There have been question marks about the Arizona Coyotes’ future in the state for years, but as of late, most thought the team’s long-term home would be in Tempe. Last night, however, voters emphatically denied plans for a new arena and entertainment district in the city to provide a home for the Coyotes, throwing the team’s geographical future into significant turmoil.
The team’s statement, released last night after the vote results were apparent, stopped short of offering any promise to keep the team in Arizona. It did say that the team’s future will be “evaluated by our owners and the National Hockey League over the coming weeks.”
In all likelihood, that means some form of relocation, given arena troubles in Arizona already have them playing in the under-5,000-seat capacity Mullett Arena at Arizona State University. If the team is to avoid moving out of the state, however, TSN’s Darren Dreger says that likely relies on involvement from the owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, Mat Ishbia.
Under previous ownership, any financial partnership between the Coyotes and Suns seemed unlikely. But after former owner Robert Sarver sold the team last year, spurred by his league suspension for racist and misogynistic behavior, it’s unclear what involvement Ishbia would be open to having in the Coyotes’ future.
As Dreger says, Ishbia purchasing the Coyotes from current majority owner Alex Meruelo and moving the team to the Suns’ downtown arena, the Footprint Center, is unlikely. The arena, Arizona’s original home after moving to Phoenix, included sightline issues so poor it was driving away fans (and later, guiding the team into bankruptcy) after less than 10 years in the city. The arena also underwent a second major renovation in the past few years, and it’s unlikely the City of Phoenix, which the Coyotes are currently suing, would financially support another renovation so soon.
One relocation option that Dreger speculates could work is Salt Lake City. The owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, Ryan Smith, has past expressed interest in bringing an NHL team to Utah, and it would keep the larger markets of Houston and Atlanta available for the NHL to collect expansion fees later on.
If this does happen, while there is no guarantee, it could be immediate. Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland says the league has not ruled out immediate relocation this offseason.
Salt Lake City has supported minor league hockey well. The Utah Grizzlies brand has existed there in some form since 1995, bouncing between the now-defunct IHL, AHL, and ECHL. In the 1996 IHL championship, the Grizzlies set a North American minor-pro attendance record with 17,381 fans. The game was played at the current home of the Jazz, Vivint Arena (then known as the Delta Center).
Dreger also says a last-ditch effort for the Coyotes to remain in Arizona could involve partnering with the Suns on a new building in downtown Phoenix. Again, considering the team’s pending multi-billion dollar suit against the city, it seems like an unlikely proposition.
Not surprised. This marriage has been leading to divorce for years now. Maybe getting them out of Arizona will help change the teams trajectory and lead the team to actually build a winner instead of this 10yr+ and going rebuilding plan that they’ve been on.
Quebec City please.
While fans will be upset about this ideally don’t see why the taxpayers would want to gift the team owners additional benefits to keep the team there. If the state wants to own the team that would be different, otherwise you’re just tilting the playing field ever further towards the wealthiest people.
Maybe make all small businesses tax exempt but instead of subsidizing one sports franchise.
Agreed! Funny how local pols are glad to gift billions in public money to existing billionaires but never seem to have that sort of motivation to help actual locals who might need the help.
Locals don’t generate revenue.
What’s your agenda? You must have one unless you simply get enjoyment by pandering misinformation just to get attention. The Coyotes $2.1 Billion Arena & Entertainment Center is privately funded by the Ownership Group. There’s no taxpayer money being spent in the project. The facts are that the owners have a clear vision for the Team’s future success & has already been demonstrated with their upcoming draft picks. The present ownership is a far cry from the old days…Anyone who thought that the Tempe project was the only eggs in their &2.1 Billion basket is foolish…And why Meruelo has made Billions in business & you haven’t…Comments to the contrary are simply opinions/wishful thinking/Agenda Driven or just plain lack of knowledge…. Syay tuned cause the Coyotes aren’t going anywhere….
Perhaps you need to educate yourself on the Arena situation. They have asked for 200M in cash and 500M in tax breaks.
Perhaps you should actually educate yourself about the actual net costs by the City/Tempe Taxpayers instead of spreading misinformation.
The NET costs actually are minimal, especially when compared to any similar project and agreement in Arizona.
The Coyotes would have paid for the land and the City would issue bonds for a capped amount of the remediation- BONS Repayment would be made via revenue & taxes generated by user fees & the Site & NOT by Tempe Taxpayers. The Agreement would have provided a deferral ONLY for Property Taxes on the land. When compared to the fact that there has never been property taxes collected to date on the CIty owned landfill, (or in fact none by The Diamondbacks & Suns facilities as well).
Perhaps you may be interested in learning what the facts of the Ageement at:
http://www.Tempe.Gov
This forum would not allow me a link to the specific Agreement documents.
I’m guessing your pref is to post inaccuracies and pader in your authoritarian fashion & promote yourself with a salacious & aggressive approach, in order to support your agenda…Just guessing….
