Confirmed with Link: All-Purpose "Days of Our Meruelo" Talk

[Summer Rose]

Come on. You know that this team is gone forever. Tossing out all my Coyotes T shirts and hand towels that I collected over the years felt like tossing out photos after a divorce.

To me, if I am to compare it to a life event, it would be more like tossing out photos of a loved one after they passed away. While I may never wear it again, I’m probably going to hang my Coyotes jersey up on my wall for a similar reason to that thought.

 

[Coyotedroppings]

I encourage everyone to throw out all their old Yote stuff, that way my crap will be worth more for my kids, when I'm dead.

 

[TheLegend]

Utah's new NHL team left a Phoenix suburb millions in debt

https://www.axios.com/local/salt-lake-city/2024/04/22/utah-nhl-coyotes-glendale-public-funds-arena

Not what I heard…..

Someone tried to tell me it was all fairy dust and unicorns that the arena in Glendale was going to thrive without the Coyotes there.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

Not what I heard…..

Someone tried to tell me it was all fairy dust and unicorns that the arena in Glendale was going to thrive without the Coyotes there.

Yeah, that article made it into my news feed too, and I greeted it with the eyeroll it deserved.

 

[Headshot77]

Well, the Olympic arena is getting built. Bank on it. But if the Utah team needs a place to play while Delta Center gets renovated, just across town on the I-215 loop is the Maverik Center. It has ice, it seats 10k, and has available dates. No need to play in Provo or repeat the sins of Alex Meruelo.

From the Bettman press conference it sounded like it has 12,000 unobstructed seats for hockey and they want to take that up to 17k over two off seasons of renovations. So the NHL/NBA teams will play in the suboptimal Delta center for two seasons while it gets gutted. Seems like a feasible plan to me. I think the big question that remains to be answered is if this extensive renovation is going to get that $900 million in state funds that was originally approved for an Olympic hockey stadium or if Utah will end up with BOTH a renovated Delta center and a new NHL venue. It doesn't make much sense to me for SLC to have both, but maybe Delta remains the NBA stadium long-term and the NHL team moves to the all-new arena as their permanent home, so that scheduling conflicts aren't an issue. If Smith owns both I guess that's his problem if he wants to duplicate arena costs like that.

 

[Mosby]

Why can’t the Olympics just play in the renovated arena?

 

[Jamieh]

Why can’t the Olympics just play in the renovated arena?

Hundreds of million of "free" money, its the Olympic way!!!!

 

[rt]

Why can’t the Olympics just play in the renovated arena?

I think they probably will. I think they want to spend all that money revitalizing the entire area, not just the arena. LA Live style.

From the Bettman press conference it sounded like it has 12,000 unobstructed seats for hockey and they want to take that up to 17k over two off seasons of renovations. So the NHL/NBA teams will play in the suboptimal Delta center for two seasons while it gets gutted. Seems like a feasible plan to me. I think the big question that remains to be answered is if this extensive renovation is going to get that $900 million in state funds that was originally approved for an Olympic hockey stadium or if Utah will end up with BOTH a renovated Delta center and a new NHL venue. It doesn't make much sense to me for SLC to have both, but maybe Delta remains the NBA stadium long-term and the NHL team moves to the all-new arena as their permanent home, so that scheduling conflicts aren't an issue. If Smith owns both I guess that's his problem if he wants to duplicate arena costs like that.

I think it’s going to be a revamped Delta Center and a revamped surrounding area.

 

[Dead Coyote]

Good lord. Go to the beach for a few days and come back to talk of hope for an arena with a f***ing roller coaster wrapped around it.

AM and AM Jr. couldn't manage a lemonade stand in Phoenix. AM would have the sign facing away from the street and Junior would stand there confused as to why the lemons didn't fit in a bottle when he tried to push them in. But sure, he's gonna somehow find the money for the entire project plus the billion for the team. Holy shit on a shingle.

"THE MONEY IS ALWAYS IN THE LEMONADE STAND"

 

[Summer Rose]

"THE MONEY IS ALWAYS IN THE LEMONADE STAND"

There's always money in the banana stand.

 

[MIGs Dog]

Hopefully Utah’s plans to get a new arena fall apart plunging the franchise into more endless instability and uncertainty and heartbreak

But they're not planning on a new arena, instead, renovating an old downtown facility. If only the Coyotes had that option.

 

[MIGs Dog]

Why can’t the Olympics just play in the renovated arena?

IOC said a new hockey arena was not needed.

An International Olympic Committee executive sent a firm message to Salt Lake City officials Monday: Go ahead and build an NHL or MLB stadium, but don’t use the Olympic Games as a scapegoat. - March 11

Olympic Committee distances itself from NHL, MLB stadium deals

If Salt Lake City builds a new MLB or NHL stadium, the International Olympic Committee will consider using them for the 2034 Olympics. But don't tie their construction to the Games, Christophe Dubi, the Olympic Games executive director, told reporters Monday,.

www.sltrib.com

 

[Desert Ice 11]

Been paying a lot of attention to NHL team in Utah and there are a lot of similarities that I'm surprised the Smiths jumped on this so quickly. The arenas an old basketball arena with a lot more obstructed views than they lead you to believe. The whole upper bowl section for the most part is obstructed from what I understand, even the sightlines at the glass are obstructed from what I have read.

A lot of people from Utah are very much against public funds going to anything for an NHL team and people are vowing to vote out Spencer Cox in November if taxes get raised to fund sports. Which has people saying they should build an arena outside of SLC which brings back memories of Coyotes moving out of America West to Glendale.

