Over the past week, I've been asked to do numerous interviews on local and national radio stations, networks, and websites, from Toronto, Ontario to Orlando, Florida, and Vancouver, British Columbia, to New York, New York. The most frequently asked questions are among the questions I asked?
Most of the time, they asked about you.
Will an NHL team thrive in Salt Lake City? What kind of hockey market is the Salt Lake area? What about the fans?Salt Lake, you can yousupports multiple top pro teams?
The only question I had a hard time answering was…what team name would you like for the new hockey team? Even though I had written a column suggesting 50 potential names, I was stuck on that one. It's gone. I have many favorite animals, but probably my favorite are the Utah Raptors. That's a real dinosaur, isn't it? — and the Salt Lake Black Diamonds and Salt Lake Scorpions. Later, someone proposed Screaming Eagles as a tribute to the 101st Airborne at Utah Beach and the invasion of Normandy. Some people prefer the name Golden Eagles, but the Las Vegas Golden Eagles looked a lot like the Knights. I thought Skateful Dead was impossible.
There's one more thing you need to do.
My answer to what kind of fans are here is… fanatical. The care factor is high here as well as the loyalty, as evidenced by the support given to the Jazz for the better part of five decades despite never winning an NBA title in most seasons. We keep winning. Even in a year when the Jazz sent mixed signals to everyone, looking like they wanted to win one minute and tanking the next, the Delta Center was packed. If the Jazz continue to lose, we'll see where that support ends up.
That's the related answer to the other question. When the team formerly known as the Coyotes came here, would you support it? Is this a hockey town?
good. It's about whether the team establishes itself as a well-run and well-coached team from top to bottom, and whether the players strive to win and make a decent effort to connect with the community. It's taking place. A win would culminate the entire effort and build trust with Utah fans for the upcoming season.
Will Ryan Smith own and operate Salt Lake (fill in the blank) in a way that connects with you and people (some of whom may not yet know you or they are hockey fans)? hit me His company, Qualtrics, has made a name for itself and made its mark on ways to improve customer service and improve the customer experience, so you can guess he gets it right. But that question remains unanswered, as the Jazz haven't flourished competitively at all since he took over. Will he be able to find the right manager, the right coach, the right players among the Coyotes' existing talent, and will he oversee the addition of even more talent going forward? Hmm…I guess I'll have to.
I once conducted a survey of so-called experts in various professional sports to find out who has the biggest influence on success in established clubs: owners, general managers, and coaches. Although each was said to play an important role in the pursuit of success, the owner was the most important person. The most common reaction. Exude a positive atmosphere, contribute to creating a winning culture, be willing to hire the best talent to fill other roles, pay for a wealth of athletic talent, and be disrespectful to your team's fans. Not the owner. That's Smith's mission, to satisfy you.
There's enough talent and enough corporate sponsorship along the Wasatch Front and other areas around Utah, and with multiple pro teams to draw fans, more people are moving here. That would be the Jazz, the RSL, the Royals, a new NHL team, and eventually a Major League Baseball team. Here lies the basis of its success.
As I've said in various interviews, Salt Lake City and its surrounding communities are no longer a collection of dusty, rustic villages or an outpost somewhere in the West, but a walled city of dedicated people. It cannot be defined as a stronghold. Religious zealots who seek to isolate themselves from the rest of the world.
It's not you, most of you.
Sure, politics can be a little goofy and downright stupid at times, but the most important part of our community here, you the people, are becoming more and more diverse and doing what most of us want: to be safe and The number of people who desire a clean society is increasing. , in a peaceful and prosperous environment, that team will kick the living hell out of teams in other cities, whether or not we have any real connections with the local teams other than emotional ones. They are proving to be better than the teams in the state.
it's okay.
More than that, hockey is a great sport, and the version played at the NHL level is full of great athletes with incredible skill and tenacity. I grew up a Philadelphia Flyers fan. It was around the time that the team known as the “Broad Street Breeze” was emerging as a true force in his NHL. They went on to win the Stanley Cup, and as they went on, many young people around Philadelphia got hooked on hockey, and not only did they see the likes of Bobby Clark and Bernie Parent in action, but a lot of young people started playing hockey as well. On the ice, on the gym floor, on the street. It's a good bet that something similar will happen in Utah, which has one of the youngest populations in the country. If you're an investor looking for new opportunities, it might be wise to leverage some resources to invest in and build an ice rink. Because the demand for ice rinks will increase in the coming years.
We already have die-hard hockey fans here, but we're going to attract even more. Not everyone will agree with that assessment, but that's my guess. Especially if Ryan Smith does what great owners do, it's build a team in a team environment that commands your attention, loyalty and respect. And your entertainment expenses too.
“Aren't you entertained? Aren't you entertained? Isn't that why you're here? This is what Maximus Decimus Meridius famously said in one of the films That brings me to another name that I really like: Gladiator. Salt Lake or Utah Gladiator.
What do you think?
