Confirmed with Link: All Encompassing Arena Talk: Meruelo focused on winning auction, but now may be looking for buyers (in and out of state)

[cobra427]

Seconding this. Vistancia, Northpointe, Mystic, Acacia Grove... Booming like crazy right now.

Shit, another five years, wait till y'all see what they do with the stretch of Happy Valley West of the 303 heading out to Asante and North Surprise.

There are so many nice places around the valley now from the west side to Chandler, San tan, Gilbert, etc... many really nice areas and nice places to live, with nice amenities. The Paradise Valley to north Scottsdale corridor will still be the prime locations and have the highest income earners, highest net worth and most higher end business owners. This is why the 101 Scottsdale rd location has great appeal, although I think the Tempe location would have been more in the middle of the fan base. But, the more north location will likely sell more suites and get more corporate sponsors. Let's hope they can pull it off while I am still a fan!

 

[Mosby]

Hartford is a minor league city these days. The market has been absorbed by Boston and NY. I could easily name at least 10 places that would get a team before Hartford.

 

[Mangosteen]

Kinda get the feeling AM ego is what's going to save the Coyotes. All of the insiders keep saying he's a very proud man. Crossing fingers

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Kinda get the feeling AM ego is what's going to save the Coyotes. All of the insiders keep saying he's a very proud man. Crossing fingers

Meruelo's whole business identity is wrapped up in the idea that he can take a failing or struggling business and turn it around. That's what's keeping him in the game right now, guaranteed. I don't even know if he likes hockey anymore (unless it's to give his kids jobs doing lifestyle and branding stuff) - but I'm pretty sure he sure as shit doesn't want to admit defeat this publicly.

 

[Bonsai Tree]

I appreciate Meruelo's tenacity that he didn't cut and run after the Tempe fiasco.

 

[rt]

Yotes managed the government quite well in Tempe. They did a great job of getting all the officials on board. They just failed with the voters. This time it’s all government no voters. Maybe that does the trick. Seems more in AM’s wheelhouse.

He seems to have worked very well with ASU also. So these public/private entity deals seem like he excels at them. It’s just the messiness of a vote that burned them. And they’re avoiding that now.

Was it confirmed that the Yotes met with Hobbs about this a while back or was that a rumor? Wasn’t there some idea floating that the Governor was onboard and wanted that education funding asap.

 

[JasonDemersWasOkay]

f***in Hartford was a failure before. The revisionist history that Hartford was a good NHL market is such a riot. Anyone who does a lick of research can find that Hartford could never support an nhl team and didn’t the last time they had one. Idiots just like their logo

Yotes managed the government quite well in Tempe. They did a great job of getting all the officials on board. They just failed with the voters. This time it’s all government no voters. Maybe that does the trick. Seems more in AM’s wheelhouse.

He seems to have worked very well with ASU also. So these public/private entity deals seem like he excels at them. It’s just the messiness of a vote that burned them. And they’re avoiding that now.

Was it confirmed that the Yotes met with Hobbs about this a while back or was that a rumor? Wasn’t there some idea floating that the Governor was onboard and wanted that education funding asap.

Tempe was a political transaction. This is a business transaction. Meruelo has already demonstrated himself to be adept at these. He purchased the team without any issues, negotiated successfully with Tempe, established a working relationship with ASU, he built a building for this franchise already in the annex!

 

[TheLegend]

Well, this is just sad:

https://www.ctinsider.com/capitalregion/article/hartford-xl-center-arizona-nhl-coyotes-19197532.php

These poor wretches don't even realize that if the Coyotes move, they're not even in the conversation as a destination. It's AZ or SLC, and after what Winnipeg has gone through, places like Quebec City and Hartford aren't even in the "dream" phase anymore.

They're back on that shit again???

 

[TheLegend]

Yotes managed the government quite well in Tempe. They did a great job of getting all the officials on board. They just failed with the voters. This time it’s all government no voters. Maybe that does the trick. Seems more in AM’s wheelhouse.

