Huntsman Center

[TomahawkCruise]

I’m sure this notion will have supporters and critics, but I think it’s time to get the ball rolling on a replacement venue for the JMHC.

It’s been a great place with a great atmosphere during our glory days, but I’m afraid it’s just a liability now and doesn’t fit in with the modern game.

A new arena would inject some badly needed juice into the program and add amenities that can be used to raise money and profile that can be used to attract talent.

The new arena should hold 7,000 to 9,000 fans, maximum. This would greatly improve the home atmosphere. Right now, 8,000 fans look like 2,000 fans in that cavernous 15,000-seat JMHC. In a smaller venue, the seats will be far more filled in which will translate to better acoustics and a better climate.

I see a lot of schools who have modern NBA-like arenas that hold fewer than 10,000 fans and it just looks fantastic. Such examples include Baylor, Pitt, Miami, and Oregon. This thought also occurred to me last weekend when I attended a Georgetown Hoyas home game. Yes they play in an NBA arena, but it still had a nice modern atmosphere that really was pleasant to be in. As I sat there, I thought how nice it would be if Utah had the same look and feel at home. Even though Georgetown is having a mediocre season (and was playing a bad opponent), the arena looked pretty full and was loud. Utah could do that if we had a new arena.

I don’t think renovating the JMHC would do it. We need to thank it for its service, and knock it down to make way for a shiny new arena for the Runnin Utes.

I’d love to hear some of y’alls thoughts.

[Uteanooga]

I agree that the JMC is a little dated but it is still a fine place to see a game. Replacing it would cost a fortune- so from where would the funding come? Would the funding be better spent on the team?

If funding could be obtained I would much rather see a winning team in the JMC, than more poor play in a shiny-new arena.

Given the weird state of college athletics, where BYU pays 7m for a single player, it is hard to justify massive expenditure to replace the JMC when the JMC is more than adequate for our current teams.

Perhaps this makes me a stick-in-the-mud, but the budget has to balance. I’m old school like that.

[concerned]

The admin has said for a while the long range plan is to build a new arena downtown, smaller 10-12K. Apparently too expensive to renovate the Huntsman Center and the U wants the land for other uses. Dont know how the curent budget deficit affects that.

p.s. yes, I agree that off campus arenas are not ideal (look at Georgetown) but dont shoot the messenger.

[GameForAnyFuss]

Off campus arenas are not ideal in most cases, but I’m not sure if that’s true in our case. The U is poorly located with respect to how our major roadways are laid out in the valley. Did you ever notice that our belt route is only 3/4 of a circle, and the missing 1/4 is right where the U is? It would be a different story if the belt route actually went near the U.

Can we all agree that getting to the U – for any reason, not just sports – is completely painful?

With that in mind, I don’t think a downtown arena would be a major turnoff like it would be at many other universities. It’s harder to get to the U than it is to get downtown.

[TomahawkCruise]

I wonder how a downtown arena would affect the student fans? It would be easier for non student fans to get to games, but I wonder if having the game elsewhere downtown would make student attendance take a hit?

Obviously there’s no ideal solution.

[OmahaOmaha]

This would affect like 50 students. Student support is pathetic, and has nothing to do with convenience of the venue. The only decision that has been made is that the Huntsman Center will be razed. There’s a number of locations being studied, and it’s far from decided that it will be an arena off-campus.

[TomahawkCruise]

Interesting. Where did you hear about all that?

[AlohaUte]

Well, it is old, but I like it and thinks its fine. I don’t know that I’d spend the money to replace it. I’d first say, putting a winning product on the court and see if it can fill up again consistently. If the U didn’t have a problem filling it during the Majerus years they shouldn’t now when the population has grown exponentially.

That said, I do think that the U will be an unintended victim of the Hockey Club and baseball (should Salt Lake get a team). There’s only so many eyeballs and so many $$$ to go around. I know that baseball is the offseason for the two money producing sports, but people will still only have so much to spend on sports over the course of the year.

Also, I suppose to your point about this era we are in, streaming and the quality of the TV product makes going live less appealing (though I love going to CBB live and almost never watch it on TV).

[TomahawkCruise]

You make some good points, sir.

I am in the minority of Utah fans who love our basketball program more than our football program, and I just want the Runnin Utes to be relevant again. I hate watching the greatness of March Madness every year and not seeing Utah in it. I think a new arena would help inject new life into the program (mostly from a fan support standpoint, which absolutely does impact winning), which in turn would help bring in more talent. But I also understand that you also have money for players.

