.”), and I will happily jump ship. Hell, I’m kind of looking forward to it.
You’ll soon find me wandering around the deserted wasteland of 300 West and North Temple wearing a Seattle Supersonics sweatshirt talking about the glory days of Ray Allen, Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, and telling you my favorite Key Arena memories.