Utah Jazz President Jim Olson: Delta Center renovation | Utah Mammoth practice facility + MORE
the president of the Utah Jazz, good friend of ours, Jim Olsson, kind enough to join us. Jim, how are you? I’m doing well. How are you guys doing? I’m doing good. Jim, we miss you. I miss you guys. It’s good to hear your voices. I never see you anymore. I know. Well, you you’ve got a few things that you’re taking care of. And Scotty and I, we just like to stay out of your way. We we don’t want to be cause any more confusion. Well, you guys are always welcome in my way. You just let me know when. Well, appreciate it. Well, I uh I ran into you in the arena a few weeks ago right before the uh the final hockey game of the season, at least the home game, and and you kind of walked through and showed a little bit of what’s going to go on. And I I thought you went through uh went through quite a quite a phase back in what 2017 2018 that doesn’t hold a candle to what you’re doing right now. You know, it really doesn’t. I mean, you know, the the the compelling event that got us to where we are sitting here today, you know, with the work that we’re doing is, you know, once we brought hockey, it just changed everything. We we weren’t dealing with, you know, that in any of our past projects. And, uh, you know, now we’re really transforming the arena so that it’s going to be top level arena for basketball. We’re going to maintain, you know, the great sightelines for basketball and then make it so we can fill this place up uh with hockey seats and great sightelines and experience for hockey. So, yeah, it we’re transforming the whole arena. It’s a fun project. Well, you go into that first remodel, Jim, and I know you’d had some experience, but I’m sure you built some contacts that’s made it a little bit more palatable in this next run. How much has that experience of the remodel helped you on the pretty much rebuild? Yeah, you you nailed it, Hans. I mean, really, it it just allowed us to hit the ground running. I mean, you know, our our uh owners rep on it is a a group called CAA. They all these groups were on previous projects and, you know, CA is the owner rep and SEI, the architects, and Oakland Construction. And they just they they know our building. They know it inside and out. They’ve got the drawings. they they and so we were just able to hit the ground running and it’s the only way we we would be able to do the work in this short a period. Well, the video that you released a couple weeks ago uh I thought was really fascinating and it went into detail about the elevating seats that can kind of go up and down on the lower bowl. Are those going to be ready for next season? Is because I know a lot of what you’re doing right now is lower bowl related. Correct. Yeah, that’s correct. This year the the focus is on the lower bowl and then future years we’ll work on the upper bowl levels and uh but you’re exactly right. You know, you just it’s a little hard to explain on radio, but you just think about you know the size of an ice sheet versus the size of a basketball court and and you know to get the sidelines they’re just completely different because you’re starting with you know different uh different size playing field. And so you know to get that to work you’ve got to be able to to elevate raise the the seats up and down. and we’ll have a 12T variance between, you know, the the the angle for basketball versus what it will be for hockey. And uh it’s it’s state-of-the-art there. You know, there’s some arenas out there that have small little elevation changes, but no one’s gone near 12 feet. And uh we’re everything’s on schedule, and we’re really excited about this new technology we’re going to be using. So, that was my next question. Uh so so there’s some elements of this in other arenas but nobody’s done it at this scope before that you know of. That’s correct. Uh we we’ve worked with our riser company who we’ve used in the past on other projects and you know we really pushed their limits and and the architects you know worked very closely with them and they’ve come up with the design and you know those systems are being built as we speak and uh we’re we’re we’re really excited like like you said it’s it’s it’s one of a kind and uh it’s it’s going to just create a great experience for both basketball and hockey. All right. So Jim, I got to imagine that when it was announced an NHL team would be coming to Utah and you’d be a part of it and affiliated with it and it moving forward, I’m sure you built some level of expectation of its success and its fan support and the general interest. Did it exceed your expectations? Um, did it not meet your expectations? And if so, how by how much each way? You know, really good question. I I mean, I’ll just say from my standpoint, it exceeded every expectation I could have had. Um, you know, I mean, you just start with the team, uh, the team coming here and and their acceptance of of Utah and what we’re trying to accomplish and what we were putting forth for them and and and you know, what we’re building out for them and just their excitement from, you know, the the front office all the way to the players to everybody else was just exciting. And then, you know, when we when when you go to the airport and you’ve got hockey fans out there at the airport to meet the team and then, you know, we have our our big party here at the arena and fill the entire arena up to, you know, introduce the team and and then selling out every game throughout the season. I mean, we knew we did we did our research. We knew there was a a a good solid base of hockey fans in this market, but man, the passion and the excitement has just been phenomenal. Is there when people show up in October to go to a Jazz game or go to a Utah Mammoth game, are they going to see anything on the exterior of the building after this summer or is it mostly just on the inside? Yeah, this summer is just going to be interior. Um but uh you know I think well maybe you do or don’t but you know we’ve got plans uh for the the entire entertainment district that will be downtown and you know the goal is to shift the entry of of the arena so it’s it’s facing due east that will directly get you right into the entertainment district and you know as we as we start looking to build that space out and so future years you’re going to see some you know some bigger changes but this year it’s it’s getting the the the the lower bowl all uh re reconfigured. So Jim, I recently, well, I guess it’s been a few years now, helped my parents general a house, build a house and just getting the contractors and make sure they’re on time and and making sure that their estimates hit the numbers and we’re talking about just a a little house. What is that like? This just the assignment and task of something that monumental. And I’m talking about the entire buildout. When you’re talking about remodeling portions of downtown, how overwhelming is that? Or are you able to delegate and and really dish out a lot of responsibility to others? Yeah, it it’s a team effort and uh you know, it it’s amazing. You walk in here, I’m I’m here at the I’m here at the arena now. You know, we office over