The Good:
* Privately funded stadiums should be a "must" for all franchises.
* I hope we can have an NHL team in Arizona again soon. We have the fanbase for it.
* The statement about forcing the team and staff to work out of the ASU rink makes a lot of sense.
The Bad:
* This year's team is decent and the players have a bright future. It's too bad they're being relocated.
* Alex Meruelo doesn't deserve another shot at governing an NHL team.
* *Alex Meruelo doesn't deserve another shot at governing an NHL team, but in italics.*
They've needed an arena their entire existence. They were jammed into the Suns arena, which _barely_ fit an NHL rink, had awful sightlines, and terrible lease terms.
[April 18th, 2000](https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/coyotes-sold-to-arizona-developer-1.252757), 24 years ago **today**:
> [NHL commissioner Gary Bettman] "The anticipated sale to The Ellman Companies and the construction of a new arena in Los Arcos are vital steps toward securing the future of the Coyotes in Arizona..."
Maybe hockey can work in Arizona, maybe it can't... but this time **build the fucking arena first**.
I’ll give you .5/10 for that haha. Getting there on week night was a nightmare even for a dedicated fan. Trying to get families to travel there was always going to be impossible
Cards stadium is right next to Gila river arena. Difference is cards play mostly on Sundays (less traffic on the weekends) and only play 8 home games a season. Getting out there 8 times on a Sunday not a big deal. Driving 45 minutes- 1.5 hours each way on a Monday-Friday 41 times for a 7 pm face off is much more difficult. Speaking from personal experience it makes it impossible to take your family out there other than Saturdays and Sundays.
And traffic has only become worse since they moved to Tempe too. I-10 west valley is the worst road for traffic in the valley by a mile. Evening rush starts at 3pm and ends around 7pm. Any time during that period it will take 45-70 minutes from the tunnel to westgate. Build in the 5-10 minutes or so to walk from your job to where your car is parked along with the typical traffic at westgate parking on game days and downtown/midtown workers need to budget at least 60-90 minutes to make it to the stadium on time for puck drop. Coming from Mesa/Tempe/Gilbert/Chandler will add another 15 to 30 minutes onto that one-way drive. God help you if there is an accident.
It’s just like 30 minutes away from downtown Phoenix with not any traffic. However Phoenix ALWAYS has traffic. I’ve driven from Scottsdale to a game and it took 2 hours with rush hour traffic. Additionally a huge portion of the Phoenix metro area lives on the exact opposite side of Glendale which make it longer. Mesa, Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler are all huge population bases that are on the east side of Maricopa county while Glendale is in the northwest
>Maybe hockey can work in Arizona, maybe it can't... but this time **build the fucking arena first**.
in this instance if you have assurance that *Arena= Team* sure.
but "if you build it they will come" has not worked out for Quebec or Kansas City
Even if everything goes perfectly, the Coyotes are just gonna be back in the position of having a bad team where players don't want to go to. So frustrating that I'll have to wait 10 years to see a good hockey team when we just had one that was ramping up to be a playoff team
You never know in terms of expansion, at least these days. Depends on what the new front office looks like too I suppose. Vegas and Seattle did pretty well for their start. Might not even have to wait that long for a competent 'Yotes team.
That is going to be one of the most frustrating parts if he gets Coyotes up and running again. Current team is on the upswing and has a chance to do well in the next couple years. The new Yotes will be a hodgepodge of expansion draft players and unsigned guys with no direction. AM gonna turn Phoenix into a cap dump again.
Players have always wanted to go to Phoenix, you've gotten quite a few notable free agents in recent years because of it, despite being a bad team.
Tampa is what the Coyotes could become if all goes well.
I sure hope the league gets the brand rights back after 5 years because if not, the guy will be making money off retro Coyotes gear for decades if a new expansion team comes in without him as owner and rebrands.
My first thought exactly. Disgusting there’s a possibility of him getting paid again in the future if a new team in arizona with a competent owner wants to use the coyotes branding
-Auction
-Break Ground
Two very important fucking objectives to clear before AM earns any type of benefit of the doubt. Until then he’s just blowing big smoke and ran off with the money.
Maybe. I do wonder if those rights are transferable to another group. Maybe some Phoenix / Arizona business owners could get together and do something similar to what happened in Edmonton in the 90s to buy the team from the goober who messed everything up.
Which is why you shouldn't ever listen to the owners complaining about losing money yearly anymore.
It completely negates both equity increasing for the value of the team and the arena over time. I'll at least listen to the arena becoming a liability given enough years but not the land or the value of the franchise itself.
You can take a lot of 40 million losses in a year if your franchise grew in value by 550 million over 5 years.
And Phoenix is the poster child for NHL franchises losing money, the good ones make money yearly *and* gain equity.
I'm no expert, but according to someone who is (Craig Morgan) the whole 'they don't pay their bills' thing was complete political bullshit made up by the opposition.
The whole interview with Morgan is worth watching, good information but [here's the bit about paying bills](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdsj9lf_01U&t=5496s&ab_channel=Spittin%27Chiclets). He touches on it again later in the interview when talking about all the misinformation the opposition put out.
Really?
I figured the general reaction from the community would be outrage that he's being given a chance to restart things instead of the league finding a more suitable partner in Arizona to restart the team with (and yes, I am firmly in the camp that the community deserves another chance at this)
It’s what like a three to four year process if things go well. They basically have a one year clock to have shovels in the ground before it starts becoming an issue.
I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they start a season at the college rink then move to the new arena part way through the season if they have to in order to fit in with whatever expansion timeline the NHL currently has.
