- The Utah Mammoth swapped Golden Knights jerseys for new Mammoth jerseys
- Nearly 1,000 fans lined up at SeatGeek Plaza in Salt Lake City
- Watch below for video of the huge jersey swap line at the Delta Center
The Mammoth threw the first punch before the puck even dropped.
Utah owner Ryan Smith offered any Vegas Golden Knights fan in Salt Lake City a free 2025-26 Mammoth home jersey in exchange for their VGK sweater. The line started forming early Friday morning.
By noon, hundreds were already wrapped around SeatGeek Plaza outside the Delta Center, with reports putting the final number close to a thousand by the time the game started.
Watch the scene below:
The rules were simple. Bring an official VGK jersey, get a blank Mammoth home. No knockoffs allowed. One per person, sizes while supplies lasted, and the swap did not include a ticket to that night’s first-ever Stanley Cup playoff game at the Delta Center.
Salt Lake City was Vegas territory before the Mammoth showed up in 2024. Tens of thousands of fans wore gold-and-black for years because there was no other option in the region. Smith is using the playoffs to flip that map for good.
This is the kind of move you can only pull as a new franchise hosting your first home playoff game. The Vegas tag is the easiest mark in the league for a Utah fan to walk away from right now, and Smith knew it.
The Golden Knights fan base did not love it. The takes online ranged from accusations that Smith bought VGK jerseys himself to stuff the bin, to grudging admissions that swapping out an old James Neal jersey for a free new sweater was actually a pretty good deal.
I’m with Smith here. The whole thing is petty in the best possible way, and Utah’s first home playoff atmosphere is going to be electric because of it.
The Mammoth are 1-1 in the series with home ice waiting and they needed a moment that made this feel like their building, not a borrowed one. They got it.
