As the NBA season heats up and NHL teams gear up for their 2025-26 campaign, a major arena upgrade in Salt Lake City is turning heads in the sports facility industry. The owners of the NBA’s Jazz and NHL’s newly relocated Utah Hockey Club recently announced a multi-year renovation of their downtown arena, with a transformative focus on seating infrastructure that solves a longstanding challenge for multi-sport venues.
The Dual-Sport Dilemma & Seating Solution
Built exclusively for basketball in 1991, the Delta Center struggled to accommodate hockey due to poor sightlines and spatial constraints. “When you plop an ice sheet into a basketball-focused venue, the geometry just doesn’t work,” explained Jazz President Jim Olson. The solution? A raised floor system paired with retractable bleachers—a centerpiece of the renovation that enables seamless conversion between sports.
By raising the floor 2 feet and extending the arena bowl 12 feet at each end, the new retractable seating system creates unobstructed views for 17,000 hockey fans while preserving the 19,000-capacity basketball configuration. This adaptability is game-changing for venues hosting multiple sports:
- Rapid Conversion: Retractable bleachers collapse to clear ice rink space in hours, eliminating lengthy setup delays between hockey and basketball events.
- Sightline Optimization: Upgraded seating geometry fixes the original “partial view” issue for 400 existing seats, turning them into premium full-ice/full-court viewing positions.
Beyond Retractability: A Complete Seating Ecosystem
The Utah project highlights why modern arenas demand integrated seating solutions—not just standalone products:
- Fixed Seating for Core Fan Zones: Lower-bowl permanent seats retain the intimacy basketball fans expect, with enhanced padding and sightline engineering to match the retractable sections.
- Metal Grandstands for Capacity Flexibility: Supplemental metal bleachers in upper tiers provide durable, cost-effective expansion for high-demand games, supporting the arena’s capacity boost without compromising safety.
- Accessibility Integration: Following industry best practices (seen in Barcelona’s Camp Nou renovation), the upgrade includes ADA-compliant seating sections to meet regulatory standards and inclusive design goals.
Why This Matters for Sports Venues Everywhere
The Utah renovation mirrors a growing trend across professional sports. From Brighton’s Amex Stadium adding flexible fan zones to Blackpool FC upgrading stands with modular seating, venues are prioritizing versatility. For facility managers, the lessons are clear:
- Multi-Sport Readiness: Retractable systems turn single-purpose arenas into 365-day revenue generators.
- Long-Term Value: Metal and fixed seating components designed for 20+ years of use (as emphasized in Blackpool’s renovation) reduce lifecycle costs.
- Fan Experience First: Every seating choice—from retractable bleachers to fixed lower-bowl seats—directly impacts attendance and fan loyalty.
As the Utah project kicks off its first summer of construction, it sets a benchmark for how seating infrastructure can bridge athletic disciplines. For arenas aiming to host NBA, NHL, or major events without compromise, the answer lies in adaptive, integrated seating solutions.
