The Utah Jazz And Fan Interaction

Courtesy Dave Horan

Some sports franchises connect better with fans than others. So where do the Utah Jazz stand in this increasingly critical category of business management?

Every year ESPN Mag ranks all the four major US sports franchises in a variety of categories in an effort to determine the best overall team. The sortable list allows you isolate teams by sport and category.

Last year’s overall winner was the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, while this year the San Antonio Spurs took home top honors. Both rank extremely high in fan relations, although in the case of the tight-lipped Spurs this is a little perplexing. But then again, when you’re winning titles everyone’s happy.

Like the Spurs, the Utah Jazz are notoriously tight-lipped about their business matters, but are willing to concede some inside information to specific mouthpieces that in turn relay these nuggets to fans. Speaking of Nuggets, Denver might be the only NBA team that refuses to credential a blogger, reflected in their extremely low fan relations ranking. We’re lucky to have colleagues at SaltCityHoops absolutely killing content for Jazz fans under Managing Editor Andy B. Larsen, whom you should be following on Twitter. Just trust me on this one. He’s goin’ places.

Last year the Jazz rang in at 62nd overall and 17th in the NBA in fan relations. They improved their standing this cycle, moving up to 55th overall and 12th in the NBA, the latter quite a leap within the league, although nothing really changed from the season previous to act as a catalyst, that I can recall. These rankings are, as if often the case, largely guesswork from folks not really near to the teams they’re ranking.

With that in mind, let’s explore the means Utah Jazz fans will have this season to interact with the team, it’s representatives and players.

Radio, Internet Interaction

No other broadcast host in sports does more to keep fans in the loop daily than the Radio Voice of the Utah Jazz, David Locke. You can tweet at him @Lockedonsports, but you’d better hurry, because starting October 1 he turns off his mentions off for the season (partially due to a few boneheads that have ruined it for everyone else).

Locke’s Tip Off video-podcast series at WeAreUtahJazz is unique in not only the NBA, but all of professional sports. He offers insights and reports about the Jazz available nowhere else, while also reserving space for fans in the form of a Q&A in nearly every episode. You can participate in the Q&A and watch Tip Off live by following Locke on Google+, and if you miss a show you can watch it at your convenience on his YouTube channel.

Locke gives great attention to detail in his play-by-play radio broadcasts, including a fun feature for fans that will be returning again this season, with an additional twist. Fans can phone in a question to a Utah Jazz player or Locke’s co-host, former Utah Stars basketball legend Ron Boone. If your question is answered on air during the broadcast you get tickets to an upcoming Jazz game, courtesy Locke.

The twist this year is, not only can you call in to get your question answered by a player or Boone, but fans can also call in to nominate a Jazz fan you know and tell Locke why they should be the Jazz Fan of the Game. The Locke hotline goes live with the 2014-15 NBA preseason: (801) 200-3738​. 

97.5 FM and 1280 The Zone AM will be carrying all the Utah Jazz games this year, including the preseason, with a staff that’s willing to interact with fans on an unprecedented level. There are a variety of ways, traditional and new, to be heard by this fine bunch and fellow fans along with them. Simply follow the link above to find out more.

TV Broadcast Interaction 

A little bird tells me the Utah Jazz broadcasts on ROOT Sports will be more interactive than ever before. Okay, it wasn’t really a little bird. It was producer Jeremy Brunner.

Pre, half and postgame hosts Alema Harrington and former Jazz player Thurl Bailey will return again this season to bring you analysis and fan interaction from their studio, located upstairs at EnergySolutions Arena, right on the concourse.

Alema and Thurl often take the time to chat with and take pictures with fans at games. If you’re extra nice Thurl might even sing you a song and Alema might let you kiss his hard-won 1984 BYU Championship ring. Alright, probably not, but still, fantastic, gracious fellows, the both of them. Fans can always send in questions and comments to @AlemaHarrington and @bigTbailey on Twitter.

Also returning for TV broadcasts to bring you play-by-play action on the floor will be the great Craig Bolerjack and former football Jazz player Matt Harpring, although Boler doesn’t tweet much since the latest flip phone came out.

Jazz fan favorite segments coming back this season include Where Are You Watching, where the crew will display your pictures submitted of you watching the game and where, and Ask Matt, a feature that can turn awkwardly hilarious in an instant.

The crew is always willing to interact with fans through @JazzGameNight, and not just on game nights, but year round, making this one of my personal favorite Jazz Twitter follows. Be sure to follow them and watch the season’s first broadcast on ROOT Sports, a preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers on October 7, to find out how to keep in touch and have your voice heard through all new means on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram this year.

The Utah Jazz

The Jazz communications crew is relatively solid when it comes to responding to fans, be it via their official Twitter, email or other means. Certainly, it would seem to be one of the less desirable careers in sports business, being very difficult dealing with upset fans at times for everything from a cable or dish outage to player contracts to losing streaks and more. Fans are passionate and Jazz fans can count themselves among the best when it comes to going to games and supporting their franchise, even in tough times.

Basketball Twitter frequently comes up with silly campaigns to occupy downtime in the offseason, and many can become quickly viral and hugely comedic. One such way to pass the time last summer was #NBAMovies, with the Jazz’s photoshopped offering “Home Malone” receiving nearly a thousand retweets and 645 favorites.

For many years now the Jazz have treated fans to a free scrimmage at EnergySolutions Arena after training camp (which is now), usually a couple-few days before the preseason starts. I’d expect the same this year, so sign up for alerts and apps from the team’s official NBA webpage and listen for  Jazz prez Randy Rigby’s afternoon appearance on 1280 The Zone, where the news usually breaks first. Fans nearly filled the entire lower bowl for the event in 2013.