He seems to have worked very well with ASU also. So these public/private entity deals seem like he excels at them. It’s just the messiness of a vote that burned them. And they’re avoiding that now.

Was it confirmed that the Yotes met with Hobbs about this a while back or was that a rumor? Wasn’t there some idea floating that the Governor was onboard and wanted that education funding asap.

They met with someone from Hobbs office who had done work for them on TED. Nothing much else is known about it.

 

[Mosby]

This is definitely Muruelo's opportunity to put his dick on the table.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

Hartford is a minor league city these days. The market has been absorbed by Boston and NY. I could easily name at least 10 places that would get a team before Hartford.

Yup, it's the Rochester of New England.

 

[Bonsai Tree]

I thought that the low attendance figures in Winnepeg were just a blip. They are supposely well funded. What else is going on there?

 

[TheLegend]

I thought that the low attendance figures in Winnepeg were just a blip. They are supposely well funded. What else is going on there?

The recovery from CoVID hasn't been as strong as here in the US. It's not the fans that are the problem, as it is the corporate support has been waning.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

I thought that the low attendance figures in Winnepeg were just a blip. They are supposely well funded. What else is going on there?

Lower corporate support, higher prices charged by the team for tix and concessions, pricing out some fans and STH.

 

[Jakey53]

Meruelo's whole business identity is wrapped up in the idea that he can take a failing or struggling business and turn it around. That's what's keeping him in the game right now, guaranteed. I don't even know if he likes hockey anymore (unless it's to give his kids jobs doing lifestyle and branding stuff) - but I'm pretty sure he sure as shit doesn't want to admit defeat this publicly.

$$$$ is what's keeping AM in the game. He knows his ROI is going to be mind blowing.

 

[Mangosteen]

$$$$ is what's keeping AM in the game. He knows his ROI is going to be mind blowing.

Nope, if it's ROI he would sell right now. He would make more on the Yotes if he sold today, about 300 mill profit. If he has to put the capital in for an arena and such he may make equal return but 15 to 20 years later.

This is not about investment to him, I believe it's personal

 

[Jagged Ice]

Nope, if it's ROI he would sell right now. He would make more on the Yotes if he sold today, about 300 mill profit. If he has to put the capital in for an arena and such he may make equal return but 15 to 20 years later.

This is not about investment to him, I believe it's personal

If he sold the team today then yes, but the economic impact on these mixed use entertainment districts long term is what he's after. That's where the real money is and what Jakey is probably referring to. He'll be lucky to break even on the Yotes, but it's the 100 acres of prime real estate featuring restaurants, theatres, housing, bars etc, that he's focused on long term. The Yotes are just a piece of the big picture.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Nope, if it's ROI he would sell right now. He would make more on the Yotes if he sold today, about 300 mill profit. If he has to put the capital in for an arena and such he may make equal return but 15 to 20 years later.

I believe Jakey was talking about the ROI of buying and building on that piece of land in North Phoenix.

The team itself has middling value. If he sold for relocation to SLC right now, lock stock and barrel (and no matter what my esteemed pal @rt opines, it'd be eminently possible to do it in time for the Coyotes to become the Salt Lake Seagulls or whatever), he'd make a small profit over his purchase price, for sure.

But that piece of real estate is probably the most valuable - and potentially valuable - in the entire Valley for someone building an entertainment district. There's no place that has more wealth surrounding it, no other place that has more potential high-end income for housing, entertainment, and commercial applications. If Meruelo can get this entertainment district built on this piece of land, he is going to make out like a friggin' bandit with the money that's gonna roll in from the place. It's nearly certain that whatever financial issues the Coyotes would face would be totally offset by the revenue generated by the district as a whole. There have been studies done of other sports/entertainment districts, and one of the recent ones I saw showed that the owners netted nearly $60 million a year in profit.

Add that to Meruelo's absolute loathing of possibly looking like a chump or a failure, and I think that unless something really cataclysmic happens, he's gonna win the auction and build this thing.

 

[Jagged Ice]

Add that to Meruelo's absolute loathing of possibly looking like a chump or a failure, and I think that unless something really cataclysmic happens, he's gonna win the auction and build this thing.