Thankfully, money for an arena and money for players don’t come from the same place. The university pays for the arena, but the collective/donors are the ones who pay for players. So both can exist at the same time. Just think that’s worth noting. I know you didn’t really say anything about that, so that’s more of a response to Uteanooga further up in the thread.

Love the responses, folks.

[DataUte]

I don’t disagree for basketball (men’s or women’s), but what do you do about gymnastics pulling 15k into the stadium? I haven’t been around the campus in a while, but seems like there’s more non-sports events at Kingsbury than JHC (concerts, etc.). For graduations, a smaller arena is fine as only 1/2 of the JHC is used. I would assume they’d keep practice facilities on campus and only games would be at the new arena, but they need to find other stuff to fill it up since practice would be up the hill.

\Getting to a downtown stadium (for students) is just a quick trax ride down the hill. It would compete with all the other downtown venues (Jazz, UHC, arts/music) but could continue the improvement of the area.

[Minnesota Ute]

I made the same comment about 3-4 weeks ago, and go similar replies. I think it has a bigger impact on recruiting than people realize.

[TomahawkCruise]

I agree. It won’t reel in top recruits all by itself, but it would help Utah’s overall appeal. I know when they built all the new basketball facilities a few years ago that really began to make an impression on visiting recruits. I think a new arena would do the same.

Better seating, smaller capacity, improved everything (acoustics, wifi, revenue sources like suites and club seats) and the exciting newness of the place would be a real shot in the arm for the program. We’re gonna need it sooner or later. The JMHC won’t be suitable forever and it’s already 56 years old.

[Asmitty]

I agree — a JMH Center replacement would be very welcome, from my standpoint. Have some great memories there but it is extremely dated, hard to get to, and the environment with it half-empty is just a buzzkill. I know it probably isn’t priority 1 for the athletic department but it would motivate me to go to several more games each season.

[TomahawkCruise]

You bring up a very good point that I hadn’t mentioned specifically. A new arena would most definitely attract fans that otherwise would not attend. Yes, that novelty would only have a finite shelf life before the new attendees stop coming, but that wouldn’t be for a few years and over those few years the program will be (hopefully) building itself into a better product to maintain the crowd sizes.

Think about it. Right now, we get between 6,000 and 9,000 fans showing up to the JMHC per game to watch the 2024-25 Runnin Utes. In that cavernous arena, the crowd looks much smaller than that. If we were playing in a new arena this season, those 6,000 to 9,000 fans would look pretty good and the place would look pretty full.

That would have a tremendous impact on the game experience, for both the fans and players. I’m sure our players get tired of seeing a ton of empty seats when they’re out there trying to win for us. Not to mention, I’d bet the new place would attract more students to games because it would be a cool new place to hang out.

[Uteanooga]

The Marriott Center opened in 1971. I have no idea what condition it is in because I have never been there. It is old though. And BYU signed the top recruit in the nation. I suspect the 7mil of NIL cash had a larger impact on the recruit’s decision than the age of the basketball arena- though perhaps that is being overly skeptical.

If there is a silver lining to all of this, we finally have an answer as to what it would take for a Utah school to sign the most elite prospect in the nation.

As for the notion that private donors pay for recruits and the university pays for the facilities- yes and no. Which of our athletic facilities would be in existence without private donors? I suspect that without private donors the campus would look pretty different. Private money helped build everything with someone’s name attached- which is just about everything important.

I’d love to see Utah flush with the type of donor cash to revamp all facilities and sport 20mil rosters in both football and basketball- but I won’t be holding my breath.

[TomahawkCruise]

Yes you are certainly right that private donors play a big role in building facilities on campus, and I’m certain a new arena would be no exception. I just think it wouldn’t all have to be footed privately.

Yeah I just think BYU is in a different situation than we are. Their teams are only occasionally good, but they always have fan support. I think most of that is because there isn’t a lot to do in Provo/Utah County and the BYU campus. Probably some of it is also because they’ve just been able to build a better overall experience that draws students and non students. Whatever that is, I don’t think Utah could replicate that at the JMHC at this point. Maybe we could years ago, but I think the game has just changed too much and so now the program needs to pull out some bigger guns to start drawing them in.