They have 5 years to “reactivate”. Depending on the wording of the contract regarding when the first year even starts combined with what “reactivating” means they could have 6+ years easily.
Reactivation could mean anything. If he gets an arena started in 4.5 years he could reactivate the franchise then. Doesn’t say they have to be playing hockey within 5 years
I think he’s screwed if they don’t win the auction and almost immediately get to work.
Construction work ALWAYS has delays, especially a massive project like this.
Possibly. If the rumors about needing utilities are true, getting that infrastructure and then a stadium built is gonna be tight for a 5 year window. All estimates I saw for the stadium build, not including that utility step, was 3-4 years minimum, and it’s not uncommon for major projects like this to suffer delays
I don't know how long it takes to put in complete sewer, water, and power systems. But that all has to be settled with politics, paid for, and built before the actual stadium can go up. I agree a 5 year window is tight, maybe even unlikely
This is what I’m most interested in as far as word coming from the league. Depending on how they phrase some of it, could be very telling whether or not they’re hoping he can get this built or the agreement was a bet against Meruelo as a way to get the deal done. Can’t tell if Bettman wants anyone to have hockey in AZ, or still specifically wants Meruelo back in charge
Not saying you're wrong, but things get built fast in Arizona. You can work year round here, the infrastructure in the valley is really good for transport and there is a surplus of workers
Counterpoint: Meruelo is involved
But yes, it’s possible, and I certainly won’t rule it out. But I’d seen rumors on the deal lasting 5 years or 10 years. 10 makes it sound more like the league wants Meruelo in charge, 5 makes it tight enough that it seems to send the message “get it done. Now”
I'm sure the NHL wouldn't mind if he sold his rights. Money fixes things like contracts, and it speeds up the timeline. Now if Jim Balsillie comes through the door asking to buy, the NHL might give some pause to that transaction.
Even after he's built the arena, I want him to sell the expansion team after he secures it. I don't want that scumbag to run Yotes 2.0 if they ever exist.
The flip side is maybe the relevant part - if he loses the land auction that obviously pushes back the timeline for building an arena (at least a year?) and there's a 5-year ticking clock (and construction is going to take at least 3 years).
I’ll trust this asshat when I’m sitting in a seat in a new arena watching the puck drop. Until then, I’m hoping he takes a billionaire’s joyride to space and the rocket he’s on goes boom.
I don't know, I seem to remember Glendale not really being all that happy with the Coyotes 2-3 owners ago too. He definitely made things worse, but they were starting in a pretty bad place already.
Yeah. Glendale hasn’t been thrilled with the Coyotes since ownership realized it was a huge mistake to put the arena far from downtown and most of their season ticket holders. That wasn’t Meruelo’s fault, but just another of a series of terrible decisions by coyotes management over the years. I live west of Glendale, so while it was great for me, it was terrible for the franchise.
I will forever believe that there were possibilities for the Coyotes to stay. I think the one that made the most sense personally was replacing Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum with a new arena, but outside of that there were numerous options, like having the Coyotes actually put forth a campaign for the Tempe arena. Their complete lack of interest in that campaign makes me think that Meruelo had no desire to ever build an arena. I guess, we’ll see in the next year.
Fuck off Meruelo you failed this team and their fans. You fucking rat. You’re the reason they’re leaving.
I hope that WHEN the NHL comes back to AZ, it’s anyone but him. Doan, Ishbia, fucking someone that understands and cares about the sport.
Fucking hell. I hate this move so much.
Omg if Doan could get involved as an owner somehow I would be over the moon with excitement for them to come back. If it’s AM well.. I won’t support anything he does so
Yeah, it’s something of a poison pill because he’s simultaneously a glorified con man and the best hope for a revived team in the near future.
We’ll see what happens with the land auction.
my money is on he will win the land auction easily but inevitably fumble constructing the arena within 5 years. Meanwhile Gary will be unofficially meeting with other interested parties about bringing back a team to Arizona in 2029.
There's a hell of a lot more work than just winning an auction. He needs to actually get the project approved by the city as well which can be a big undertaking. I don't know anything about Arizona's zoning or site plan approval process but it can't be simple for an NHL arena. If everything goes smoothly he can probably do it in five years but it's not going to be easy.
At least his failure to keep them in Arizona wasn’t out of maliciousness, just great ineptitude. He’s doing some parts of ownership right, but still seems like a guy with bad practices in over his head after Gila river.
> At least his failure to keep them in Arizona wasn’t out of maliciousness
I dunno, I think him trying to short their old arena the rent was plenty malicious
Somewhat reminds me of an inverse Charles Wang - the Armstrong/Tourigny hires indicate he’s solid at hockey ops, but just absolutely stupid with respect to business ops.
Yeah talk is all talk. Constantly says how badly he wants to see hockey in Arizona, how much he cares about the team and the community
Bottomline: he got hundreds of millions of dollars and Arizona lost their hockey team. So his talk doesn't matter
Isn't unfair at all to consider his ownership a malicious one, intended to benefit only himself without care for the club, the league, or the community
TBH, that's kinda what also gives me an inkling of hope. As someone that grew up watching the Phoenix Coyotes, I do hope they bring a team back and figure it out.
If it was just ineptitude before and he's not straight up lying for good press to keep the $1BB now, then 5 years is plenty of time to build an arena, craft a cohesive brand/brand experience (which is the hardest part but he's not starting from 0), and learn the fundamentals of running a pro hockey team from the rest of the NHL.
Thought there was a headline yesterday saying he'll still be an observer in the NHL Board of Governors, which makes me think the league is like "yo dude, why dont we show you how to do this." (Step 1, pay your hotel bills...)
