BREAKING: It's over. Multiple sources confirm to @PHNX_Sports that Alex Meruelo is walking away from his ownership of the Coyotes.

[Mrfenn92]

Good

 

[kingsholygrail]

So does the inactive Coyotes franchise still exist, or is Utah going absorb its history?

They stay inactive. Didn't Winnipeg petition to get their stuff back though?

 

[wunderpanda]

this sucks for coyotes fans. he may have been the latest bad owner but he had a path to restore the franchise by december 31, 2027.

 

[ricky0034]

woah

I didn't truly believe that he would actually end up cashing in on that expansion team thing in the end but I certainly didn't expect it to end this fast

 

[rea]

Hell of a grift he pulled off. A billion dollar payday while putting up barely a hundred something million for the Coyotes some years back.

Bettman ends up looking even more clowny than usual

Was gonna say the same. This guy pulled off a heist, and the owners ard the league should be ashamed of allowing him to buy.

Kind of shows why there is such a lack of urgency in so many areas of the league that probably add to the slowest growth of any of the major sports leagues, everyone at the top seems happy with short term gains in their pockets, not shooting for long term success.

 

[BHD]

The decision from the ASLD felt like the nail in the coffin.

 

[AKL]

Christmas came early this year

 

[donghabs98]

Alex Meruelo and John Fisher got to be the worst owners in sports

At least the NHL got rid of Meruelo. I find it disgraceful at how the MLB is standing by as Fisher gutted a team, neglected a fan base and is moving to a next city without a new park officially ready to be built.

 

[jetsforever]

Hope this means they can re-join the Coyotes/Jets with Utah, would be sad to see that franchise "die"

 

[tarheelhockey]

So does the inactive Coyotes franchise still exist, or is Utah going absorb its history?

Assuming the rights are non-transferable (and one would assume that is the case) then the franchise will fold when he walks away from it. This is the first case of a folded franchise in several decades. It means the Coyotes history goes in the same category as the NY Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates — an official part of the record, but not continued forward as a current franchise.

Of course the league could still send their history to Utah with the stroke of a pen, and given the circumstances that might be the sensible thing to do.

 

[Bounces R Way]

I know there's been some real crooks that have owned NHL teams but this guy is up there as one of the worst in the league's history. Hope he has to pay back every hotel, every employee, every damn water bill and bar tab he skipped out on out of his own pocket.

 

[FoxYou727]

I know there's been some real crooks that have owned NHL teams but this guy is up there as one of the worst in the league's history. Hope he has to pay back every hotel, every employee, every damn water bill and bar tab he skipped out on out of his own pocket.

At least he was somewhat legit and I use somewhat very heavily, bussiness man compared to Spanos

 

[End on a Hinote]

Who cares.

 

[ItWasJustified]

Arizona government won. They got what they wanted: No NHl teams in the state of Arizona.

 

[FoxYou727]

Who cares.

I do

 

[wunderpanda]

Who cares.

i care

 

[Peasy]

Have yote fans finally come around to see how much of a grifting fraud this guy is? Sold you lies the entire time. Thought it was crazy when yote fans would still defend this dude after all the late payment bubble stuff but I guess desperation makes you do silly things. He was never serious about owning this team.

If someone has a long past and history of grifting, they're probably still grifting.

 

[BB88]

I'm sure a lot of people wish he'd done this a year or two ago. I don't love the idea of the NHL expanding further, but to give the Arizona fans their team back, I'm perfectly ok with it.

The problem is that would mean 3 other teams as well

 

[JackSlater]

Good riddance to that grifter. I hope that the NHL stops expanding for a long time though.

 

[tucker3434]

Good. I knew it would be an uphill battle for him specifically. It feels like he has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way in Phoenix. Yotes 2.0 need a truly fresh start. They don’t need any additional disadvantages from the beginning. Might take them a little longer to come back but they’ll be better off for it.

 

[Warden of the North]

Bye, Alex

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

So, the dude got his billion, gave a half-assed effort and now he's splitting.

What a pos.

 

[kickback256]

Assuming the rights are non-transferable (and one would assume that is the case) then the franchise will fold when he walks away from it. This is the first case of a folded franchise in several decades. It means the Coyotes history goes in the same category as the NY Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates — an official part of the record, but not continued forward as a current franchise.

Of course the league could still send their history to Utah with the stroke of a pen, and given the circumstances that might be the sensible thing to do.

I’d very much prefer to keep the history separate. Utah has all the players and contracts, but they are an entirely new franchise (technically an expansion team without the expansion draft). After decades of problems, I think it’s for the best to just let the coyotes rest and build something new. Absolutely hate that it’s at the expense of loyal Arizonan fans, but this won’t be the fresh start of a new team it’s intended to be if the history gets dragged back along.

 

[HolyGhost]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1805450606309785755

is he giving back some of the money?

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

Duh