While we’re on the topic, I’ll also say this. I’m not sure I really want to see the Runnin Utes dishing out several million dollars for a blue chip one and done player, because those players are a total gamble at best, and a questionable investment at worst. I doubt that guy they’re getting next year will amount to a whole lot of wins above replacement. In other words, I’d be willing to bet that in April 2026, we’ll all be here saying that was not a worthwhile transaction BYU made, considering the final season result (probably no further than R32, if they even make the tourney). I’m not sure I want Utah playing that exorbitantly expensive game just yet.

[Uteanooga]

All excellent points and I appreciate your starting this interesting discussion.

The number of students living on campus has increased dramatically since I was a student 30 years ago. I was in town last week and worked out at the student life gym- which was pretty impressive. I was surprised at just how packed it was on a weekend with cruddy weather. The students are there and I bet if the basketball team started to win and be exciting, the students would show up to the games.

Who wants to watch your team get trashed or even eke out an ugly win vs a mediocre team?

Only diehard fans like that and the current students were not even alive when the Running Utes were good. I don’t see a new basketball arena changing that dynamic without the team winning.

As for paying players as an investment- it is not an investment any more than owning a fish tank or buying season tiks. NIL is merely spending money on entertainment. $ down the drain. You have to find donors with enough money that dishing out 7m is fun. There are not many of those around and Utah does not appear to have any.

[TomahawkCruise]

Thank you, and I appreciate your thoughts and points on this subject as well.

Yeah I really don’t have a good idea of what Utah’s donor situation looks like. I imagine there are some deep pocketed supporters like the Huntsmans and Sorensens and Eccleses, but I’m not sure how many are looking to shell out for athletic purposes like NIL. Obviously it helps to have a very sports minded billionaire on your side like BYU does, but I truly don’t think that will give them a game changing advantage over schools like Utah who do not.

Firstly, I don’t think Ryan Smith is giving BYU a blank check for their sports endeavors like some of their fans seem to think. Yeah he will help out here and there, but it’s not gonna be a Phil Knight type situation where he’s willing to outspend BYU opponents into oblivion. The net effect will help them here and there, but I don’t expect it to suddenly transform BYU athletics into the top tier because better recruits don’t always bring more wins. There are a lot of programs (like Washington and Rutgers) who spent wildly on blue chippers last off-season who are worse than Utah is and have no shot at a postseason. In Rutgers’ case, they spent more than $3M on two blue chip one and done players and they’re sitting at 12-13/5-9 in 14th place in the Big Ten.

I know all that wasn’t really related to the JMHC or a new arena, but it’s all kind of related in a weird way. I’ll be interested to see if Ryan Smith continues to pour money into a black hole at BYU if they continue to keep churning out mediocre to slightly decent results. I don’t think he will.

[Phatmanandy]

I had heard from somewhere that they were looking at possibly building a new arena on campus to the East of RES. Then creating some sort plaza between the two. They would model the new arena after Baylors new arena which actually looks really nice for only a 11,000 or so seats. I would totally love that. New amenities, bathrooms, suites, high end options, etc.,

[TomahawkCruise]

I’m glad there seem to be rumors out there about getting a new arena. The Plaza idea sounds good and Baylor really has built a great looking venue.

The only thing I’d take issue with is the capacity. I think 11,000 is probably more than we need and in down years it’s gonna give us the same bad optics of looking half empty. I would say capacity should be no more than 9,000 – but if it were up to me, I’d put it at around 8,500. Some really good programs in CBB have arenas that hold less than that. Such as Houston and Baylor.

But I hope what you’re hearing is true and the Utes are actively engaged in the process to replace the JMHC.

[Phatmanandy]

Sorry I was mistaken on capacity, I couldn’t remember what Baylor’s new stadium was. But I know it’s what Utah is looking to model after. Baylor’s new stadium has a capacity of 7,500. Sucks for sports like Gymnastics where we sell out all the time. But for basketball and the lack of interest from fans 7,500 would be a packed house almost every night.

[TomahawkCruise]

Exactly, and I think that would work well for us. At 7,500 to 8,500, most games would be at or close to a sellout. And I think the fans have shown they can show up in those numbers consistently no matter how good or bad the team is. Yes, in good years that may seem like it’s not enough capacity, but personally I’d rather have a consistently full arena than one that’s only full when the team is good. Or… Perhaps they could build the arena with some structural flexibility to make it expandable in the future, if needed?