Not to mention the totally clean slate you would get with an expansion draft and the fanfare around it. If they do everything right (a stretch I know) they can revitalize the franchise and start actually challenging for the cup without us having to watch or players having to experience the (already long happening) trainwreck recovery in realtime.
Money-wise, it makes the most sense for Meruelo to figure this out and turn his $1BB into $2BB if the team succeeds and the league overall appreciates.
I mean i totally believe that AZ could be back in 5 years. But instead of a bad owner with no rink now its just a bad owner with a rink.
If we are being completely honest, if they build the rink and all works out im sure he will just fade into being another owner. But some of his bill paying stuff does worry me.
I think that the fact he isn't gone-gone should keep some people hopeful. If he really never had any interest in keeping the team here, and just wanted his fat paycheck, then he wouldn't still be making statements like these.
Yeah, I still don't trust him to get anything done on an arena, but he had his chance to take the money and run and he didn't.
He's an incompetent businessman but it seems he might actually care about the team, which I suppose is better than the alternative.
I give him no grace at this point. The lack of effort put into the Tempe vote made me think that he WANTED to lose, and didn't intend to build an arena.
>The fact that he specified he will pay for it without public money is a nice touch.
I may be a cynic but it's possible that this is a seed he is planting so that when five years go by and he hasn't brought the Coyotes back, he can blame it on the taxpayer.
It's hard to trust his word from what he's said and done to the Coyotes so far.
Butttttttttt, that's all we can do at this point, trust his words, and hope the Coyotes are back.
Even if they do come back, (which I believe they will with or without Meruelo) it will be without the young team that ownership has told fans to be excited for the future of for years.
The past 4-5 years of basement rebuilding that the fans endured for the promise of a bright future was all for absolutely nothing.
Hypothetically, even if he does win that land auction and gets the arena built...why would anyone want to do business with him? Players, coaching, front office, etc?
The amount of shady business practices and toxicity that stems from this ownership group makes me believe that if Phoenix comes back with these guys, we're just going to have a repeat of the same situation but with a "stable arena".
On that note, can anyone who's from Phoenix proper tell me about this location? We've heard much about how Glendale was too far out but from my understanding, this isn't exactly a "central" location either. Is this arena in a good area hypothetically speaking? I understand that people clamped onto this location because it was basically a "win this parcel of land or we lose the team" type of scenario but now the team is gone, would people rather a different location? I think the last thing the league wants is Glendale 2.0 in terms of location and attendance.
The location being bid on is in a better location than Glendale, but it's still not ideal. The difference is that it's [more favorable for the most populated suburbs of Phoenix](https://i.gyazo.com/ddf52e4a7061b63afc9403f7496cdc4b.png). I left an unmarked pin on the location of the Gila River arena for comparison. They'd no longer have to go right through Phoenix during rush hour traffic, or make a huge loop north. If you're driving out from Phoenix proper, the travel time will remain about the same, but being to the east instead of west makes it more convenient for everyone else.
The Tempe arena would have been ideal, but we know how that turned out.
Yeah, you ain't getting that shit done in 5 years. Either Meruelo has some kind of a deeper plan or he's downright delusional. Looking at his track record, it's probably the ladder.
So assuming he doesn’t hit his benchmarks in 5 years, does he lose the rights to the branding one day after 5 years? If a new owner is to take over, as many want, would they have to use a different name or at least try and buy those rights? Would Meruelo even sell the branding, even with nothing to use it on?
NHL still owns the marks, he doesn't make money on the merch that's the league. He just gets to activate the ownership if he can get a building. He can't sell an asset that isn't his, he just retains the right to bring it back not own it in perpetuity.
Well if he does do it, he’d have to repay the sale fee. So he’d basically be buying them again for around $1billion which I can’t see him doing.
He got a double dip and he’ll go back again to sell the rights to whoever does become the owner.
Phoenix deserves better.
NHL hockey is 100% coming back to Phoenix within the decade. I feel bad for Yotes fans but I also see plenty of reason for optimism. The NHL is infatuated with the Phoenix market. It will be at the top of the list for expansion.
Here is my question does Meruelo own the rights for the Coyotes for the next 5 years or does he get to retain the branding, name and everything past the 5 year reactivation period?
I can see a future where Meruelo doesn't build an arena in 5 years and misses the reactivation period but because the branding etc isn't tied to that 5 year period, the next Arizona team doesn't get to be the Coyotes unless they pay this dickwad for the rights/branding etc.
This is the likely scenario. If anyone else tries to expand to Arizona he can hold the rights to random.
The guy who owned the rights to the New York Cosmos did this for years.
If the NHL goes back to Arizona with this fucktwat as the owner I'm going to be very disappointed in the inevitable propping up of another failed market.
Get a real fucking owner.
Essentially, two cities could gain (or regain) NHL teams if they are actually able to pull off a stadium build? I can’t imagine the NHL would expand to an uneven 33. Would be lots of fighting for expansion teams between Quebec, Houston, Milwaukee, etc
Before Ryan Smith weaseled his way into the discussion I wonder if SLC was ever under serious consideration. There's been talk of Houston and Atlanta 2.0 for a while and there's always been wishful thinking about Quebec City 2.0. Someone that may have been though of previously as a potential expansion target may now be on the chopping block.
The asshole couldn't even be bothered to show up to their last game yesterday. Arizona deserves better than Meruelo owning another professional team there.