This I believe is what will save the Yotes. The average billionaire has an ego the size of Jupiter. He's not going to fail especially when this is what he excels at. He won't be outbid on this project and Phoenix wants this on their land. It's a very defining moment in his legacy.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

This I believe is what will save the Yotes. The average billionaire has an ego the size of Jupiter. He's not going to fail especially when this is what he excels at. He won't be outbid on this project and Phoenix wants this on their land. It's a very defining moment in his legacy.

I think this is the key. Phoenix would LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE to get the juicy tax money from this deal, and to be the city that hosts the Coyotes along with the Suns and Diamondbacks. If you put on the tinfoil hat, you could see a case where they helped torpedo the Tempe vote and then "suggested" to Meruelo that the state land would be a better and "easier" solution, but that might be a bit too Machiavellian to be real. But it certainly seems like CoP is very eager for this to work out for the Mutts, and if that's the case then we should feel a lot better about this process.

 

[Jagged Ice]

This is what the NHL understands and what the average NHL fan does not. You do not move an NHL team out of a market with this much size and money to Saskatoon because they can fill an arena for 41 games. (or can they?) The BOH thread is packed full of pudding heads who have never had an economics course.
Salt Lake City would be better off competing with Atlanta for the next expansion slot. Move a team out of Phoenix and like Friedman said on his podcast yesterday, you're right back to putting another one there.

 

[rt]

I believe Jakey was talking about the ROI of buying and building on that piece of land in North Phoenix.

The team itself has middling value. If he sold for relocation to SLC right now, lock stock and barrel (and no matter what my esteemed pal @rt opines, it'd be eminently possible to do it in time for the Coyotes to become the Salt Lake Seagulls or whatever), he'd make a small profit over his purchase price, for sure.

It’s impossible. You could as soon drive to mars in your Mazda. There is ZERO chance the coyotes move to SLC for next season. None.

But that piece of real estate is probably the most valuable - and potentially valuable - in the entire Valley for someone building an entertainment district. There's no place that has more wealth surrounding it, no other place that has more potential high-end income for housing, entertainment, and commercial applications. If Meruelo can get this entertainment district built on this piece of land, he is going to make out like a friggin' bandit with the money that's gonna roll in from the place. It's nearly certain that whatever financial issues the Coyotes would face would be totally offset by the revenue generated by the district as a whole. There have been studies done of other sports/entertainment districts, and one of the recent ones I saw showed that the owners netted nearly $60 million a year in profit.

Add that to Meruelo's absolute loathing of possibly looking like a chump or a failure, and I think that unless something really cataclysmic happens, he's gonna win the auction and build this thing.

Agree.

 

[Bondurant]

I think this is the key. Phoenix would LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE to get the juicy tax money from this deal, and to be the city that hosts the Coyotes along with the Suns and Diamondbacks. If you put on the tinfoil hat, you could see a case where they helped torpedo the Tempe vote and then "suggested" to Meruelo that the state land would be a better and "easier" solution, but that might be a bit too Machiavellian to be real. But it certainly seems like CoP is very eager for this to work out for the Mutts, and if that's the case then we should feel a lot better about this process.

I remain convinced the airport jazz was a ruse. A new arena in Tempe would open the possibility of Suns leaving down the road. With the D-Backs relocation chatter Phoenix could have been looking at a future with zero sports teams.

As for Hartford, keep dreaming. Dying market caught between NYC and Boston. Four franchises will join forces to ensure The Whale never returns.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

It’s impossible. You could as soon drive to mars in your Mazda. There is ZERO chance the coyotes move to SLC for next season. None.

You're completely wrong, but that doesn't make me love you any less!

As for Hartford, keep dreaming. Dying market caught between NYC and Boston. Four franchises will join forces to ensure The Whale never returns.

The Whale couldn't return anyway because Carolina owns the trademarks...

 

[rt]

You're completely wrong, but that doesn't make me love you any less!

Only because you noticed I remember you having a Mazda.