As for gymnastics, I don’t know, maybe they can continue using the JMHC? I wonder if it would be possible to keep it AND build a strictly basketball arena.

[Uteanooga]

The last game I attended was vs Iowa in the NIT. My son asked if we were going to see Caitlin Clark play and I said “we are watching the men play son.” He seemed disappointed.

We arrived about 10 min late and the Hunty was so empty they were giving away tiks for free. No kidding. Our group had 11 people and when we tried to pay they said “Don’t worry about it. Just have fun.”

There were no where near 7,500 people. More like 1,000. It was a lot of fun and really easy to make the Jumbotron.

200+ mil in today’s weird environment of college sports when the Hunty is perfectly fine is just plain bonkers to me. But hey, the University never asks my opinion so perhaps you can get this done.

[TomahawkCruise]

Yeah for some reason attendance at the JMHC is never good when we’re in the NIT. It drops significantly from the regular season average – almost certainly because NIT games are not included with season ticket packages so everyone has to pay for tickets. And at that stage of the season, not in the ncaa tourney, interest drops off for some.

During the 2023-24 regular season, the JMHC had between 7,000 and 9,000 for every game (sometimes a little more). But then when the NIT came around, attendance collapsed.

The attendance for UC Irvine and Iowa in the NIT was 3,137 and 3,804, respectively. We can probably throw out NIT attendance because it has no real bearing on regular season attendance and season ticket holders.

[The Miami Ute]

Well, I’m of the opinion that only winning fixes everything. You could have an opulent arena sitting only 8K people and it would still be half empty if you had a product resembling what the Utes have been putting on the floor since Smith arrived.

There’s also the law of unintended consequences, otherwise known as cutting off your nose to spite your face. I’ve had season tickets to both MBB and Gymnastics for the last few years and the difference in crowds couldn’t be more stark.

As stated, the JHC is packed for almost every gymnastics meet and half-empty (at best) for all games not played versus BYU. Suppose you cut the capacity of a new arena by about half. In that case, a significant number of Red Rocks season ticket holders are going to be out of luck AND you’re going to be losing a considerable revenue stream. Those people are not going to transition to MBB because the demographics are very different.

And here’s another thing, in order to start recouping the massive investment in a new arena, ticket prices for any event that takes place there will have to be raised considerably. That in itself, will probably make a number of people tap out and say “no thanks”, especially if, in the case of MBB, the Utes are still a mediocre product.

[Uteanooga]

Bingo.

If you want to get the Runnin Ute’s mojo back- get a rock-star coach and enough NIL $ to field an elite roster.

The Hunty would rock again.

[TomahawkCruise]

You could be right about whether 8,000 people will show up if the team continues to be like it’s been, but I myself think they surely would. Even with how mediocre we’ve been over the last few years, we still have consistently turned out between 5,000 and 8,000 fans for every home game. I think we could count on that to continue at the very least, if we had a new arena.

As for gymnastics, I’d say just keep the JMHC for them and other events like graduation. I don’t think building a new hoops venue requires that the JMHC be demolished.

Personally, I think the bottom line is this: Either you are a serious basketball program or you’re not. If you are, you have to invest in your program, which in this day and age includes facilities with amenities to offer a quality experience. There are enough utah fans who love and care about MBB to make a new arena viable. But that won’t be true forever if we continue to neglect the program and focus only on football.

It’s time to get serious about basketball and resume our tradition of excellence on the hardwood. In my opinion, we can’t do that if we don’t care about seriously upgrading the home environment and game experience.

I want to reiterate that this is just my opinion. You definitely make some solid points in your assessment, as well.

[utefansince79]

Fond memories of the Hunty over the years beginning when my father took me to my first Utah game against Loyola-CA back in 1969. Place is so great when it is packed but that is rare and it looks barren when well more than half the seats are empty.

Real Salt Lake started in Rice-Eccles for a few seasons and certainly once they moved to Sandy in a more appropriately sized venue, the atmosphere was much better.

[TomahawkCruise]

I think that’s a solid example.

