SALT LAKE CITY – Ryan Smith wants Utahns to have a better experience in downtown Salt Lake City, especially fans attending Jazz and Mammoth games.
At the Jazz’s media day on Monday, the chairman and CEO of Smith Entertainment Group (SEG) said he was looking to improve game nights.
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Ryan Smith Wants Better Curation Around Games
Smith addressed the issue amid ongoing plans to rebuild downtown Salt Lake City around Delta Center in the coming years.
“If you think about our games right now, it’s very much, hey, rolling at six o’clock, park your car, hurry, get in, hurry, go,” Smith said.
Instead, the governor of the two teams would like to provide fans with a more well-rounded experience before and after games by developing a sports, entertainment, culture, and convention center district.
“It will provide an entree from the arena out towards the east, where people can gather,” Smith said. “We hope [to host] Olympic gold medal ceremonies there.”
The plans involve major reconstruction of the Salt Palace Convention Center, including opening a passageway between the City Creek Mall and Delta Center.
“If you ever just sit out there and watch the curation of traffic, especially for walking in downtown Salt Lake, it’s not what you would do if you were starting over,” Smith said. “And so the ability to really punch a hole, so you’re sitting in Nordstrom and be able to see Delta Center is very special when you think about a new convention center.”
SEG has already teamed with Live Nation on plans to build a 6,000-person concert venue in the new district, and hopes to attract more companies to the area.
Delta Center is going to look a little different for Jazz & Mammoth games this season.
Here’s what you can expect ⬇️https://t.co/zlg9n5oYIo
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) September 30, 2025
“Our job is to figure out also what brands we can get downtown,” Smith added. “We brought Delta downtown. We’ve now brought Live Nation downtown. We need brands to bet on our downtown.”
Demolition in the area is expected to begin in 2027. The estimated cost for the project is $1.4 billion.
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Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky.