Jazz Tip Off 40Th Season of Basketball in Utah Season Begins on the Road on Oct
Jazz Tip Off 40th Season of Basketball in Utah Season Begins on the Road on Oct. 17; Home Opener is Oct. 19
SALT LAKE CITY (October 16, 2018) – The “Road to Tipoff” presented by KUTV2 News will culminate with the 40th season of Utah Jazz basketball beginning on the road on Oct. 17 at Sacramento, followed by the home opener on Oct. 19 at 8:30 p.m. in Vivint Smart Home Arena against the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors on ESPN.
“We look forward to celebrating the 40th season of Jazz basketball,” said Steve Starks, president of the Utah Jazz and Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment. “The incredible community support for this team is felt throughout the organization and we can’t wait to tip off another promising season.”
That sense of community will be evident in the primary hashtag -- #TeamIsEverything – for the 2018-19 campaign. The phrase builds on the sentiment of last season and connects to the “Team isn’t any one thing. Team is everything,” motto.
To commemorate the start of the season, two large-scale murals are being painted in downtown Salt Lake City by a local artist at Zions Bank on 120 S. Main Street (78 feet wide x 20 feet tall) and by South African illustrator Karabo Poppy on the West side of Valter’s Osteria (109 feet x 32 feet).
The Jazz’s month-by-month breakdown of regular season home games includes two in October, six in November, eight in December, eight in January, six in February, eight in March and three in April. Throughout the 2018-19 season, the team will wear their white Association uniforms a total of 23 times, gold Statement uniforms 15 times, red rock City Edition uniforms 14 times, blue Icon uniforms 10 times and purple Classic uniforms nine times.
Single-game tickets, group packages and mini-plans such as the “Top Draft Picks Plan” and the “Bobblehead Plan” are available by visiting utahjazz.com or calling (801) 355-DUNK. The Ford Fan Zone all-you-can-eat hotdogs, nachos, popcorn and soda plus a game ticket starts as low as $33.
Vivint Smart Home Arena, which underwent a $125 million renovation prior to last season, features upgrades to the fan experience, including rebooted Wi-Fi technology through Xfinity at Vivint Arena, a new Nike Team Store on the main concourse and expanded dining options.
In addition to the four anchor restaurants at each corner of the arena (Cubby’s, El Chubasco, Maxwell’s, R&R Barbecue), the 18,306-seat venue includes three new culinary additions: Little Caesars is the official pizza provider with two locations on level five; Honest Acai debuts on the third level; and a second J. Dawgs location has been added on the fifth level.
Jazz home games will be highlighted by new additions to game entertainment this season, including the Utah Jazz Hype Team (presented by Cyprus Credit Union), which will perform on-court and engage with fans in the upper bowl, and the new Jazz Street Beat drummers. Kera Thompson joins Allen Handy as a second on-court co-host this season. In addition, Jazz Dancers, Jazz Dunk Team (presented by Sprite), Jazz Stunt Team (presented by ProForm) and Jazz Bear will once again return to the court for the 2018-19 season.
Home or away, Jazz fans will once again be able to tune in to AT&T SportsNet, which will televise 76 regular season contests, with the remaining contests exclusively televised on either ESPN or TNT. Games are also available out of market via a subscription to NBA League Pass. On radio, The Zone Sports Network will air all regular season games on 1280 AM and 97.5 FM or with the Utah Jazz app. The full broadcast schedule is available at www.utahjazz.com/schedule.
The team recently unveiled a newly designed website at www.utahjazz.com, which features a user-friendly interface and exclusive content that brings fans closer to the team. The site also includes real-time social media posts, trending topics, and updated team and player statistics.
--utahjazz.com--
About the Utah Jazz Founded as the 18th member of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1974, and located in Salt Lake City since 1979, the Utah Jazz are committed to excellence as a team and in the community. On the court, the Jazz are the second-winningest team in the NBA over the last 30 years, having won nine division titles and two Western Conference championships along with 15 seasons of 50-plus wins, and are supported by one of the most passionate fan bases in all of sports. Away from the court, the Jazz are very active in the local community and have assisted a multitude of organizations and worthy causes by way of charitable donations, service and grants through Larry H. Miller Charities. The Utah Jazz also operate the Junior Jazz program, the largest and longest-running youth basketball league in the NBA, featuring more than 60,000 players and an additional 13,000 volunteers who take part annually across seven states. For more information on the Utah Jazz, visit www.utahjazz.com.
Media Contact: Frank Zang, (801) 325-2570, [email protected] or Matt de Nesnera, (703) 554-5499, [email protected]