A representative of the Utah Jazz wants you to know “The excitement and passion of Jazz fans are why they’re the best fans in the NBA. We love interacting with fans through social media and encourage them to contact us with questions, comments or ideas [this season].”

Jazz Beat Writers

We’re fortunate to have some of the most interactive beat writers here in Utah. Gumshoes like these are close to the team for months on end and privy to information fans used to be deprived of in the days of snail mail and delivering “the latest news” on bicycles or pedi-vans several hours after it actually happens.

Now we can get our news in real time, thanks to social media, conveyed almost instantaneously through modern outlets on the scene. Jody Genessy, Brad Rock, Tony Jones and Aaron Falk welcome your thoughts and your passion, responding with equal vigor much of the time, engaging and immersing fans in their favorite team year round.

They are also often willing to go on podcasts and do interviews for bloggers. Be sure to give these monsters of sports rock their due and give ’em a follow: @DJJazzyJody, @therockmonster, @Tjonessltrib, @tribjazz. If you don’t Jody might smite you with an infamous glare.

 Utah Jazz Players

Back in the day, if you wanted to chat with one of your favorite players, well, good luck with that. Now, most are readily available via social media, and none more used in the sports world than NBA fans and players on Twitter. “Basketball Twitter” is a real, and powerful, thing: close-knit, outspoken on social issues and always active.

At the time of this writing the NBA boasts 11,329,084 Twitter followers, with the NFL a distance second among professional sports at 7,422,533.

Of course, if you want to actually have interactions with a player, probably telling him “u suck! hope u choke on ur max contrack!” probably won’t get you far. But treated like the actual human being they are you’ll often be pleasantly surprised at the response you may receive. Don’t speak to a player in a way that would get you fired from your job by your boss. Had you dared utter it aloud, and not anonymously, obviously.

Once in a while a player may even follow you back and give you, personally, insight as to what happened during a specific play or situation. It’s exciting to have the ability to spend a few minutes BS’ing with a player as if they were your lifelong pal, and have them break down, just for you, how they broke a defense down for that spectacular finish.

Utah Jazz Players (including training camp invites) on Twitter:

Trevor Booker – @35_Fitz Fitz will retweet you if it’s a good one. This handle may change to #33, the jersey number Locke has said he’s leaning toward as a Jazzman

Dee Bost – @DB3BOST A father first, Dee is happy to be getting a shot at the bigtime with the Jazz

Trey Burke – @Burke_614 Trey will pop off to you once in a while, but you’ll generally have better luck with his mom and pop  (just outstanding, down to earth all-around folks). The Jazz starting PG gives fans a lot of great inside peek pics

Alec Burks – @AlecBurks10 Intensely focused, Alec will recognize his fans, even if he doesn’t tweet much. He sees you, Jazzland

Ian Clark – @IanClark A pretty laid back guy off the court, he’ll sometimes take a few minutes to chat if he’s not busy and it’s a topic he can dig

Jeremy Evans – @JeremyEvans40 The former Sprite Slam champ doesn’t respond to many fans individually, but he feels like the Jazz, including fans, are one big family to him. Evans is extremely active with local youth basketball programs, and proud of it!

Dante Exum – @daanteee This Jazz lottery pick is still freshly plucked from the international basketball tree and has been busy with the Australian National Team until recently. He is very well spoken and active on Twitter, so good chance he makes himself a social media fan fav in short order, once he settles into NBA life

Derrick Favors – @dfavors14 The promising young Jazz big has been notoriously shy, but breaking out of his shell. Devoted to family, team and Utah, you’ll have plenty of chances to chat with this fella for years to come. In the meantime, Derrick’s gal Shivolli is simply a delightful person who will respond to a kind word more often than not

Rudy Gobert – @rudygobert15 The new Utah Jazz leader in the clubhouse to get in hot water for Twitter by Jazz brass, Gobert has already had an exchange with the former heavyweight champion of Jazz Twitter,

Enes Kanter, deleted. Both were likely self-deleting the series of trash talk pics, but it was golden while it lasted

Gordon Hayward – @gordonhayward Hayward is a big enough personality that he has to speak in generalities, generally speaking. But he does read his mentions, and you should read his blog. If your commentary on Gordon is good enough his dad chimes into your DMs now and then too

Jordan Hamilton – @J_Goin_HAM

Rodney Hood – @rodneymhood Rodney is intelligently careful of Twitter with his new Jazz profile. If you want to find the dynamic NBA rookie your best bet may be asking for his NBA 2K15 handle

Joe Ingles – @Joeingles7 

Enes Kanter – @Enes_Kanter Famously neutered on social media by Jazz brass, the brash young Jazz big has taken to largely tweeting in Turkish, and sparingly, since. Still, if you keep a sharp eye out he’ll sneak one in still once in a while, even if it’s deleted quickly afterward. He’s another that does see what you what say to him, noting last season that his Twitter mentions inspired him on the court

Toure’ Murry – @toure_murry He’s as excited to have been invited to Utah as you’ve been to have him. Murry will retweet you and even send back a solid response to overtures concerning his fans in the 801, of which there are already quite a few

Steve Novak – @stevenovak16 Not an avid tweeter, but a solid one. If you want to get to him your best bet is to be a Marquette alum or a supporter of kids basketball camps.

Side Notes: This is the first time every player of the Utah Jazz, even including training camp invitees, is on Twitter. Also, as you browse and follow the fellas, note how many sport avis of original artwork created by the great Mizuho Nishio.

We have at our disposal more means than ever to interact with our favorite fans, teams and players. Used responsibly, these media tools can reward us in ways we could never have imagined.

H/T @downrightdave for the featured photo

Thanks to all the Utah Jazz reps and official voices that contributed to this article.