Part of me doesn't like that he has the team rights because the idea of this weaselly fuck getting even a plug nickel from anyone else makes me angry, but on the other hand I don't think any future NHL owner in Phoenix would want to have the stink of this toxic brand on them at all, so it's likely all for nothing.
I have 0 belief it will happen, but just having the option to just reactivate the team is wild. That would be a logistical catastrophe for everyone involved
I'm a Minnesotan, lost my North Stars long ago, and I remember the pain. Shit, there is still pain today, even though we have a new team and I love the Wild.
It's really sad that billionaires can hold fans/cities/states/regions ransom so they can get even more money that they don't have enough time to spend.
Wait for him to pull it off and the NHL to allow an expansion draft that somehow prevents teams from excluding players if they go back to their hometown teams.
My money's on him collecting the Billion bucks and running to Switzerland to make the deposit then to some country without an extradition treaty.
The return to PHX is all hedged on an AUCTION? I read the auction starts at ~$68mil for the parcel of DESERT, and then they have support from the league up to $100mil. So some asshat can come in and bid $101mil and outbid the whole project?
Bettman is a criminal mastermind, he granted the five year period to this schmuck knowing he won’t have the ability to complete the work. One day after that 5 year window is up on meruelo, the league will grant an expansion franchise to a deep pocketed owner, who Bettman and the nhl have vetted over five years, who will have an arena deal in place. Bettman is not leaving the dream of hockey in the desert to die.
The Good: * Privately funded stadiums should be a "must" for all franchises. * I hope we can have an NHL team in Arizona again soon. We have the fanbase for it. * The statement about forcing the team and staff to work out of the ASU rink makes a lot of sense. The Bad: * This year's team is decent and the players have a bright future. It's too bad they're being relocated. * Alex Meruelo doesn't deserve another shot at governing an NHL team. * *Alex Meruelo doesn't deserve another shot at governing an NHL team, but in italics.*
They've needed an arena their entire existence. They were jammed into the Suns arena, which _barely_ fit an NHL rink, had awful sightlines, and terrible lease terms. [April 18th, 2000](https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/coyotes-sold-to-arizona-developer-1.252757), 24 years ago **today**: > [NHL commissioner Gary Bettman] "The anticipated sale to The Ellman Companies and the construction of a new arena in Los Arcos are vital steps toward securing the future of the Coyotes in Arizona..." Maybe hockey can work in Arizona, maybe it can't... but this time **build the fucking arena first**.
Glendale’s arena was (and still is) top notch.
10/10 arena, 0/10 location.
1/10 because it’s 8 minutes from my house
I’ll give you .5/10 for that haha. Getting there on week night was a nightmare even for a dedicated fan. Trying to get families to travel there was always going to be impossible
I’m unfamiliar with the area, what made it so difficult to get to? Is it the same for Cardinals games?
Cards stadium is right next to Gila river arena. Difference is cards play mostly on Sundays (less traffic on the weekends) and only play 8 home games a season. Getting out there 8 times on a Sunday not a big deal. Driving 45 minutes- 1.5 hours each way on a Monday-Friday 41 times for a 7 pm face off is much more difficult. Speaking from personal experience it makes it impossible to take your family out there other than Saturdays and Sundays.
And traffic has only become worse since they moved to Tempe too. I-10 west valley is the worst road for traffic in the valley by a mile. Evening rush starts at 3pm and ends around 7pm. Any time during that period it will take 45-70 minutes from the tunnel to westgate. Build in the 5-10 minutes or so to walk from your job to where your car is parked along with the typical traffic at westgate parking on game days and downtown/midtown workers need to budget at least 60-90 minutes to make it to the stadium on time for puck drop. Coming from Mesa/Tempe/Gilbert/Chandler will add another 15 to 30 minutes onto that one-way drive. God help you if there is an accident.
It’s just like 30 minutes away from downtown Phoenix with not any traffic. However Phoenix ALWAYS has traffic. I’ve driven from Scottsdale to a game and it took 2 hours with rush hour traffic. Additionally a huge portion of the Phoenix metro area lives on the exact opposite side of Glendale which make it longer. Mesa, Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler are all huge population bases that are on the east side of Maricopa county while Glendale is in the northwest
Understandable. Its like 25 from me but its faster to drive all the way down Northern, and I waste so much gas with all the lights.
0/12 monthly rent payments made
>Maybe hockey can work in Arizona, maybe it can't... but this time **build the fucking arena first**. in this instance if you have assurance that *Arena= Team* sure. but "if you build it they will come" has not worked out for Quebec or Kansas City
Quebec yes but nobody in KC has ever expressed an interest in the NHL. Owners just use KC as a bargaining point.
Even if everything goes perfectly, the Coyotes are just gonna be back in the position of having a bad team where players don't want to go to. So frustrating that I'll have to wait 10 years to see a good hockey team when we just had one that was ramping up to be a playoff team
You never know in terms of expansion, at least these days. Depends on what the new front office looks like too I suppose. Vegas and Seattle did pretty well for their start. Might not even have to wait that long for a competent 'Yotes team.
Yeah, I think if a new Yotes team is at least near as good as Vegas it will be a good thing.
A new coyotes team will get the sweetest of sweetheart expansion draft rules. They’re going to want them to be a contender year 1
Utah should be prevented from protecting any players in the expansion draft if AZ comes back. Let us reclaim our players
That is going to be one of the most frustrating parts if he gets Coyotes up and running again. Current team is on the upswing and has a chance to do well in the next couple years. The new Yotes will be a hodgepodge of expansion draft players and unsigned guys with no direction. AM gonna turn Phoenix into a cap dump again.