So long Coyotes. We hardly knew the, and never really wanted the
No going to play for his home town now. Sorry, Auston. :(
Utah would be a decent relocation state. Shorter drive for the moving vans than Houston. ;)
Milwaukee would be my first choice if I were them. They already have an arena that can easily be converted for hockey( If it isn’t already) And a Wisconsin market thirsty for a team in a Hockey Stronghold. So what’s the hold up?
Need to drop the 100 mile rule. Which should have been gone long ago. Milwaukee would be a great place
Mikegna- I would think the Hawks would much rather travel to Milwaukee than AZ every year. The Hawks sell out their arena even when they stink. The tickets are sold even if the fans don’t go as much when they’re bad. The Hawks sold 2.5 million dollars in season tickets the minute they won the Bedard sweepstakes. I don’t envision a Milwaukee team stealing their fans and there are a lot of Hockey fans in Wisconsin to sell tickets to. The Coyotes can’t keep playing in that Mickey Mouse Arena for long and compete even in a 81 million dollar capped league. I don’t see a problem but the Wirtz’s are funny people sometimes. They shouldn’t have a problem with it but…….. Anyway there’s no problem money can’t solve. Besides, it already works in Baseball and Basketball so again, What’s the problem? Even the Nats and Orioles make it work.
what 100 mile rule?
Probably some ancient rule that’s never been addressed in Cro Magnon NHL. They just found out about something called the Intranet I bet.
They’ve tried to put teams there. Blackhawks own the territory and said No.
I would think that if Bettman and the other owners want a team there it wouldn’t matter in the end what the Hawks think. If the whole League backs it, It’ll get done. They just have to stick together. So Houston doesn’t invade Dallas’ turf? Cmon man, Make sense.
@UncleMike
Never been to Texas, have you? Milwaukee is MUCH closer to Chicago, than Houston is to Dallas. Like someone else pointed out, it’s the 100 Mile Rule. Milwaukee is only 93 miles from Chicago. C’mon Man, use logic, and get your facts straight.
3x the distance (Dal to Hou) of (Mil to Chi)
And way more likely to steal fans than Milwaukee will. Don’t know anything about the Midwest do you?
@Unclemike
You’re just making a fool of yourself, Mikey. Dallas and Houston are separated by 300 miles, and have rivalries in the NFL, MLB, NBA and NCAA. Neither area “steals fans” from the other. It’s a geographic rivalry that is intense. But hey, if thinking Texas teams “steal” fans from each other helps you rationalize your point, go for it. Everyone is entitled to be wrong. I never wrote anything about Milwaukee stealing fans, I just brought up the unwritten “100 Mile Rule”. I’m not saying it’s wise, or logical, just saying owners go by it. Right or wrong, owners in the NHL don’t want other teams infringing on their territory.
@Unclemike
The Nationals and Orioles have NOT coexisted peacefully, ever since the Expos moved to DC. The Orioles were the only MLB team to cast a dissenting vote against the move to DC, and even today, the two teams are STILL involved in litigation over TV rights fees.
Please research before you spout an ill-informed opinion again. I’m tired of having to correct you.
No it’s you that’s making a fool of himself. Milwaukee and Chicago have been rivals for years. Intense rivals going back to when the White Sox played the Brewers and the Packers played games in Milwaukee. We don’t root for them, They don’t root for us. And since I already explained it and you didn’t get it, Bucks-Bulls, Cubs-Brewers Duh the arrangement works just fine it’s already a proven model so when you’re through wipe yourself.
@Unclemike
I haven’t seen a bigger strawman since the last time I watched the Wizard of Oz. Look up strawman fallacy please.
I never denied there’s not a rivalry between Chicago and Milwaukee, or that teams in that area don’t co-exist. Please cut and paste where I wrote that. You however, erroneously stated that Texas teams steal fans from each other.
Now please try to comprehend, with your limited intellect, this fact: The Blackhawks don’t want a team in Milwaukee, and if there is one, they want compensated for it:
“As for whether Blackhawks management could have impacted the Milwaukee bid, Phil says it’s likely the Admirals’ owners would have been required to indemnify – or compensate – their Chicago rivals. But an official figure was never determined, because the Milwaukee bid never got far enough along.”
link to wuwm.com
And like I said doorknob, The cure for everything is money.Reading is a skill Texans don’t poseess. Along with intellect, Common sense, Civility and common decency. Just rememer D-Bag who started the name calling. Strawman, You’re a feeb. Is your nickname Short Bus? Does it take you 2 hours to watch 60 minutes? Your reasoning as to why Chicago- Milwaukee can’t co-exist and Dallas -Houston can is moronic at best.
@UncleMike you are the only one name calling and the basis of your arguement is based on opinion and not facts. Numerous times KRB has posted facts with links to support his side of the arguement and you retort with opinions. Nowhere has KRB stated your opinions are wrong, just that they are not factually possible.
The Blackhawks, an NHL original 6 team does not want another team within their broadcast rights zone so the NHL doesn’t accept bids in that territory. Plain and simple. A team in Milwaukee may be able to succeed and even thrive in the area despite Chicago’s influence in the area, but the league doesn’t want to upset the current owners in that market and refuse to look at putting another team in that region. It is also why they have refused to put a team in the Hamilton area. It is too close to Toronto and Buffalo.
it’s not original six. GB loves those teams. Did you notice who got the #1 pick this year?
