Wow. Is it really this bad? I don’t know, not being a Jazz fan or follower.
Salt Lake City ranked NBA’s 2nd worst hometown to visit
https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/02/14/utah-jazz-nba-visitor-experience-worst
sounds like some of us talking about Big 12 college towns
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For NBA players who regularly travel to LA, NY, etc., Salt Lake City is a pretty backwater place. Not a lot to do here for players other than to play the game. At least the airport is easy enough.
The thing Axios whiffs on big time is no one - and I do mean no one, travels to watch NBA regular season games. It’s basically fans of the Jazz that show up. The NBA is not like the NFL where fans do some travel during the regular season (especially if Las Vegas is on the schedule). Even then the numbers are small. The fans who travel for the playoffs in the NBA are typically the wealthy. The ordinary fan gets priced out of the stadium.
Is SLC a bad stop? It is if you’re a rich basketball player looking to drink and hook up.
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In general, traveling is for the rich.
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Are other teams here to play a game, not party?
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The ranking system is not a poll of NBA players.
Rather, it has ranked locales based on sets of criteria.
That aside, Utah is a place with a populace that prides itself on clean living and family.
That emphasis does not foster a great night life, gambling, fine dining, etc. All of us know this.
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As far as an attractive place to live, many of us love Salt Lake because of the recreational opportunities with some enjoying skiing and snowboarding in the winter, and many of us enjoying hiking in the spring and summer. Not to mention looking out of our windows at the magnificent mountains.
When I have visited the Big Apple a few times on business, it was fun to be a short walk away from a wide variety of dining establishments, Time Square, taverns with live music, etc. Exciting place to visit, but I was happy to get back home and see the mountains at the end of my stay.
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Um… not true. I travel to Laker away games at least 10-15 times a year as well as hit like 4 home (even though I am 2,000 miles away). I also run into other fans. That said NBA is more like MLB where you pick and choose games since there are so many. I tend to avoid small cities or mediocre teams. I do the same with The Dodgers.
I tend to hit New Orleans, Atlanta, NYC (MSG like @utefansince79 not Brooklyn), Memphis, and Orlando (only when there is a WDW trip involved). The weird thing is Indy is ranked that high—worst sports city IMHO. I don’t follow NFL teams (I’m a half A@@ Rams fan) and rarely go to Alabama games now.
But wouldn’t you agree that you are an extreme outlier in this regard?
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Not really. I see many fans of rival teams at games who travel. It’s not the level of NFL due to the massive amount of games on the schedule. It’s even more, obviously, during the playoffs. Same with baseball. I think baseball is benefited by three three-game series. My good friend hits most Celtic games near us.
I benefited more from being back east though. As you guys mentioned with the B12 talk SLC is FAR from most college teams. I would assume the same for NBA. Not as much where I am located.
Obviously, this is a more common occurrence with people of a certain tax bracket but even my friends who don’t make a huge amount of money that are Laker fans will hit Indy, Atlanta, Memphis and sometimes Cleveland for games.
EDIT: I just looked at my schedule this year and I am only hitting 8 away games and 2 home games. I did see a Knicks v. Nets game as well. In that regard I am extreme outlier attending games where I don’t have a rooting interest.
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A big part of the attraction for traveling baseball fans is the experience of the ballpark itself, regardless of the city. I don’t think you can say the same about enclosed basketball arenas.
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Absolutely! I would not necessarily visit Baltimore but I was there for a conference and attended an Orioles game. Camden Yards is a great ballpark I had a great experience there.
Yep. Baseball isn’t as much about the game as the environment. A day in Dodger Stadium is better than sitting in Crypto but the game will be more fun to watch in Crypto. The NBA is mainly about seeing the best athletes competing in North American sports. The best athletes tend to play in the NBA in our country.
LOL. I was literally looking at the O’s schedule today for when I am considering to go see the Lakers @ Wizards.
And in my earlier comment I was pointing out that you are unquestionably an outlier. The overwhelming majority of professional sports fans, I would say over 90%, maybe 95%, do not travel that extensively. Most people don’t have the time or the money to do so. I think I would not be married anymore if I tried to get around the country that way just to watch games. LOL.
In other words, I don’t think NBA teams make a lot of money selling tickets to fans who travel like you do. @Greginslc made a valid point: NBA fans just don’t travel the way major league baseball or even NFL fans do.
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Watching the hardy souls walking the 4 mile trek on Century Blvd between Sofi and LAX to watch their favorite NFL team play the Rams or Chargers… how is SLC supposed to compete with that?
Unpossible!
Palm trees, sunny SoCal, crazy low fares on Spirit or Frontier, pants stuffed with trail mix, In and Out if you’re splurging. 21st century pioneers!
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Lol. Gotta mix in things she likes. We typically hit a ton of theater (we saw around 30 Broadway and off Broadway shows/plays last year). But yeah. I wasn’t in this position even 6 years ago. I have been fortunate that after 15 years of working and building my business started to click and payoff for me. As well as working while being mobile became normal. I don’t do remote work but the work is done more remote than ever now.
As remote becomes more mobile I wonder if that changes to allow more travels sports fans. During COVID’s first couple years we did more National Parks than live entertainment. I need to mix that back in with a game in SLC.
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moving the team to Draper will solve that problem. (tic)
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Yeah but think of all the modulated furniture and cafeteria served Swedish meatballs opportunities
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They’re not moving.
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There’s absolutely no reason for the Bees to abandon SLC either. Never underestimate the ability of a Utahn to ruin something.
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