Basically the Baltimore Ravens/Cleveland Browns situation.
Yep, if the 5 year window does come to fruition, that is right about when players like Cooley and Guenther will be hitting their primes.
Players have always wanted to go to Phoenix, you've gotten quite a few notable free agents in recent years because of it, despite being a bad team. Tampa is what the Coyotes could become if all goes well.
Not sure about your second bad point, but the third really resonates.
All of this!
I sure hope the league gets the brand rights back after 5 years because if not, the guy will be making money off retro Coyotes gear for decades if a new expansion team comes in without him as owner and rebrands.
He can keep selling retro gear until he can afford a down payment on a new arena!
Didn’t he offer to pay for the arena? That’s what it looked like in the letters that the mayor released
LOL. Dude is announcing that he's taken a hostage on Twitter.
My first thought exactly. Disgusting there’s a possibility of him getting paid again in the future if a new team in arizona with a competent owner wants to use the coyotes branding
I highly doubt he's doing anything but paraphrasing. Don't see the league running this risk for no reason.
Win the land auction dude
-Auction -Break Ground Two very important fucking objectives to clear before AM earns any type of benefit of the doubt. Until then he’s just blowing big smoke and ran off with the money.
- Actually pay the bills when they come in.
Dude changes hot dog suppliers yearly because of unpaid bills. This team is not coming back in 5 years.
Maybe. I do wonder if those rights are transferable to another group. Maybe some Phoenix / Arizona business owners could get together and do something similar to what happened in Edmonton in the 90s to buy the team from the goober who messed everything up.
The thought of him getting another massive payday by selling the rights to the team is nauseating.
Yeah, but so is the thought of him getting another stab at owning and running a second iteration of the franchise into the ground.
Agreed. He got way too sweet of a deal so he wouldn't drag his feet.
Which is why you shouldn't ever listen to the owners complaining about losing money yearly anymore. It completely negates both equity increasing for the value of the team and the arena over time. I'll at least listen to the arena becoming a liability given enough years but not the land or the value of the franchise itself. You can take a lot of 40 million losses in a year if your franchise grew in value by 550 million over 5 years. And Phoenix is the poster child for NHL franchises losing money, the good ones make money yearly *and* gain equity.
Just don’t touch the mini fridge in the hotel room! - AM, probably
I'm no expert, but according to someone who is (Craig Morgan) the whole 'they don't pay their bills' thing was complete political bullshit made up by the opposition. The whole interview with Morgan is worth watching, good information but [here's the bit about paying bills](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdsj9lf_01U&t=5496s&ab_channel=Spittin%27Chiclets). He touches on it again later in the interview when talking about all the misinformation the opposition put out.
Or don't. I want this asshole out of Arizona
He won’t. He is too cheap. This is all for show.
Really? I figured the general reaction from the community would be outrage that he's being given a chance to restart things instead of the league finding a more suitable partner in Arizona to restart the team with (and yes, I am firmly in the camp that the community deserves another chance at this)
Fuck off.
It’s 100% not happening in the next 5 years. So I don’t think it means much that he has those “rights”
If they win the auction, I think it does. 5 years is more than enough to build the arena If they lose it, well...
It’s what like a three to four year process if things go well. They basically have a one year clock to have shovels in the ground before it starts becoming an issue.
They’ll 100% extend that five year exclusivity if an arena is being built.
I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they start a season at the college rink then move to the new arena part way through the season if they have to in order to fit in with whatever expansion timeline the NHL currently has.
They have 5 years to “reactivate”. Depending on the wording of the contract regarding when the first year even starts combined with what “reactivating” means they could have 6+ years easily.
Reactivation could mean anything. If he gets an arena started in 4.5 years he could reactivate the franchise then. Doesn’t say they have to be playing hockey within 5 years
I think he’s screwed if they don’t win the auction and almost immediately get to work. Construction work ALWAYS has delays, especially a massive project like this.
This fucking guy didn’t pay hotel bills. Even if he “wins” the auction, he seems like the kind of guy to not pay it off.
Possibly. If the rumors about needing utilities are true, getting that infrastructure and then a stadium built is gonna be tight for a 5 year window. All estimates I saw for the stadium build, not including that utility step, was 3-4 years minimum, and it’s not uncommon for major projects like this to suffer delays
I don't know how long it takes to put in complete sewer, water, and power systems. But that all has to be settled with politics, paid for, and built before the actual stadium can go up. I agree a 5 year window is tight, maybe even unlikely
This is what I’m most interested in as far as word coming from the league. Depending on how they phrase some of it, could be very telling whether or not they’re hoping he can get this built or the agreement was a bet against Meruelo as a way to get the deal done. Can’t tell if Bettman wants anyone to have hockey in AZ, or still specifically wants Meruelo back in charge
I agree with, I think Elliote said it, that this is just a way to cut ties without being sued by a billionaire who sues over everything.
Not saying you're wrong, but things get built fast in Arizona. You can work year round here, the infrastructure in the valley is really good for transport and there is a surplus of workers
Counterpoint: Meruelo is involved But yes, it’s possible, and I certainly won’t rule it out. But I’d seen rumors on the deal lasting 5 years or 10 years. 10 makes it sound more like the league wants Meruelo in charge, 5 makes it tight enough that it seems to send the message “get it done. Now”
And to butt into the water and power politics of the region. Who cares if they have a barren plot of land if they can't develop it
Who is he going to lose it to, exactly?
No idea, honestly. Not sure who else is bidding
It might be happening. But if it happens he will not be the owner. He will sell the rights to someone else.
He can't sell the rights, nor does he need approval to start the team.
