The Utah Hockey Club—yes, that’s really their name—played their first-ever game on Wednesday (and won!). You know who also won? The arena’s beer vendors, who broke the Delta Center’s record for alcohol purchases at a sporting event.
While this was literally the hockey team’s first game, the Delta Center has been the storied home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz for 33 years, which is older than me.
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So, yeah, in just one day, hockey fans drank more beer in one night than any of the approximately 1,300-plus Jazz home games. That’s not even counting the playoff games!
The arena saw $120,000 worth of beer sales in Utah’s inaugural game.
It’s also not like the beer prices were jacked up to help inflate that numbers either. From all accounts, the prices lined up with the typical cost that sports and concert-goers have grown accustomed to.
This is a great sign for the NHL and the Salt Lake area after the NHL announced the new team in April 2024, which moved over from Arizona. The Utah Hockey Club is just the second professional sports team among the four major leagues in the state. Clearly, the people there are more than ready to support another team, as evident in their passionate pursuit of chugging as many beers as possible in one night.
Now if you’re wondering why the heck a professional hockey team is called “Hockey Club,” it’s because no one can make a decision. Simple as that. The owner says there’s no rush to land on an official nickname and wants to allow for ample time for an important decision.
That being said, they’ll eventually likely be either the Yeti, Mammoth, or one other four that were narrowed down via fan voting.
Perhaps one more should be added to the list of potential names: the Utah Guzzlers.