Chicago isn’t an original 6 team? Gi e me some of what you’re smoking if it’ll make me that stupid.
I’m guessing if they move it will be to Houston.
Houston or Milwaukee. A Quebec move would require the Red Wings to be dragged kicking and screaming back to the West.
don’t think Gary isn’t seeing the lack of state tax team’s success this playoff. Houston has serious appeal to the league as it could have a team fighting for playoff contention in 2-3 years
Houston keeps them in the central.
They can move to Quebec and pack the building regardless. Why should other owners want a successful winner?
Moving them to Canada increases the other 24 American teams chances to hoist the Cup!
Atlanta had its chance – twice. Vive les Nordiques!
“… voters emphatically denied plans for a new arena and entertainment district…” – music to our eyes and ears, @Josh!
Just say NO! to taxpayer stadiums.
Versus all the other stadiums and arenas in the U.S.
@Stormintazz – None of them should be taxpayer stadiums.
The arena proposal called for a stadium built with fully private funding. The only thing residents would have to pay for was cleaning up a waste dump that will have to be paid for no matter what ends up going there. The owners also wanted tax breaks which any business would receive. This was just another example of people voting with local governments and not really looking at the facts. In 5 years when people are complaining about no jobs in the area and the same local officials are raising taxes to make up for lack of revenue then they will wonder why nobody wants to bring business to the area.
@denny816 – If jobs start disappearing, it won’t be due to the rejection of the arena. And if the people deem that to be due to malfeasance of the local officials, they’ll be yanked out and replaced.
The city of Tempe is doing quite well without a team being there. This isn’t a jobs issue for the people there.
It was a private funded project.It is frustrating hearing people parroting the mantra about “tax breaks for billionaires”(one of the reasons businesses are moving to AZ are tax breaks) and that “owner wanted too much money”. You can discard it as ignorance but makes you wonder how many people would change opinion if aggressive pro campaign was done.Ownership spent $250 thousand for pro campaign,opposition (funded by powerful unions) more than $2 mil.
Congratulations! You did it! You saved a nice landfill for future generations
If the Coyotes move their franchise you instantly lose all jobs associated with the team. That doesn’t include the revenue that they bring in for other businesses. Really bad move by the city of Tempe
@dswaim – You don’t necessarily lose all jobs associated with the team. A respectable owner would offer relocation options. The city could (temporarily) lose some revenue from those people if they move. The other revenue hole would be filled by locals not spending their money on bad hockey, but patronizing the other businesses.
Was Tempe struggling for jobs prior to the Coyotes moving into their 5000 seat home? Don’t think so.
@Gbear – And, because the Phoenix metro area is home to an ever-growing number of snowbirds from rust belt states that both vacation and eventually retire there, there will usually be jobs that are not dependent on a sports team.
Unfortunately they are. Except the one in Tempe. The owner was paying for it.
They love those landfills. They wanted to keep it and pay for the remediation.
Respect People of Tempe not falling for myth. The one where arenas/stadiums create jobs and wealth. They saw what happened to Glendale. If only people in Calgary/Edmonton understood this. If this was not one of gary expansion teams. They move today. The only way They end up in quebec city. Gary can not find an american city wanting to pay. That is only reason winnipeg got team. It was Winnipeg or fold team. Gary had no choice.
Houston makes the most sense:
Still in the West (no realignment needed)
Largest US Metropolitan area without an NHL team
Natural geographic rivalry with Dallas
Tons of potential corporate sponsorship
NHL capacity arena available
Diverse and wealthy population
Houston it will be. Book it.
It will NOT be Houston. Houston will get an expansion franchise so the owners get to extract a 1 billion $ (or more) expansion fee from that new owner. Why let AZ move there and forego all that money? Salt Lake it is.
Is the NHL really gonna expand again soon? That’s my question. Yeah I know, the owners are greedy as hell, and want those juicy expansion fees, but when you keep expanding, eventually you’ll wind up diluting the product. And you have to divide up the pie of TV rights, sponsorships, ad revenue and merchandise in ever smaller portions.
I don’t think the NHL would be smart to expand again. Better to relocate struggling teams to prime markets. But no one ever said the NHL was smart.
They’ve already diluted the talent pool. $$$ is all they care about
Thank god Bettman didn’t rig the lottery for this dumpster fire.
Might I humbly suggest Hamilton, Ontario? Honour Jim Balsillie’s wish. XD
GBear…..BINGO !!!! No more calls folks….We have a winner. The owners don’t give a fat rats snotball about anything other than $$$.
Nobody has said Portland yet so i’ll say it just to spark some conversation
Have you been in Portland recently?Why not Beirut?
God I hope they stay in Arizona! that fan base has suffered through that bull crap for so long now, and finally it seems like they might be getting their heads out their asses and they can’t get an arena and have to leave just absolutely sucks for his fans
I’m old school. I dislike locating NHL franchises in warm weather cities.
.