SALT LAKE CITY – There’s no doubt Jazz fans weren’t happy with some of the Warriors players who called Salt Lake City boring.
Now, they can express their frustration by sporting a new T-shirt.
A single statement by Golden State Warriors player Matt Barnes hit a nerve with Jazz fans. He told ESPN the team would rather play the Clippers instead of the Jazz in the second round of the NBA playoffs because there’s no nightlife in Utah, compared to Los Angeles.
During Game 1 Tuesday night against the Warriors, Jazz President Steve Starks took to Twitter. He showed fans a new T-shirt bearing a #nightlife hashtag – a direct jab to their opponents.
Britten Maughan, the vice president of buying and marketing at Fanzz, explained the shirt.
“We don't have thin skin," he said. "We're proud of where we're from. We're proud of our team. We worked with Steve Starks, with the Jazz, and Ben Barnes to come up with a graphic that they thought would represent the Jazz brand well and still resonate with fans.”
Online pre-sales for the $10 T-shirt began Wednesday afternoon on fanzz.com and UtahJazzStore.com.
Fans can buy them at Fanzz stores and Vivint Smart Home Arena on Friday, in plenty of time to don them on Saturday for Game 3 at home.
It’s another piece of merchandise fans can snag as the Jazz inch closer to the Western Conference Finals.
“We're really excited to get those in,” said Marcus Burrup, Fanzz regional manager.
Burrup says business has been booming at all their locations, including Valley Fair Mall.
“We haven’t seen anything like this since D-Will first came to the Jazz," Burrup said.
Jerseys are the top sellers.
“We’ve really had a lot of people asking for Gobert and Hayward," Burrup said. "But Ingles is getting some attention, Hill and Hood even after last night’s game. We’ve got some phone calls today asking about Hood as well."
They anticipate the #nightlife T-shirts to be a big hit as well.
“It’s been exceptional," Burrup said. "We can tell the community is getting behind it.”
For every nightlife T-shirt sold, $1 is donated to the Jazz’s Five for the Fight charity, which supports cancer research.
