Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze is a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City , Utah and competes in the west division of the Arena Football League . Home games are played at the EnergySolutions Arena . History . The original Utah Blaze ( 2006 – 2008 ) . The Utah Blaze began play on January 28 , 2006 , as a member of the original Arena Football League , playing the San Jose SaberCats on the road . The team was coached by longtime Arizona Rattlers coach Danny White and played its home games at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City , home of the National Basketball Association ' s Utah Jazz . The team was owned by automobile businessmen John Garff , Robert Garff , and Brett Hopkins . In their first season , the Blaze had the highest average attendance in the Arena Football League , with 15 , 498 fans per game . They narrowly edged out Philadelphia ' s 15 , 463 . Prior to the 2006 season , the Blaze had said EnergySolutions Arena held 13 , 000 fans due to poor sight lines in most of the building . After 16 , 705 people attended the home opener , that figure was changed to near 15 , 000 . The Blaze topped that figure 5 of the 8 games their first season . The offense was led by quarterback Joe Germaine and star wide receiver Siaha Burley . On Saturday , February 11 , 2006 , the Blaze lost to the New York Dragons 84 - 81 in the second highest scoring game in the history of the Arena Football League . The Blaze ' s performance was also the second highest score for a losing team in the AFL ' s 20 - year history . Despite a losing record of 7 - 9 , the Blaze got into the playoffs as an AC Wildcard ( the conference ' s # 6 seed ) . Unfortunately , the newly formed Blaze were given the boot as they lost to the Arizona Rattlers with a final score of 57 - 34 . The team ' s mascot is a dalmatian named " Chief " . The Blaze were winners of the league " Commissioners Award " in 2006 and won the " Support Staff of the Year Award " in back - to - back seasons ( 2006 – 2007 ) , an award that goes to the league ' s best training and equipment staff , which was headed by Hagen Featherstone and Kevin Seamans in the inaugural season and Kevin Seamans and Darin Featherstone in 2007 . During the 2008 season the Blaze became the first , and only , professional football team to record three 1 , 500 yard receivers in the same season , with Huey Whittaker , J . J . McKelvey , and Aaron Boone . This also marks the first time three players each caught 120 or more passes in the same season . Upon the original AFL ' s suspension of operations , the Blaze did so for the same time period . Although the original owner held out hope for that league to return in 2011 , such hope never materialized . Modern Utah Blaze . The current Utah Blaze organization was originally the Utah Valley Thunder , a member of the American Indoor Football Association during the 2009 season . During their lone season in the AIFA , they were based in Orem , Utah , and played their home games at the McKay Events Center . They finished at a respectable 11 - 3 , finishing second in the Western Division and qualifying for a playoff berth before losing to the Wyoming Cavalry in the Western Divisional playoff . On September 28 , 2009 , the Thunder announced their intention to join Arena Football 1 for the 2010 season and beyond , also announcing relocation to the E Center in West Valley City . Over two months later , on December 8 , AF1 was awarded the original AFL ' s assets after they submitted the highest bid in a bankruptcy court auction . Current AF1 teams were given the right to adopt the former AFL teams ' identities , but initially , Utah chose to brand as the " Utah Thunder . " The Blaze ' s previous owner attempted to claim the Blaze logo as his own , but was unsuccessful in doing so . Finally , on January 26 , 2010 , the team announced it would indeed be using the Blaze name and logo . Less than a month later , the AF1 announced it was going back to the former Arena Football League moniker . On January 25 , 2011 , the team announced in a press release that they would be moving back to the EnergySolutions Arena .