Beer Sales Soar as Hockey Arrives in Salt Lake City

16,020 sports fans poured into the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, Tuesday—and they were thirsty for more than just hockey.

Beer sales during Tuesday’s inaugural Utah Hockey Club game hit $120,000—a record for any NBA or NHL game at the 33-year-old Delta Center, according to the team. (It wasn’t an overall high for the Delta Center, which hosts concerts and other events.)

And the Smith Entertainment Group—which owns Utah HC and the Jazz—wasn’t afraid to highlight some of that beer chugging on the video boards during the season-opening win against the Chicago Blackhawks. 

The Bud Light Beer Cam showed multiple fans downing suds early in the contest and, in the third period, cameras caught two fans pouring beer into their shoes and downing their brews. 

Beer prices were roughly equivalent to other sports venues, with a 24-ounce domestic can going for between $14-$16. 

Beer wasn’t the only popular concession category at the opener. The team’s new “Mountain Menu” that featured $3 hot dogs and nachos accumulated 7,400 food items sold, according to the team. 

In a sit-down with Front Office Sports the night before the first game, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith said it was important to him to have wallet-friendly food pricing. “If you’ve got a family of five and you’re bringing them to a game, it could easily cost you the equivalent to some of the tickets to feed everyone,” Smith said. “We wanted to create an experience for everyone.”