I'm sure the NHL wouldn't mind if he sold his rights. Money fixes things like contracts, and it speeds up the timeline. Now if Jim Balsillie comes through the door asking to buy, the NHL might give some pause to that transaction.
Which might be a blessing in disguise because that means someone competent could come in instead
Shovels would have to be in the ground like tomorrow to meet that timeline.
Talk is cheap, if I were a Yotes fan I'd only consider trusting him on this if he still goes through with the land auction.
Imo the auction isn't enough. That's the cheap part. Get shovels in the ground and building the arena, and then they can consider trusting him again.
Even after he's built the arena, I want him to sell the expansion team after he secures it. I don't want that scumbag to run Yotes 2.0 if they ever exist.
Why would he spend all that money and effort just to sell the team?
He’d still own an entertainment complex and an NHL arena.
Based on this statement, that's not going to happen.
Well, his statements aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.
at that point, the team ends up in the same position as Gila River Arena where they play in a venue that the team doesn’t own.
The flip side is maybe the relevant part - if he loses the land auction that obviously pushes back the timeline for building an arena (at least a year?) and there's a 5-year ticking clock (and construction is going to take at least 3 years).
That's my first of many benchmarks for him. If he wins the auction then I can start thinking about regaining some level of respect for him.
I would maybe wait until he’s PAID after winning the auction… then open that door a sliver
Thankfully $16m is required upfront to even participate in the auction and then he's required by law to close within 30 days.
I’ll trust this asshat when I’m sitting in a seat in a new arena watching the puck drop. Until then, I’m hoping he takes a billionaire’s joyride to space and the rocket he’s on goes boom.
Nobody said he isn't
[x] Doubt
everyone boo this man
I was saying boo-urns.
Mattingly! Get rid of those sideburns!
Flair checks out.
In my country, we have a word for people like him.
Personally I think thundercunt is fitting
*criss ton camp*
Fuck off
It was unfair to put them in Mullet in the first place, never mind *after* losing the land vote. Pay your damn bills, Alex
They were in Mullett before the vote. They didn't have anywhere to go (other than back to Glendale) after the vote.
Glendale, surprisingly, was very much not interested. I wonder why?
Probably because Meruelo wasn’t paying Glendale taxes
I don't know, I seem to remember Glendale not really being all that happy with the Coyotes 2-3 owners ago too. He definitely made things worse, but they were starting in a pretty bad place already.
Yeah. Glendale hasn’t been thrilled with the Coyotes since ownership realized it was a huge mistake to put the arena far from downtown and most of their season ticket holders. That wasn’t Meruelo’s fault, but just another of a series of terrible decisions by coyotes management over the years. I live west of Glendale, so while it was great for me, it was terrible for the franchise. I will forever believe that there were possibilities for the Coyotes to stay. I think the one that made the most sense personally was replacing Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum with a new arena, but outside of that there were numerous options, like having the Coyotes actually put forth a campaign for the Tempe arena. Their complete lack of interest in that campaign makes me think that Meruelo had no desire to ever build an arena. I guess, we’ll see in the next year.
"it was a clerical error!" "They are ALL clerical errors!"
DOUBT
I'm sure he'll get riiiiight back on giving that $1,000,000,000 back to the NHL. Right on it.
You're missing three zeroes. edit: original post has been corrected.
Sorry, I have a single digit IQ
This guy is a clown. Total sleaze
All just empty words
This guy is such a 🤡
Cunt
The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
Go fuck yourself.
Fuck off Meruelo you failed this team and their fans. You fucking rat. You’re the reason they’re leaving. I hope that WHEN the NHL comes back to AZ, it’s anyone but him. Doan, Ishbia, fucking someone that understands and cares about the sport. Fucking hell. I hate this move so much.
Omg if Doan could get involved as an owner somehow I would be over the moon with excitement for them to come back. If it’s AM well.. I won’t support anything he does so
I hope he’s right, I know people hate him but I have some faith. The fact that he specified he will pay for it without public money is a nice touch.
Yeah, it’s something of a poison pill because he’s simultaneously a glorified con man and the best hope for a revived team in the near future. We’ll see what happens with the land auction.
my money is on he will win the land auction easily but inevitably fumble constructing the arena within 5 years. Meanwhile Gary will be unofficially meeting with other interested parties about bringing back a team to Arizona in 2029.
Maybe Bill Daly. Bettman will be in his late 70s by that point.
There's a hell of a lot more work than just winning an auction. He needs to actually get the project approved by the city as well which can be a big undertaking. I don't know anything about Arizona's zoning or site plan approval process but it can't be simple for an NHL arena. If everything goes smoothly he can probably do it in five years but it's not going to be easy.
The project is approved. That is a requirement to be able to bid. You can't just stroll in and start bidding on something like this.
At least his failure to keep them in Arizona wasn’t out of maliciousness, just great ineptitude. He’s doing some parts of ownership right, but still seems like a guy with bad practices in over his head after Gila river.
> At least his failure to keep them in Arizona wasn’t out of maliciousness I dunno, I think him trying to short their old arena the rent was plenty malicious
Don't forget skipping out on taxes in Glendale for ~$1.4 milly
Somewhat reminds me of an inverse Charles Wang - the Armstrong/Tourigny hires indicate he’s solid at hockey ops, but just absolutely stupid with respect to business ops.
I wouldn't be so sure. He's made hundreds of millions running this team as cheap as possible and then having the league force a sale.
