The Utah Jazz and Vivint Smart Home Arena recently released a video hyping the building’s future renovations that fails to inspire the average fan.
This past week, details about the renovation and expansion of the Utah Jazz practice facility were revealed. For fans who yearn for the day when free agents consider the Jazz and Salt Lake City a prime spot to ply their trade, the ongoing evolution of the Zions Bank Basketball Center is music for the ears.
“This is, in our minds, going to be the pre-eminent performance center in the league,” said Jazz coach Quin Snyder recently.
It’s not hard to see why — a living room complete with a gaming area and a barber’s chair, lounges, waterfalls, cutting-edge strength and conditioning areas and underwater treadmills are just some of the amenities the facility will boast. These things to speak to players, as well as the fans that want the best ones to play for the Jazz.
The team’s other big project — the renovation of Vivint Smart Home Arena — is also ongoing. However, an animated tour of the building post-remodel released last week did little to inspire fans.
Unless, of course, the fans we’re talking about are major corporate sponsors or millionaires. Behold —
While the Viv will undoubtedly be one of the better buildings in the Association when renovation is complete, this animated tour doesn’t show much in the way of what the average fan will experience when attending a live game. Instead, we’re treated to this suite or that, executive lounges and unsolicited ads.
For example, I learned a lot about Rocky Mountain Power and the corporate image they wish to portray. However, any news on what the new seats will be like — you know, the ones that the majority of people paying for tickets will actually use — or the oft-discussed improved WiFi — is nowhere to be found.
It’s cool that WCF has a Loge Club, but if I’m Joe Average going to the game, what will my experience be like? After taking the animated virtual tour, I think I’m in with this lot —
Gonna be real - I'm concerned about how high end this all looks and how it could cut out those people who can barely afford upper bowl tix.
— Shauna Brock (@vegawriters) May 23, 2017
Looks really cool... for rich people
— Tom Engar (@thereal_tengar) May 23, 2017
Don’t get me wrong, I think the Jazz and the Miller Family have a strong record of doing things with the people in mind. No more so than with their move to put the Jazz into a legacy trust ensuring the team will remain in Salt Lake in perpetuity. And I’m sure the mission to “improve fan experience” that Greg Miller spoke about in his recent sit-down with Forbes is legit.
However, the latest hype video speaks only to the one percent of us who can afford things like courtside seats and VIP suites. I get that those things are essential in today’s NBA, but if you want to inspire the masses, show us where we need to go pick up some JDawgs or how it’s going to be easier for us to get from Point A to Point B.
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Am I nitpicking? Probably, but let’s call balls and strikes here. The Jazz do a great job in just about every aspect of their operations, but this one was a misfire.