This is a great post, thanks for the timelines and recap of what actually happened.Lotta misinformation here boys, let me clear some of it up.
Richard Burke was the owner who wanted to sell the team, rather than move to Glendale. In fact his original intent was to move the team to St. Paul, but an arena situation thwarted that effort (ironic eh?). Steve Ellman has been correctly characterized here in that he was a developer, looking to improve assets and reap financial reward. When Ellman refused to show the City of Scottsdale financials, he found a willing partner in the City of Glendale. Burke said that it will never work in Glendale and sold the team to Ellman, Moyes and Gretzky, the latter whom no doubt just wanted to grow the game, having had a direct impact on the growth of hockey in California.
Richard T. Burke - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
I've met Jerry Moyes personally and had a business associate who actually leased Jerry his very first truck back in the day. Jerry once told me "I don't even know how to spell puck" and he relied heavily on Wayne as to all hockey decisions. Jerry believed in Glendale, was/is "Glendale proud" and wanted to help put his city on the map, he also of course, liked making money and had had success with Diamondback investment.
Two Coyotes owners separating team, real estate
Two owners of the Phoenix Coyotes are splitting their partnership in the parent company of the NHL team and the Westgate City Center development complex around Glendale Arena.www.espn.com
Below is what it looks like when things start to go south and after that people often do things they normally wouldn't to try to stay afloat. In Jerry's case, he tried to save "his baby" Swift Transportation.
Coyotes owner Ellman in default on $7M arena loan
Phoenix Coyotes owner Steve Ellman is in default on a $7 million loan tied to developments around the team's hockey arena in Glendale, according to financial documents.www.espn.com
Everyone will have their own thoughts on the viability of Meruelo's latest attempt and while there are plenty of differences in the two situations, there are plenty of similarities.
I've described in the past, what I believe to be "the perfect storm" that killed the Yotes in Glendale. In summary, the lockout and subsequent cancellation of an All-Star game killed the shiny new buzz and respectable attendance in Glendale and then the economy went to hell, killing the ED. Of course, everyone will have their own thoughts on this as well, but that's a brief summary of mine, of which I've no doubt left out plenty, considering this epic saga.
I run in some circles of investment banking in Phoenix the last 30 years, so plenty of connections in business here. Ellman had a reputation before the coyotes deal as that of a developer trying to make deals with mirrors, saying what he had to say to get a deal done, and using almost exclusively other peoples money. He didn't have a good reputation before the Coyotes/Glendale transaction.
Meruelo is the opposite. His reputation before the Coyotes is that of a guy that puts up his own capital and has had numerous success's in distressed situations. I was thinking about this in regards to other business's I have been invested in or as an executive. An early stage business or a turn around situation (Coyotes) requires a leader with Grit. It's the number 1 reason, I think anyway, why tougher situations become successful. I think we have that with Meruelo, at least his track record speaks of it anyway. The way guys like this are wired, is it becomes important for them to prove they can pull it off.
