The Delta Center opened in Salt Lake City in 1991 and, until last season, it was only the jazz that played matches there. But in April 2024, the ONH governors’ office approved the arrival in 2024-25 of a concession in Utah belonging to the Smith Entertainment Group, led by Ryan and his wife Ashley. The Arizona Coyotes have transferred all of their hockey assets – including their reserve list, players in their training and their draft choices – to the new UTA dealership.
First under the name of Utah hockey club, the team has played its first season at the Delta Center. But in an amphitheater designed for basketball, the sight of thousands of seats was obstructed during the matches. The renovations will be used to accommodate hockey supporters without abandoning basketball supporters.
The first measure taken was to raise the soil level of two feet.
“It allows to have, from each seat, an overview of the ice,” said Smith.
But the challenge was to keep the proximity between the stands and the basketball field while making room for a much larger ice surface than a parquet.
To do this, a system of elevating tables with triple scissors was installed in the first level. Designed by Stageright for the Delta Center, the system contains 80 lifting tables used for basketball and 68 used for hockey. The elevating tables can move vertically and horizontally depending on the nature of the match presented there, so that each supporter on the first level has a perfect view of the action.
