Delta Center

Address:301 West South Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah

Head over to EnergySolutions Arena, and experience a night of NBA basketball, Jazz style. EnergySolutions (formerly the Delta Center) in Salt Lake City, Utah, is home to the Utah Jazz of the NBA, and the Utah Blaze of the Arena Football League. EnergySolutions Arena's main claim to fame is hosting the figure skating and short track speed skating competitions during Salt Lake City's 2002 Winter Olympics. During the Olympics, the arena was referred to as the Salt Lake Ice Center).

Once on the EnergySolutions Arena grounds itself, you'll note that the building sits diagonally in the middle of a square lot. This design helps to create plenty of room for a public plaza at the northeast corner. Outside of the arena are statues of two players, regarded by many as the greatest in the history of the Jazz. The John Stockton Statue was unveiled on March 30th, 2005, while Karl Malone's statue was unveiled on March 23rd, 2006. Inside the arena, 19,911 seats, mostly light green, are in the seating bowl, split into two levels. Sandwiched in between the two is a ring of suites for those fans who want to both watch the game on TV and be there at the same time. Also located on some of the inner walls of the lower concourse, are memorabilia displays of great athletes of the State of Utah, and more objects depicting the great moments of Jazz basketball history.

The Arena was originally imagined as a 20,000-seat home for the Utah Jazz, to replace their since-demolished Salt Palace arena. Ground was broken on May 22, 1990, and the arena was completed on October 4, 1991. Until November 20, 2006, EnergySolutions Arena was known as the Delta Center. The stadium's owner, Larry H. Miller, opted to sell naming rights to the arena to EnergySolutions, a low-level nuclear waste disposal company headquartered in Salt Lake City. A scene from Saturday's Voyeur, a local theater production, satirizes the renaming, with the Utah Jazz mascot bear in a hazmat suit. Initial fan reactions to the new name were predominantly negative. Early nicknames for the arena included "The Dump," a jab at EnergySolutions' radioactive and hazardous waste disposal operations. Other suggestions included The Glow Bowl, Radium Stadium, the Isotope, ChernoBowl, JazzMat (short for Jazzardous Materials), Plutonium Palace, The Fallout Shelter, the Melta Center, and Energy Pollutions Arena.

One of the brighter spots about EnergySolutions Arena has been the on court performance of its primary tenants. For many years, and without exception, the Utah Jazz has consistently been a dark horse contender for a spot in the NBA Finals. Led by coach Jerry Sloan, the team was anchored by the combination of point guard John Stockton and power forward Karl Malone, and made the playoffs 20 consecutive seasons. Only the Portland Trail Blazers' with their NBA record 21-year playoff streak have ever topped this. Malone and Stockton are generally seen as two of the best players in history at their positions, and among the best two-player combinations of all time. During this amazing run, the Jazz won six Division titles and went to the Finals twice, in 1997 and 1998, both times falling to the vaunted Bulls dynasty led by Michael Jordan. Game 6 of the 1998 finals, which took place at EnergySolutions Arena, will long be remembered for featuring one of the most famous shots in history. In the dying seconds of the game, Michael Jordan made a clutch jump shot to win the game 87–86 and take the series 4-2.

In addition to the Utah Jazz and Blaze, EnergySolutions Arena has also been the home of the WNBA's Utah Starzz from 1997-2002, and the International Hockey League's Salt Lake Golden Eagles from 1991-1994, and Utah Grizzlies from 1995-1997. It also is, and has been, the host of the Utah Basketball League Salt Lake Devils since, the league's creation in October 2005. The 1993-95 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournaments were held at the facility, as was the 1993 NBA All-Star Game in which home favorites Malone and Stockton led the West to a 135-130 overtime victory over the East, earning them co-MVP honors.

In addition to sports, EnergySolutions Arena is set up to host large scale music concerts. EnergySolutions Arena Hosted a sold out "Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang Tour" concert in 2005. The group performed a two song performance via satellite for the 2005 American Music Awards, with an introduction by Nicole Richie. U2 played a sold out concert here during their Vertigo Tour. The arena has even made an appearance on the silver screen with the movie Legally Blonde 2, starring actress Reese Witherspoon, being partially filmed here.

EnergySolutions Arena sits on the western edge of downtown Salt Lake. Transportationwise, this is an easy venue to reach, as it is a quick hop and a jump from the I-15. Parking is not difficult to find here as the immediate surroundings offer plenty of affordable lots and, if you arrive early enough, free on-street parking is available. The city's light rail system has a station that drops Jazz fans off just a few yards from the arena's main marquee. Here in Salt Lake, there are automated token dispensers at some of the arena exits for those who are traveling by rail to and from the game, as well as a map display of the entire system.