I really think it is terrible that these players get tossed into this situation and potentially having to continue with the same struggle different city. My guess is that they will get it situated in a couple of years, just the whole dynamic gives flashbacks but they have an owner with money and not a revolving door of clowns is the likely the key difference.

As for the Coyotes and AM, I will always root for my local team and I really enjoy the sport of hockey that I will support a reactivated franchise. I will be happy to have the Coyotes back and there will be some new players that I will be excited to see wear an Arizona jersey. I think that NHL gave AM a $1 billion dollar boost to ensure that this project gets done in 5 years. The only excuse not to win the land auction now is that there wasn't enough care to win.

Construction moves lightning fast in the Southwest, (Allegiant Stadium was built in less than 3 years.) and other large projects like TSMC, which is now starting to produce chips. I am not worried about the time frame on private land for an arena to be constructed.

 

[MIGs Dog]

people from Utah are very much against public funds going to anything for an NHL team

It's already funded.

the reconstruction funding would come through the “approval of the city’s tax increase.” A Utah bill that was passed this winter allows Salt Lake City to "raise its sales tax by 0.5% to raise funds for the project."

Ryan Smith pivots to Delta Center renovation for NHL team rather than new arena

New NHL owner Ryan Smith said Friday that he will pursue massive reconstructive changes to the Delta Center, making the Utah Jazz’s arena more hockey-friendly.

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

 

[Desert Ice 11]

It's already funded.

Looks like Cox will be out in November.

 

[Mosby]

same struggle different city

please make this our team slogan if we suck

 

[AZDesertKnight]

I can't stand this Ryan Smith guy.. he just seems so full of $%^ to me for some reason. Just listening to his interviews. I could just be sour but I can't listen to him longer than 5 minutes

 

[JasonDemersWasOkay]

I can't stand this Ryan Smith guy.. he just seems so full of $%^ to me for some reason. Just listening to his interviews. I could just be sour but I can't listen to him longer than 5 minutes

He’s also a team stealing piece of shit and I hope he and the franchise fail horribly

 

[The Feckless Puck]

I really think it is terrible that these players get tossed into this situation and potentially having to continue with the same struggle different city. My guess is that they will get it situated in a couple of years, just the whole dynamic gives flashbacks but they have an owner with money and not a revolving door of clowns is the likely the key difference.

That is going to make all the difference.

Utahns are going to get higher taxes, and they're not going to be able to vote them out by getting rid of Cox. This is bigger than one politician. This is a political machine that has approved nearly $2 billion without a single rubber stamp from the actual populace to create new sporting facilities to help embellish the city's national image. Ryan Smith is not going to have the battles that every single Coyotes owner or pretender has had to face for this. Salt Lake wants the hockey team, and they'll do whatever they can to ensure it succeeds. If Smith asks for public money to renovate the Delta Center, he'll get it - because a renovated Delta Center just adds value and ROI to the city and drives more traffic there in general and to Temple Square specifically.

As far as the players go, Ryan Smith met them and addressed them directly, telling them to let him know all of the things about being a Coyote that were hard for them to deal with, all of the shortcomings that they faced, and etc., and that he would personally make sure things changed. Then he took them all golfing. I guarandamntee you that not a single one of them is going to miss their Scottsdale homes or playing at Mullett after that. The Arizona Coyotes are going to end up being a bad dream for them that they can easily forget, now that they have an owner who gives a shit about them.

Meanwhile, we have The Great Pretender here holed up in his Howard Hughes hotel room, collecting his own urine and muttering imprecations against Gary Bettman and the hockey media, cancelling interviews left and right, likely sitting on the sale agreement documentation and rubbing his ass on the section that says he has exclusive rights to an Arizona franchise. Suffice to say, the outlook for us here in the Valley of the Sun is not very promising.

 

[Edenjung]

Looks like Cox will be out in November.

I wouldn't bet on that.
3-4 sermons by the local priest and they will all be happy to pay up
You know how it goes in a theocracy, the padre preaches and the faithful will follow him.

Doesn't apply to theocracies alone. Back in the day, when the padre did his sunday sermon and advised to vote for the conservative party, a lot of people did it. My mom said that her grandmother always did that. Back in the day the churches had way more influnence. Especially in small cities.
And while i don't expect that to be 100% the case in Utah, i still think they influence of LDS is very high. And that their reputation within the state is so high that people are way more likely to follow their argumentation.

(also lots of Ingroup bias when it comes to information.)

 

[Mosby]

Blaming Ryan Smith is like blaming the whore down the street when dad cheats on mom.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Blaming Ryan Smith is like blaming the whore down the street when dad cheats on mom.

More accurately: It's blaming the successful, high-powered businesswoman who seduced your dad away from your meth-addicted, child-abusing, absentee mother.

 

[Jormungandr]

More accurately: It's blaming the successful, high-powered businesswoman who seduced your dad away from your meth-addicted, child-abusing, absentee mother.

What is Ryan Smith’s real net worth anyway? Everywhere I have looked lists him similar to Alex Meruelo’s net worth. Doesn’t seem like he’s much better off.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

What is Ryan Smith’s real net worth anyway? Everywhere I have looked lists him similar to Alex Meruelo’s net worth. Doesn’t seem like he’s much better off.

It's not about net worth. It's about what he does with it, and how he approaches both business and the community. Ryan Smith >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Alex Meruelo.

 

[Mosby]

Smith seems to have more liquidity as well.