Will the Utah Jazz leave Salt Lake City for Draper? Here's why it might not be the best decision.
After 32 years, the Utah Jazz are rumored to be looking at moving out of Utah's capital city.
By Dan Lower
A report came out recenly about the Utah Jazz ownership kicking the tires on building a new arena, to replace the Delta Center (which turned 32 this year, making it the 3rd oldest arena in the NBA).
According to the Salt Lake Tribune report, the Utah Jazz and a future NHL expansion team would potentially reside in the new arena; which would be built in the south end of Salt Lake County, more precisely in the city of Draper (population 51,000). The site is adjacent to Interstate 15, the main freeway throughout the state.
Considering that Salt Lake City is already one of the smallest NBA cities, this doesn't make a lot of sense.
Here are the reasons why moving the Utah Jazz to Draper doesn't make any sense:
Infrastructure
The Draper site is mostly undeveloped, and having assistance from the city with police, emergency and fire services, along with crowd control, would be much more difficult there than in Salt Lake City.
The UTA TRAX light rail system is focused on drawing traffic into and out of Salt Lake City, bringing Utah Jazz fans to the arena from all directions, and running extra trains on game days. Draper has a commuter train that runs through the city but otherwise is lacking in transit options needed to move tens of thousands of people.