Overview
About the Utah Jazz
Founded in 1974 and based in Salt Lake City, the Utah Jazz are one of the NBA's most established franchises, known for a fiercely loyal fan base, a storied playoff history, and a deep tie to the community. The team plays its home games at the Delta Center as part of Smith Entertainment Group, which operates alongside other professional sports teams and entertainment ventures under one umbrella.
Inside the organization, season ticket members aren't treated as a revenue line. They're treated as the foundation the franchise is built on, a relationship the team invests in year after year.
The Challenge
The Jazz already had a strong appreciation program in place. Season ticket members got swag, holiday surprises, and seasonal moments. Fans showed up, and the team showed up for them. The intent was right; the logistics were the problem.
"Fans and season ticket members are vital to what we do. We refer to them as the heartbeat and the blood of the Utah Jazz. Without them, it doesn't give us the foundation that we need."
Casey Glines, Director of Member Experience, Utah Jazz / SEG
Most giveaways meant reps physically stacking, packaging, and handing out gifts to 5,600+ season ticket members. Members had to pick items up at the arena — sometimes during a game, sometimes on a separate trip down to the Delta Center. Paper ticket booklets were torn out and tracked by hand. There was little visibility into who actually claimed what, and even less insight into whether the program was landing.
"Prior to Awardco, our process was clunky. Our reps were spending hundreds of hours stacking gifts, delivering them, packaging them."
Casey Glines, Director of Member Experience, Utah Jazz / SEG
For long-time members, the old experience was familiar but dated.
"Back in the day, you'd get this big booklet of paper tickets and you'd tear them out. Now, it's all automated and it's simple."
Dave Long, Season Ticket Member
The Jazz didn't need to start showing fans they cared. They needed a way to make that care easier to deliver, easier to track, and easier to scale for thousands of members across multiple membership tiers.
The Solution
Awardco gave the Jazz a single branded platform where every season ticket benefit (swag, gift cards, ticket points, and seasonal surprises) could live in one place and be redeemed in a few clicks.
A system that is easy for everyone to use
Members log into a custom Jazz-branded catalog and choose from a curated set of items they can't get anywhere else. The catalog is tiered: Gold members and courtside members see different point allocations and different access, all handled automatically by the platform instead of by spreadsheet. Awardco fulfills directly through its custom vendor network, so items ship straight to the member's door with tracking.
"Through Awardco, we've been able to create an offer where they can go on and pick from a variety of gifts. These gifts are exclusive. It's created just for them."
Casey Glines, Director of Member Experience, Utah Jazz / SEG
For members, the difference is mostly about how easy it is to actually use.
"It's definitely a lot easier because you don't have to carry your gift around with you at the whole game or take a special trip down there. You just order your award and then it comes in the mail."
Dave Long, Season Ticket Member
The same platform also runs internal employee recognition for Smith Entertainment Group and B2B recognition for Jazz business partners.
A catalog that members actually talk about
The exclusivity is part of what makes the program work. The Jazz didn't just digitize the old swag list. With Awardco, they built a catalog of gear members genuinely want and can't buy elsewhere. Sweatshirts, quarter zips, backpacks, bags, pickleball paddles. Items rotate throughout the season, with 3–4 major giveaways tied to season kickoff, holidays, and mid-season moments for both Jazz and hockey ticket holders.
"My favorite stuff are the pickleball paddles. It's nice because you don't have to pay for them — they're expensive."
Brayden Zambos, Season Ticket Member
The reaction in the wild is one of the clearest signs the program is working.
"People are so excited that it's something they can only get being a season ticket member."
Casey Glines, Director of Member Experience, Utah Jazz / SEG
"People always say, 'Oh, where'd you get that?' 'Oh, that's a season ticket gift.'"
Christopher Zambos, Season Ticket Member
The Results
A redemption rate that says fans actually want this
Before Awardco, redemption hovered around 50%. With the new platform, exclusive catalog, and direct-ship fulfillment, that number jumped to 70–75% — a 50% lift in how many members actually claim the perks the team is offering.
That climb matters more than the number itself. It means the gifts are landing, the experience is easy enough that members follow through, and the team's investment in appreciation is reaching the people it's meant for.
Hundreds of hours back in the hands of account reps
The reps who used to spend their season packing boxes and running gifts to the arena now spend that time on the relationships that drive renewals.
"Now that we've been using Awardco, they've been able to focus their [time] elsewhere."
Casey Glines, Director of Member Experience, Utah Jazz / SEG
This is the quiet operational shift behind the program. The same people are still the face of the season ticket experience, they're just no longer the warehouse for it.
A premium experience that lives up to the membership
Members notice the difference. The shipping is fast. The packaging is on-brand. The items are things they're proud to wear and use. For a fan base that has been showing up for decades, the experience now matches the loyalty.
"It came straight to my house, and it was just first class."
Dave Long, Season Ticket Member
A program that honors a long relationship
The Jazz fan base isn't a transactional audience. Members talk about season tickets the way other people talk about family traditions — first tickets in 1984, kids growing up at games, banners from the night Stockton broke the assists record, the Bogdanović game-winner against the Bucks.
"As a fan, I've got decades of incredible memories."
Dave Long, Season Ticket Member
A program built for those members has to live up to that history. Awardco doesn't supply the loyalty, the team and its fans built that over fifty years. What the platform does is make sure the team's appreciation is as consistent, as easy, and as worthy of the relationship as the fans themselves are.
And increasingly, that appreciation flows both ways. Using Awardco's External Recognition feature, the Jazz have placed QR codes throughout the Delta Center so fans can scan them mid-game and send shoutouts to the arena staff. This includes the ushers, the concessions crews, and the operations teams who show up for every game and every event but can often go unnoticed. Those recognitions go live on the arena video board, turning a thank-you into a moment the whole building can celebrate together. It's a small addition to the program, but it closes the loop: the team appreciates its fans, and the fans appreciate the people who make game night possible.
"We have a tremendous staff — a lot of employees that are here every single night for Jazz, Mammoth, everything else, working tirelessly to make sure the guests coming inside the arena have a great experience. They're what make game days great, and they don't get as much recognition as they deserve."
Steve Giles, Vice President of Xperience Management, Smith Entertainment Group
"At the end of the day, it's a positive experience for our members, and we want to have as many of those as possible. Having that Awardco platform and the Awardco offer gives us an opportunity to be able to do that."
Casey Glines, Director of Member Experience, Utah Jazz / SEG
Get a demo today to see how recognition can transform your own organization.
