Coyotes Tempe arena project rejected by public referendum - will remain at Mullett Arena for 2023-24

[STL fan in MN]

Seems to me that finding a rich guy that’d want to own a team in a viable city will be the hardest part.

But what cities are even viable? Needs to be a city that’s not in the Eastern time zone, has an NHL ready arena (ie. not one where the sight lines are built for basketball) and the city needs to be viable to support an NHL franchise long term.

Houston seems like the obvious choice.

One city I haven’t seen mentioned yet (given I haven’t read every page of this thread) is San Antonio. Could they support an NHL team? The Rampage were there so I’d assume the AT&T Center would work for hockey.

What about Portland? I don’t know anything about their arena or if it’d be good for hockey or if they’d be able to support an NHL team. But they’d be a natural rival to Seattle.

 

[Headshot77]

I think it's really telling that for years, and I mean YEARS, the Coyotes were in Glendale and openly pined to move to Tempe. "All of our fans are in the east valley!!!". If the Coyotes had done anything to actually garner more fan support maybe the east valley wouldn't have collectively said "go f*** yourself"

In the end I guess the Coyotes' reputation preceded them, and they had too many enemies (the airport, the city of Phoenix, the Suns, labor unions that didn't get construction contracts, and of course, NIMBYs). Still I'm ASTOUNDED that this no vote happened. Meruelo and co should have done more to rile up the troops and advertise their campaign of course but holy shit the sheer apathy from Tempe that this vote signifies is really telling.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

#FreeBalsillie

 

[LOFIN]

Winnipeg doesn't have an NBA franchise, which was the point I was making

And my point was, that the NHL doesn't necessarily have the time to pick the ideal market. Because if they did, they would've never returned to Winnipeg, which absolutely sucks from a revenue standpoint, and is apparently struggling with its season ticket holders.

 

[doublechili]

Okay, every 5+years or so I float my crazy, totally impractical and unrealistic idea and get laughed off the board, and it's time to do it again!

The Canadian Wanderers.

An NHL franchise that plays home games in many different Canadian cities. Maybe base it in one city for a certain (higher) number of games, but then it plays 1 or 2 home games in many different places. Yeah, not sure how the playoffs would work - maybe back in that one city only. And geography/travel would be an issue. IDK, figure it out.

All right, mock me and I'll be back in 5 or 10 years.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Please just end this nonsense saga.

It is just painfully obvious the people in Arizona don’t give a crap about the Coyotes. The NHL has been trying to bend over backwards to make this work and it’s just not worth it.

 

[BKarchitect]

Kansas City is actually in a decent spot here to at least make a go at it (or be used for leverage again) if the Toyota Center in Houston still has the mandate for the NHL club having to be owned by the same owner as the Rockets. KC wouldn't be an expansion team spot because there is no strong central local ownership group to bid but if somebody already owns a club and wants to bring it here...that's a slightly different story.

Kansas City and Quebec are the two cities with modern NHL arenas ready to go if the Toyota Center is being blocked. Vivint isn't up to the same level as T-Mobile or Videotron. Not sure how excited Coyotes ownership would be to move into another temporary arena situation and pray for some funding to be approved for something newer.

All that said - probably still too saturated of a sports market - Chiefs in the fall and winter, Royals and Sporting KC in the spring. Metro/market population essentially comparable to Nashville or Columbus and those two franchises probably represent the realistic upside of a team in KC or Salt Lake. Solid organizations with good support - but not the shot at the moon like a Houston or Atlanta might be if done correctly.

 

[Edgelord]

So if the team moves to a more viable market does the current owner retain ownership?
If so, seeing the minimal amount they spent on their campaign, I can't help but think this was a long con to move them and increase their value and sell.

 

[Hoverhand]

#FreeBalsillie

Got my tickets to Blackberry at my local cineplex LOCKED and LOADED for tonight.

 

[Brookbank]

The Coyotes got so much league support because they had a good arena. If a team loses an arena they are gone.

The Coyotes got so much league support because the commissioner was more invested in trying to prove his critics wrong than he was about making money. The whole Coyotes tire fire is a borderline breach of his fiduciary duty considering putting another team in the GTA is like printing money.

The voting down of this deal is also a blessing in disguise. One of the owners in the deal has been shown to be a snake. If that's who he was, who is his business partners? The financing of this whole deal was probably on shaky ground. The arena would probably get half built before one of the owners bails.

It is just unreal who Bettman will involve himself with just to try and prove his critics wrong. While he was one of the richest people in Canada, with rock solid foundations and a building in Quebec, knocking on his door.

