The past, present and future of professional sports in Salt Lake City have been front and center in 2024 and promise to reshape the city for years to come.

The Salt Lake Bees played their last game at Smith’s Ballpark in September. The Utah Hockey Club played its first game at the Delta Center in October. The battle to attract a Major League Baseball team continues.

Salt Lake City has suddenly become home to two major league sports franchises, with high hopes for a third. Once the only game in town, the Utah Jazz suddenly have company with a second major sports franchise moving not only into their city, but into their building as well. And the arrival of the Utah HC sparked an ambitious proposal to redevelop downtown.

An equally ambitious development project is in the works on the city’s west side, where a major league baseball stadium will be built if a team comes to Utah.

As billionaire owners invest heavily and push ahead with plans to boost the city’s professional sports profile as well as its cultural and economic prospects, state and local lawmakers jumped on the bandwagon, passing legislation, signing development agreements and allocating tax dollars to make it happen to make a city a reality.

Here’s a look at some of the key moments that made 2024 a pivotal year in Salt Lake City’s history.

The Utah Hockey Club is coming

Ryan and Ashley Smith announced their purchase of the Arizona Coyotes in April, bringing the NHL to Utah faster than expected. Smith Entertainment Group spent the next six months trying to get the temporarily named Utah Hockey Club on the ice for the 2024-25 season. This included finding practice ice, Delta Center modifications for fans and players, ticket sales, uniforms, personnel, sponsorships and broadcasting. It all came together in October when the team defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in the season opener.

Revitalizing downtown Salt Lake City

The ice hockey team’s rise acted as a catalyst for the planned downtown sports, entertainment, cultural and convention zone in a three-block area east of the Delta Center. SEG plans to pour $3 billion into demolishing part of the Salt Lake Convention Center for a pedestrian mall, residential tower and high-rise hotel. Salt Lake City will increase its sales tax starting Jan. 1 to generate $900 million to finance arena renovations for ice hockey and basketball and other improvements in the zone. What might become of the famous Abravanel Hall and the adjacent Japantown Street sparked controversy. City, county and corporate officials have made pledges to keep the home of the Utah Symphony Orchestra intact and improve the historically significant road.

Salt Lake Bees are moving

In September, the Salt Lake Bees Triple-A baseball team played its final game at Smith’s Ballpark, just over a mile from downtown. The Larry H. Miller Company is moving the team to a new stadium it is building in South Jordan, about 20 miles southwest. The Bees, also called the Buzz and Stingers over the years, have played at the ballpark since it opened in 1994 as Franklin Quest Field. The park also had several names as sponsors changed, including Franklin Covey Field and Spring Mobile Ballpark. The Bees will play in the new stadium from 2025.

Smith’s ballpark future

The city still has to decide what to do with the former home of the Salt Lake Bees. The University of Utah baseball team will continue to play at the park through the 2025 season. After that, city officials considered several plans, including demolition. In December, Salt Lake City’s Redevelopment Agency narrowed the field’s future to three options for preservation, adaptation or reconstruction:

• Transform the 30-year-old baseball stadium into a year-round venue for professional, amateur and community sports. The renovated stadium would provide space for a farmers market, West Temple festivals and local retail.
• Partially demolish the stadium but redevelop the west side as a venue for performances and community events, with green spaces for gatherings and festivals, natural walkways and art installations.
• Demolish the building, surface the three creeks below 1300 South, and embed parking throughout the site.

West side revitalization

In February, the Larry H. Miller Company announced plans to invest $3.5 billion in a mixed-use project on Salt Lake City’s long-overlooked west side, including a potential major league baseball stadium. Utah lawmakers have passed a bill that would increase the rental car tax to generate $900 million to fund baseball stadium construction if a major league team comes to Utah. Local politicians also expressed strong support for the project, saying it would improve the West Side’s economic prospects. The project includes a new Rocky Mountain Power headquarters, green space and trails, a beautified Jordan River, housing and retail. In December, the Salt Lake City Council rezoned 93 acres of land owned by the Miller Company from the Jordan River to Redwood Road and North Temple to I-80. A development agreement was also signed with the company.