The day before the inaugural Zions Bank Beehive Classic was staged last December, the seats of Vivint Smart Home Arena were awash in royal blue.
The blue, unsold seats outnumbered the gray on the Ticketmaster chart, highlighting the marketing struggles of a college basketball debut that was more than 30 years in the making.
Saturday’s diagram looks much different. Whether the biggest driving force is the Utah-BYU matchup in the doubleheader’s rotation, lower ticket prices or simply greater awareness, the second annual event will be far more successful.
“Encouraging and exciting” is how arena president Jim Olson described his outlook for Saturday, when he’s projecting an atmosphere resembling “a full house” — although not quite a sellout of the 18,306-seat venue.