Smith Entertainment Group announces indoor music venue with Live Nation for downtown Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Smith Entertainment Group (SEG) CEO Ryan Smith hosted a press conference and announced a partnership with Live Nation Entertainment and the development of a new indoor music venue for downtown Salt Lake City.

The venue will have approximately 6,000 seats, and it is planned to host 200 events annually, with 100 of those being concerts. This will be Live Nation’s only purpose-built, large indoor venue in the Salt Lake City area.

Delta Center will continue to host concerts and other events for 12,000 to 19,000 attendees, and so the new venue will serve artists looking for a mid-size venue option. The new venue is expected to host concerts, conferences, and community and corporate events.

This announcement is reportedly the first of many major announcements for SEG’s plan for their development of the downtown Sports, Entertainment, Culture, and Convention Center District in Salt Lake City.

The venue will be located between Delta Center and the Salt Palace Convention Center, which SEG says will be the heart of the district. The exact location has yet to be finalized, and renderings of the new venue are still under development.

According to the press conference, demolition will begin in Q1 of 2027, and construction will begin after that. SEG and Live Nation said that they will coordinate closely with Salt Lake County during the process.

“Our goal has always been to bring enormous opportunities to downtown,” Ryan Smith is quoted in a press release. “Once the transformation of Delta Center was underway, partnering with Live Nation on what a world-class concert venue could look like in downtown became a top priority. Not only will it bring the best artists in the world to Utah, but it will also bring a million people downtown to experience Salt Lake City every year.”

Smith added that SEG and Live Nation are committing “considerable financial investment” in the development of the venue.

CEO of Live Nation Michael Rapino said, “SEG’s incredible vision for the downtown district aligns with our mission to expand access to live music. This venue will be a hub for unforgettable experiences, connecting fans with the artists they love.”

Smith Entertainment Group owns the Utah Jazz and Utah Mammoth, Delta Center, SEG Media, and The Shops at South Town, among other Utah ventures. Live Nation’s owns the MGM Music Hall at Boston’s Fenway Park, and they are currently developing Citizens at the Wylie in Pittsburgh, a downtown Indianapolis venue, and a new venue in downtown Atlanta’s Centennial Yards.