Salt Lake City skyline. (Source: Shutterstock)
Karl Malone, John Stockton and "Pistol Pete" Maravich – all are former players, all-stars and record-holders for the Utah Jazz. On Monday, America First Credit Union solidified itself on the impressive roster with the NBA team in a new and expanded multi-year partnership that joins the two organizations together.
The Riverdale, Utah-based America First ($15.8 billion in assets, 1.2 million members) said it has become the official credit union of the Utah Jazz.
"The Jazz are thrilled to be aligned exclusively with America First Credit Union due to its long-standing presence in our state, its sense of service to the community through countless charitable endeavors and its desire to help people achieve their dreams," Jazz President Jim Olson said. "These admirable qualities are what we jointly strive for in our organizations in hopes of making a difference in people's lives."
"We're elated to expand our involvement with the Jazz and provide value to our members and enhance our communities through this partnership," America First President/CEO Thayne Shaffer said. "We'll continue to invest in our community and organizations that support and assist those in our community to power forward on their financial journey."
According to America First, the credit union has been affiliated with the NBA team since 1985, and details of Monday's announcement include "an expanded relationship with the franchise, including digital and traditional branding at Vivint Arena, activations during Jazz games, affiliations with the NBA G League Salt Lake City Stars and other sporting events."
Although the credit union did not state the financial details of the new, multi-year deal with the Jazz, the deal does include a co-branded debit card, signage around the arena, credit union member benefits such as discounts on tickets, concessions, merchandise and special access to events.
The credit union and NBA team also stated they will work together on various outreach initiatives in communities throughout Utah. America First said it will continue as a presenting sponsor of Junior Jazz, the largest and longest-running youth basketball league in the NBA, featuring more than 60,000 participants as well as supporting the Jazz Youth Camps & Clinics program.
America First stated it will also team up with the Jazz to expand its Small Business Showcase with financial and marketing support.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