To dig into the data a little more, here are Utah’s home attendance figures since Smith was hired in 2021:

Season/Total Attendance/Avg Attendance/Conf Rank
21-22: 118,351 / 7,397 (4th in P12)
22-23: 114,047 / 6,709 (6th in P12)
23-24: 140,431 / 8,777 (2nd in P12)
24-25: 117,145 / 7,810 (8th in XII) *There are four home games left

Here are the figures for Krystkoviak’s last three seasons (no attendance in 20-21 due to COVID):

19-20: 137,852 / 10,561 (5th in P12)
18-19: 170,897 / 11,393 (2nd in P12)
17-18: 190,097 / 12,673 (2nd in P12)

To me, the numbers say we’d be able to fill a new 8,500-seat arena pretty consistently regardless of how well the team is playing. However, I recognize that it also lends some credibility to those who say a better product will bring more fans.

At the end of the day, I think you have to decide whether those extra 6,000 seats are worth having when the team is occasionally good, at the expense of the barren atmosphere when the team is not so good. Obviously for me, I would choose in favor of a vastly improved atmosphere and experience regardless of the team’s performance.

[The Miami Ute]

Yeah listen, I’ve had MBB season tickets since the 19-20 season and those numbers are nowhere close to the facts on the ground. It’s a historical truth that teams of all stripes and sports regularly cook their attendance numbers to appear to be better than what they actually are. And this is particularly true of teams with low attendance figures. For example, last year, the Oakland A’s said that they averaged 11.5K fans per game whereas, if you went to a game, any game, you could count the number of fans in the stands quite easily. In Utah’s case, I would say that in any game versus any team not named BYU, they’re lucky to have 5-6K in the stands. And again, if you get into a smaller arena, you’re going to have to charge higher prices to mitigate the cost of building said arena and justify the smaller seat footprint.

[Uteanooga]

If we are going to dream of glory- to me that would be an incredible team playing in front 16,000 rocking fans.

[BleedsRedUte]

I think that any new basketball venue must have acreage dedicated to parking adjacent to the building. If they cater to the fans by getting them to the game without the contant worry of getting a parking space and then being able to exit the venue without spending an hour slowly creeping out, the fans will come.

Yes, they need to field at least a competitive team that doesn’t dwell at the bottom of the league, but I’ve always thought twice about attending games when the planning starts with where to park.

[The Miami Ute]

This is an interesting comment. The reason I say that is because, in the six seasons that I’ve been going to MBB on a regular basis, I personally have never had a single issue with parking or departing a game. Maybe it’s different if you’re driving south from the JHC? I live in Davis County and I’ve had no issues at all. And that includes games where the arena was completely sold out, like versus BYU…

[markleone]

First of all, three of your four examples are incorrect- Baylor’s arena holds 10,600 for basketball; Oregon holds 12,600 and Pitt holds 12,600.
The Huntsman is an iconic venue and has hosted many brilliant games. It has aged well.
Yes, it has its flaws but it is still one one of the better venues in college basketball.
When full or near capacity it is loud and vibrant.
There are a hundred things that need to be fixed/added/replaced with Utah Athletics ahead of demolishing the HC.

[Utah#1]

I think the one thing right school needs to focus on to keep the national respect for the school on the big stage, outside of its medical research institution, is the football program. That, IMO, is the #1 priority that is imperative to keep the image, profile and brand recogntion on the national stage, especially in the Big12. If the athletic dept and the football program can get back on track and return to its former Pac12 title years and win lots of football games in the Big12 and consistently win conf championships, the rest will work itself out! Oh and, make sure we end BYU’s lucky two game winning streak in football. Two games is two games too many! End the two game drought and return back to our winning ways and the basketball programs will take care of themselves. Go UTES!

[Holladay Ute]

I wouldn’t want them to replace the Huntsman Center unless they were doing something really cool and if it was close to RES (downtown would be a really bad idea, in my opinion).

Consistently winning will get people back to the games. RES isn’t downtown and they’ve sold out for 15 years. Why? Because we’ve been good. The U is investing in student housing on campus, right? Hopefully that means more students at the basketball games if/when we’re good again.

There’s so much history at the Huntsman Center. Magic versus Bird. The Majerus days. It’s an iconic venue and loud if we’re a good team and the fans show up. Think of the BYU games the last two years. Bill Self said it was a great atmosphere at the Kansas game last night. I went to a gymnastics meet the other day and it was way fun. Not sold out, but it was definitely very crowded and the fans were passionate. Lower bowl probably all sold out and then a good chunk of the upper bowl too.

Don’t make a new stadium just so it has less seats and makes us feel better about no empty seats at the basketball games. Invest the resources into the players and coaching staff so we can fill the seats again. Schools will be paying players directly pretty soon anyway.

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