 

[Nemesis Prime]

That is Salt Lake City alright...

fack, what a view.

 

[Boris Zubov]

Could the owner fully finance a privately owned new arena in Arizona?

Maybe convince the Suns to share a new arena in Phoenix.

Meruelo was offering to fully finance this deal. All he wanted from Tempe was to create a tax district to pay off the infrastructure. Taxes from the use of the facilities...no new taxes to residents were being proposed. This was actually a pretty sweet deal for the area which included cleaning up a landfill that's currently generating no tax revenue as it sits.

So you agree they don't actually have a contingency.

"They" being the NHL or "they" being the Coyotes?

It’s amazing to see how one man who drove the team into the ground with mismanagement after mismanagement is still showing its after effects to this day.

Gretzky the greatest NHL player of all time but he’s the absolute worst front office type ever.

His legacy is forever tied to this.

There are hot takes & then there is this. Yikes.

 

[Edgelord]

fack, what a view.

wow!!!! I had no idea it was the beautiful there

 

[Blitzkrug]

Meruelo was offering to fully finance this deal. All he wanted from Tempe was to create a tax district to pay off the infrastructure. Taxes from the use of the facilities...no new taxes to residents were being proposed. This was actually a pretty sweet deal for the area which included cleaning up a landfill that's currently generating no tax revenue as it sits.

"They" being the NHL or "they" being the Coyotes?

There are hot takes & then there is this. Yikes.

Ignore Dolemite. He shits up the video game board often with nonsense similar to this.

Best way is to just put him on ignore or don't reply.

 

[Osakahaus]

Okay, every 5+years or so I float my crazy, totally impractical and unrealistic idea and get laughed off the board, and it's time to do it again!

The Canadian Wanderers.

An NHL franchise that plays home games in many different Canadian cities. Maybe base it in one city for a certain (higher) number of games, but then it plays 1 or 2 home games in many different places. Yeah, not sure how the playoffs would work - maybe back in that one city only. And geography/travel would be an issue. IDK, figure it out.

All right, mock me and I'll be back in 5 or 10 years.

Hell yeah, would sound cool

 

[Empoleon8771]

That is Salt Lake City alright...

Honestly moving the Coyotes to Salt Lake City is an idea I really like.

 

[MMC]

 

[BLONG7]

Surely Bettman no knows, time to put an end to his rinse and repeat for Arizona.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Please just end this nonsense saga.

It is just painfully obvious the people in Arizona don’t give a crap about the Coyotes. The NHL has been trying to bend over backwards to make this work and it’s just not worth it.

But that would mean that Gary is wrong and we certainly can't have that.

 

[SmytheKing]

Eh, political narratives aside Portland would be one of the safest NHL cities. Certainly more so than Phoenix.

It's so silly how people believe these narratives and absolutely refuse to actually look into it because their confirmation bias is just so damn strong. You'd think Portland is like Thunderdome based on what they say when, in fact, it's no different than it has been for years. They'll use numbers like "homicides increased by 10% last year!!!!" and ignore that it means like 9 more people were killed in a city of 700k.

 

[krutovsdonut]

bettman has been hanging on for years trying to maintain the facade the nhl is in that market or at least find a way to move the yotes without losing an expansion fee. i would say his rope has now run out. i wonder if there is a fixed price buy back option or a relocation fee somewhere in those papers.

 

[bossram]

"They" being the NHL or "they" being the Coyotes?

The NHL.

But this would also apply to the Coyotes.

 

[Castle8130]

I'll give you 1 million to never post on this forum again.

Deal, let's see the money

 

[Brookbank]

And my point was, that the NHL doesn't necessarily have the time to pick the ideal market. Because if they did, they would've never returned to Winnipeg, which absolutely sucks from a revenue standpoint, and is apparently struggling with its season ticket holders.

That's mostly trumped up nonsense. The Jets were never going to be the NY Rangers.

Not all franchises are the same. Some are lower maintenance but have lower revenue. Winnipeg is a toned down version of the Alberta teams, which are low maintenance teams. No McDonalds location is created equally either.

I think it is rather telling how all the league apologists and wise guys said the Jets wouldnt get a team right up until they got one. It obviously doesn't have high upside but it is sure better than the high risk tire fires like Arizona. Or even Atlanta with its huge population that still failed.

 

[Half Clapper]

As a turned Yotes fan, because I strongly believe in their GM and plan, I sadly think that this is it for hockey in Arizona. Hopefully the coach and GM are not replaced if that happens.