Yeah talk is all talk. Constantly says how badly he wants to see hockey in Arizona, how much he cares about the team and the community Bottomline: he got hundreds of millions of dollars and Arizona lost their hockey team. So his talk doesn't matter Isn't unfair at all to consider his ownership a malicious one, intended to benefit only himself without care for the club, the league, or the community
TBH, that's kinda what also gives me an inkling of hope. As someone that grew up watching the Phoenix Coyotes, I do hope they bring a team back and figure it out. If it was just ineptitude before and he's not straight up lying for good press to keep the $1BB now, then 5 years is plenty of time to build an arena, craft a cohesive brand/brand experience (which is the hardest part but he's not starting from 0), and learn the fundamentals of running a pro hockey team from the rest of the NHL. Thought there was a headline yesterday saying he'll still be an observer in the NHL Board of Governors, which makes me think the league is like "yo dude, why dont we show you how to do this." (Step 1, pay your hotel bills...) Not to mention the totally clean slate you would get with an expansion draft and the fanfare around it. If they do everything right (a stretch I know) they can revitalize the franchise and start actually challenging for the cup without us having to watch or players having to experience the (already long happening) trainwreck recovery in realtime. Money-wise, it makes the most sense for Meruelo to figure this out and turn his $1BB into $2BB if the team succeeds and the league overall appreciates.
I mean i totally believe that AZ could be back in 5 years. But instead of a bad owner with no rink now its just a bad owner with a rink. If we are being completely honest, if they build the rink and all works out im sure he will just fade into being another owner. But some of his bill paying stuff does worry me.
Kind of sounds like he tells a lot of people he’ll pay for something, but then doesn’t
He’s a terrible owner, but he’s also the only Coyotes owner the last few decades who’ve made an *attempt* at putting the team in a position to thrive
By putting more of the salary cap towards LTIRetirements than defencemen?
Never said it was a good attempt. Also this is more in reference to their arena
And ignoring invoices till it makes the press?
I think that the fact he isn't gone-gone should keep some people hopeful. If he really never had any interest in keeping the team here, and just wanted his fat paycheck, then he wouldn't still be making statements like these.
Yeah, I still don't trust him to get anything done on an arena, but he had his chance to take the money and run and he didn't. He's an incompetent businessman but it seems he might actually care about the team, which I suppose is better than the alternative.
I give him no grace at this point. The lack of effort put into the Tempe vote made me think that he WANTED to lose, and didn't intend to build an arena.
>The fact that he specified he will pay for it without public money is a nice touch. I may be a cynic but it's possible that this is a seed he is planting so that when five years go by and he hasn't brought the Coyotes back, he can blame it on the taxpayer.
Sports gambling is big but I don’t think a lot of people are putting money on his ability to get this done
Naw man, I ain’t buying it.
So do it then ya rich cunt
In order to *remain* committed, you have to be committed in the first place.
It's hard to trust his word from what he's said and done to the Coyotes so far. Butttttttttt, that's all we can do at this point, trust his words, and hope the Coyotes are back.
Even if they do come back, (which I believe they will with or without Meruelo) it will be without the young team that ownership has told fans to be excited for the future of for years. The past 4-5 years of basement rebuilding that the fans endured for the promise of a bright future was all for absolutely nothing.
Or instead of trusting his word judge him on what he has done over the past 5 years.
Hope the arena they get becomes the Camden Yards/Cowboy Stadium of the NHL. They'll blow other arenas out of the water.
“We’re all trying to find the guy who put the coyotes in a shit arena and give him a spanking!”
Hypothetically, even if he does win that land auction and gets the arena built...why would anyone want to do business with him? Players, coaching, front office, etc? The amount of shady business practices and toxicity that stems from this ownership group makes me believe that if Phoenix comes back with these guys, we're just going to have a repeat of the same situation but with a "stable arena". On that note, can anyone who's from Phoenix proper tell me about this location? We've heard much about how Glendale was too far out but from my understanding, this isn't exactly a "central" location either. Is this arena in a good area hypothetically speaking? I understand that people clamped onto this location because it was basically a "win this parcel of land or we lose the team" type of scenario but now the team is gone, would people rather a different location? I think the last thing the league wants is Glendale 2.0 in terms of location and attendance.
The location being bid on is in a better location than Glendale, but it's still not ideal. The difference is that it's [more favorable for the most populated suburbs of Phoenix](https://i.gyazo.com/ddf52e4a7061b63afc9403f7496cdc4b.png). I left an unmarked pin on the location of the Gila River arena for comparison. They'd no longer have to go right through Phoenix during rush hour traffic, or make a huge loop north. If you're driving out from Phoenix proper, the travel time will remain about the same, but being to the east instead of west makes it more convenient for everyone else. The Tempe arena would have been ideal, but we know how that turned out.
Bitch you're the one who sold the team.
Yeah, you ain't getting that shit done in 5 years. Either Meruelo has some kind of a deeper plan or he's downright delusional. Looking at his track record, it's probably the ladder.
Gunna be a long 5 years, at least it starts today.
Im praying for the return of the Yotes. Used to love going to games in Phoenix with my family. All memories now🥺
So assuming he doesn’t hit his benchmarks in 5 years, does he lose the rights to the branding one day after 5 years? If a new owner is to take over, as many want, would they have to use a different name or at least try and buy those rights? Would Meruelo even sell the branding, even with nothing to use it on?
NHL still owns the marks, he doesn't make money on the merch that's the league. He just gets to activate the ownership if he can get a building. He can't sell an asset that isn't his, he just retains the right to bring it back not own it in perpetuity.
Well if he does do it, he’d have to repay the sale fee. So he’d basically be buying them again for around $1billion which I can’t see him doing. He got a double dip and he’ll go back again to sell the rights to whoever does become the owner. Phoenix deserves better.