at the practice facility, but I’m here just about every day. And you know, you walk in here and there’s five cranes, you know, moving moving things, pulling things out. You know, we’re we’re kind of wrapping up a lot of the demolition right now. And but to your point, I mean, we’ve got 500 subs coming in and out of here on a daily basis. And and uh you know, working different spots. And uh you know, like I said, it’s that group. It’s CIA, SEI, Oakland, those I mean, they are they’re coordinating every little detail and we’re running multiple shifts a day. Um it it it’s mind-boggling to to see them in action. Their their attention to detail like like there’s no room for mistake. I mean we have a preseason hockey game on October 2nd. So you know there’s there’s no room for mistake and and the attention to detail is has been really cool to watch. So when you um I mean look you’re you’re a basketball guy. You’ve been with the Jazz for a long time. Hans and I we’re kneedeep with covering the Jazz. We’re all learning hockey together for the first time and loving every second of it. But how much did you lean on that front office with uh you know, Bill Armstrong and uh and coach Tierney and and maybe even some of the players into what you need in your facility, not only the the arena, but also the the beautiful practice facility you guys are are building, too. Yeah. No, they’re they’re on not all those specific guys, but we have representatives from hockey on on every call. You know, we don’t we don’t build a thing that’s going to, you know, touch the hockey operation without them being on calls and part of meetings and decisions. And I they they drive a lot of the design you know for for these professional athletes at the hockey or basketball their flow their experience how they come where they go you know start from training to locker room to you know eating and you know that whole experience is just it’s very very important and so it’s been great to have you know it have the hockey guys in on all those discussions and you know the same goes for basketball you know we don’t do anything without, you know, Jay-Z’s input or our trainers input and these guys. And, you know, it’s very important that it it’s a team effort. In the video that Scotty was talking about, Jim, I did see that you guys are going to be putting on a really nice parking structure to the backside of the Delta Center. And I’ve got to imagine a lot of our listeners, some of their most general interests are, okay, well, how convenient is it going to be for me to get to a game, park, and get into the arena? And that parking structure on that video looks gigantic and it looks extremely convenient. What’s it been like trying to plan out parking for this newly rebuilt structure? Well, just it’s just another part of the project. But, you know, you ask a really good question because, you know, we’re really running two separate projects. you know, the the parking structure. It’s the same team, but you know, of architects and, you know, designers and everybody, but but we’re really running, you know, building the parking structure separate from the work we’re doing inside the arena. And so, you know, we’re running both those projects at once. But, you know, really to your question and and I hope people appreciate this, we we go to great measures to understand the fan experience and what’s working for our fans and what’s not working and where we have opportunities to improve. And I mean, we’ve actually talked about this parking garage for a long time, uh, many years. And uh you know this once again the work that we now are are doing was the compelling event like okay it’s now time to also do the parking garage and and uh it’s it’s going to enhance the experience and uh really provide you know quality parking for you know for many of our guests. You know I referenced that uh practice facility on 106 and Hans and I we do a bunch of remotes in that area maybe once or twice uh a month or so. So, it seems like every other week we’re down there and every time I drive by that thing, I’m like, “Wow, I can’t believe they got that done. Wow, I can’t believe they got that done.” Uh, that sucker is going to be up and going in October. Just how much fun has that been to put together and see that come together? It’s been a lot of fun. I I mean, to your earlier point, I’ve I’ve been involved in a lot of projects that we’ve done here at the arena, and they’ve, you know, they’ve all been, you know, pretty much gauged around basketball and concerts and and what we do here at the arena in the past. and, you know, going out there and building, you know, two ice sheets and a whole new attachment onto the the mall there where, you know, uh, and not only are we building these for, you know, the our our hockey team for their practice site, but it’s going to be the public’s going to have access to it. And as we build these, we put as much attention into that of, you know, where does the public come in and the locker rooms for public use if, you know, there’s youth programs or adult leagues and, you know, their locker rooms and concessions for them and Skate Randall and and so the, you know, the the the driving factor has been having one of the best, if not the best, practice facilities for our hockey team. Uh but but having the public part of it has been just as fun to develop that and realize what an impact that’s going to have on the community. How how tough is it to be going through the reconstruction in Delta when typically you’re having concerts roll through and monster trucks and you got a thousand other events that you guys roll through? How tough is that, Jim, to have to put those things on the back burner? It’s really tough. I mean just from the standpoint of you know we we really consider ourselves kind of the entertainment hub of this community and you know you think about the I don’t know it give or take 60 70 80 events a year that we do here and and we will be open for events and concerts you know once the they’ll coincide with the the basketball and the hockey season. So, come October, early October, we’ll start having shows and other events here. But, yeah, we’ve had to shut those down for the summer. And, you know, we we love putting on concerts and shows and entertaining the community and bringing the community together. And so, it’s been, you know, it’s been a little painful to miss out on that excitement over the summer, but, you know, we’re playing the long game and uh in the long run, it’s it’s going to be better for everybody. Well, we all live through 2020. I’d rather the arena go dark for this reason than why it went dark during that time. So, uh, that I’m with you, Scotty. This is a much better situation. Jim, hey, we appreciate it. We could go a lot longer with you, but we know you’re crazy busy. You got a little bit on your plate right now, so we’ll let you go, but thanks again. And let’s catch up soon. Thanks, Jim. Hey, good, good to hear from you guys. Sure appreciate you guys and hope you have a great one. Jim Olsen, president of the Utah Jazz and uh really spearheading the renovation process of Delta Center, which is no small feat.
• Utah Jazz president Jim Olson
