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Delta Air Lines renewed its multiyear partnership with the Hawks to remain the official commercial airline for the team and State Farm Arena. As part of the renewal, Delta and the Hawks will feature a lineup of on-and off-the court fan experiences.
The Utah Jazz announced Saturday that they have entered into a long-term naming rights deal with Delta Air Lines, the Atlanta-based airline with a hub at Salt Lake City International Airport. The arena will continue to be referred to as Vivint Arena until July 1, 2023, when the changeover will officially take place.
Terms of the deal were not released, but Jazz owner Ryan Smith told The Salt Lake Tribune that the intention is to keep the Delta Center name for decades to come. This week, the Tribune reported that Delta had signed a lease extension with Salt Lake City to keep the company in Utah through at least mid-2044, with an option for another 10 years beyond that.
Vivint Smart Home purchased the naming rights to the stadium for 10 years in 2015. (In 2020, the “Smart Home” part of the arena name was dropped.) Vivint’s deal was not set to expire until 2025. However, concurrently with the Delta arrangement, Vivint agreed to a new sponsorship agreement with the Smith Entertainment Group, the company that owns the Jazz and the arena. Under the renegotiated deal, which extends through the 2030 season, Vivint will retain the rights to its courtside suite, along with in-game promotions, advertising packages, and digital ads placed on the court during the team’s TV broadcasts.
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Evan Mobley, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, has been a catalyst in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ unexpected 9-7 start. The USC product is averaging 14.6 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 49.4% from the field. But has Mobley been the NBA’s biggest surprise so far? According to DELTA, yes. DELTA measures the difference in current DRIP (a players’ projected contribution to a team’s plus/minus per 100 possessions) from preseason projections. And the rookie big man easily leads the league with a plus-3.3 DELTA heading into Thursday’s action. He’s had the biggest impact on the defensive end, where he ranks fourth in the NBA with a plus-1.9 defensive DRIP.
All season long, the Bucks had been almost fanatical in adhering to the league’s draconian virus protocols. The franchise had not permitted such passengers to join players on the road during the first three rounds of the playoffs, as they hunkered down with a long-standing mantra: Stay locked in. The temptation of Milwaukee’s first NBA title in 50 years, however, opened the Delta floodgates. “Of course we’re bringing our families,” three people remember head coach Mike Budenholzer telling the team. “It’s the Finals!”
Mike Conley noticed a flock of geese in the distance, but didn’t think much of it. Delta flight 8944 took off from runway 35 on the east side of the airport. Just 10 minutes into the climb—before the comfort of cruising altitude: BANG, BANG, BANG. “What the f--- was that? What just hit the plane?” Georges Niang said to Joe Ingles, in the next seat. Turbulence doesn’t sound like that. Niang’s brain scrambled to make any sense of it. What sounded like that? His initial thought: a rocket.
Trevelin Queen: When I was in California, there were 15 of us from rougher areas in Detroit, Baltimore and Chicago. We were in a retirement home and it was so small that if I farted, the neighbors could hear it. We had two bedrooms and nine air mattresses. We all got kicked out. Three teammates and I – and I had just met these kids two or three weeks prior – moved to East Oakland in a 1982 Delta on Bancroff Avenue. We were all like 6-foot-2, 6-foot-4, 250 pounds. We had all our clothes in the backseat. You put us in there and the gasoline starts to leak and to get to our school was 45 minutes. And gas in California isn’t cheap. Every time gas started to leak, we had to pull over on the side of the road and fill it back up manually.
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Trevelin Queen: The first week, we were living in the Delta. My teammate didn’t know that he had some family in East Oakland. His mom told him to go there. We were living in the car three streets down from his mom. So us four went there and they already had like eight people living in there. We had to shower with slides on. No towels, nothing to eat. There were shootouts every day. I was living on an air mattress with a hole in it. But that gave me so much strength, too. I went through all that. This was before Cash App or Venmo, so I went to the Western Union to get money but I was damn near scared to walk by myself. It was so hard. I was always questioning myself, but I stayed positive.
And then you walk into State Farm Arena, the home court of the Atlanta Hawks and….. …by God, $10 is enough! A soda in a souvenir cup for $4 and all the refills you (or your sharing friends) would like. Then a $4 bottomless popcorn. A box of M&Ms (plain or peanut) cost $2 where in a movie theatre it would be $6. If you really do have $11, a bag of chips goes for $1. It’s not healthy food, but the Hawks are not your nanny. On a Wednesday night in late February, fans carried armloads of affordable eats through a concourse wide enough for a Delta jet. Nachos for $3. Pretzels for $2. Bottled water for $2. You can spend money if you want to ($13 can of beer), and crispy chicken BLT ($14), but you don’t have to.
A Thunder spokesperson said early Saturday that all players, staff and coaches were safe and en route to their hotel. The Oklahoman exchanged email correspondence with a Delta Airlines spokesperson Saturday morning, who replied that the Thunder's charter likely made contact with a bird upon decent: "Delta flight 8935, operating from Minneapolis to Chicago-Midway as a charter flight for the Oklahoma City Thunder, likely encountered a bird while on descent into Chicago. The aircraft, a Boeing 757-200, landed safely without incident; customers have since deplaned and maintenance teams are evaluating. Safety is Delta’s top priority."
Lamar Odom was taken off a Delta flight Monday night after getting wasted in the airport lounge and vomiting on the plane ... TMZ has learned. Lamar went to the Delta lounge at LAX before boarding a red-eye for NYC, and according to eyewitnesses was pounding down beers and whisky. By the time he got on the flight, we're told he was wasted.
