The reasons behind the cost of a Utah Hockey Club ticket
by Dennis Romboy, Deseret News · KSL.comEstimated read time: 2-3 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Hockey Club had no problem selling out its first-ever game Tuesday at the Delta Center, a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
On opening night, fans filled 16,020 seats, including 4,889 obstructed view or what the team calls single-goal view seats. Official capacity for the 2024-25 season is 11,131. On weekends and for games with high demand, the team can choose to make up to 5,000 single-goal view seats available for sale, according to Smith Entertainment Group
The club sold out of season tickets for the first year, totaling about 8,500 full-season equivalents between half- and full-season packages. Single-game ticket availability varies per game.
So, how much does a single-game ticket cost?
That depends. Prices vary according to a number of factors, including when the tickets are purchased, the opponent and the date and time of the game.
Take Utah's next home game, Oct. 19 against the Boston Bruins, one the NHL's most storied franchises. Tickets, according to the Utah Hockey Club website, which redirects online buyers to its official ticketing partner SeatGeek, range from $101 in the upper bowl to $757 at center ice in the lower bowl as of Wednesday afternoon.
Three nights later, when the Ottawa Senators come to town, the range drops to $44 for upper bowl seats to $314 for lower bowl rink-side seats. Prices jump back up when the Colorado Avalanche hit the Delta Center ice two nights after that.
According to Ticketmaster, the average ticket for a 2024-25 NHL game costs $100 to $120.
Utah Hockey Club owner Ryan Smith acknowledged the high prices, saying the trend in sports is for player salaries and ticket prices to go up.
"We're trying everything we can on that front," he said.
On a budget
To take a smaller bite out of fans' wallets, the team earlier announced what Smith called the "Augusta National version" of concessions. The famed site of the Masters golf tournament sells sandwiches, snacks and drinks for $3 or less. At the Delta Center this season, some vendors are offering popcorn, nachos, hot dogs and ice cream bowls for $3 each. Dasani water bottles are available at all vendors for $2.
The team also has a multiyear agreement with Nomi Health to offer 100 partial-ice-view upper-bowl tickets free to the community each game, along with a hot dog and one nonalcoholic drink.
"Especially with hockey right now, we want as many people as we can to get in," Smith said as the team just opened its inaugural season in Salt Lake City. But, he added, we are kind of "prohibited" with the views.
When the club announced single-game ticket sales in the summer, partial-view seats started at $19.
Smith Entertainment Group intends to remodel the arena to improve the sight lines for hockey while also maintaining it as a basketball venue for the Utah Jazz.
"With hockey, we're doing the best we can with the partial-view seats. It's going to be a completely different program once we have 17,000 seats in here," Smith said.
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Dennis Romboy
Dennis Romboy is an editor and reporter for the Deseret News. He has covered a variety of beats over the years, including state and local government, social issues and courts. A Utah native, Romboy earned a degree in journalism from the University of Utah. He enjoys cycling, snowboarding and running.