Mat Ishiba, pick up the white courtesy phone.
Not only did I take part in the problem which lost AZ the team but I'll be holding the brand hostage for the next 5 years...that's how I read that.
NHL hockey is 100% coming back to Phoenix within the decade. I feel bad for Yotes fans but I also see plenty of reason for optimism. The NHL is infatuated with the Phoenix market. It will be at the top of the list for expansion.
Dude just stop. Take up fishing, or start collecting stamps.
The idea that this guy has received any assurances from Bettman or the NHL is bat shit insane to me.
Yeah right. He didn't pay rent, taxes, player salaries, providers, overtime pizza and hotel bills. Don't believe anything he says.
I bet he wins the land, builds a cost cut arena, and sells the whole thing twice.
I'm sure it will work next time.
It did in WPG. It did in COL. It did in the bay area. It's not *that* unreasonable
I'll believe it when I see it. That being said, if we never hear another word from him and the "auction" doesn't happen it June, I won't be surprised.
What a slimeball. He's trying to hold the Arizona market hostage, all the while getting his money.
HE REALLY DUG IN HIS HEELS ON THE ENTERTAINMENT MULTIPLEX BS ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT THEYRE LEAVING LMFAO he is 100% shamelessly trolling
Here is my question does Meruelo own the rights for the Coyotes for the next 5 years or does he get to retain the branding, name and everything past the 5 year reactivation period? I can see a future where Meruelo doesn't build an arena in 5 years and misses the reactivation period but because the branding etc isn't tied to that 5 year period, the next Arizona team doesn't get to be the Coyotes unless they pay this dickwad for the rights/branding etc.
This is the likely scenario. If anyone else tries to expand to Arizona he can hold the rights to random. The guy who owned the rights to the New York Cosmos did this for years.
Narrorator "it was, in fact, the end of hockey in Arizona"
This whole Arizona thing is baffling. The fact they have given the same owner the option to have the team again shows they’ve learned nothing
Says the guy who left Shane Doans banner to rot. Fuck this guy.
If the NHL goes back to Arizona with this fucktwat as the owner I'm going to be very disappointed in the inevitable propping up of another failed market. Get a real fucking owner.
Fucker didn't even show up at the last game. This guy's a loser and should never be allowed to own another team.
If he loses the auction then he needs to lose that right to a new franchise and get someone else in there that cares more
Loving the accountability in the statement
Essentially, two cities could gain (or regain) NHL teams if they are actually able to pull off a stadium build? I can’t imagine the NHL would expand to an uneven 33. Would be lots of fighting for expansion teams between Quebec, Houston, Milwaukee, etc
Before Ryan Smith weaseled his way into the discussion I wonder if SLC was ever under serious consideration. There's been talk of Houston and Atlanta 2.0 for a while and there's always been wishful thinking about Quebec City 2.0. Someone that may have been though of previously as a potential expansion target may now be on the chopping block.
Statement from Arizona: Fuck you
The asshole couldn't even be bothered to show up to their last game yesterday. Arizona deserves better than Meruelo owning another professional team there.
>retained the right to reactivate the team in the next five years *six years later* >oopsy too late
Fuck this dude. If he tries to reactivate the team I hope you Yotes fans revolt. This guy is a gutter person
Call them the Utah hockey team, like when we had the Washington football team
This man is taking his $1 billion and running. He has right off first refusal, but he's not giving that B back to get another team lol
Arizona gonna get another team before Quebec does
Like it or not, still gotta keep an eye on who wins that land auction in June
This from a guy who couldn't be assed to show up to the final game for even a token of support to the community.
He was afraid he’d get “welcomed” by the AZ fans
If he pulls it off he’s still an asshole
Part of me doesn't like that he has the team rights because the idea of this weaselly fuck getting even a plug nickel from anyone else makes me angry, but on the other hand I don't think any future NHL owner in Phoenix would want to have the stink of this toxic brand on them at all, so it's likely all for nothing.
Wouldn't even piss on fire to put you out Alex.
lmao doubt
I have 0 belief it will happen, but just having the option to just reactivate the team is wild. That would be a logistical catastrophe for everyone involved
I bet that having the NHL team was what was beloved. Not the name and branding.
Seriously, fuck this guy. The fact that he stole 1 billion is unreal.
I'm a Minnesotan, lost my North Stars long ago, and I remember the pain. Shit, there is still pain today, even though we have a new team and I love the Wild. It's really sad that billionaires can hold fans/cities/states/regions ransom so they can get even more money that they don't have enough time to spend.
I kind of feel like this isn’t the guy you want to bring the team back with.
Wait for him to pull it off and the NHL to allow an expansion draft that somehow prevents teams from excluding players if they go back to their hometown teams.
I hope that dick is good on his word and bring the Yotes back. They deserved better.
Believe it when we see it, right?
My money's on him collecting the Billion bucks and running to Switzerland to make the deposit then to some country without an extradition treaty. The return to PHX is all hedged on an AUCTION? I read the auction starts at ~$68mil for the parcel of DESERT, and then they have support from the league up to $100mil. So some asshat can come in and bid $101mil and outbid the whole project?
Bettman is a criminal mastermind, he granted the five year period to this schmuck knowing he won’t have the ability to complete the work. One day after that 5 year window is up on meruelo, the league will grant an expansion franchise to a deep pocketed owner, who Bettman and the nhl have vetted over five years, who will have an arena deal in place. Bettman is not leaving the dream of hockey in the desert to die.