So that's part of my question. Are these condos or rental apartments. If they are condos and he sells them off, what's the incentive to hang on to the team.
Obviously we have no idea what the development is going to look like if/when it gets approved. Its possible Tempe includes a stipulation in the agreement that indirectly force Muerello to continue to operate the team for the foreseeable future.
Tempe could require a long term lease with a punitive buy out which would basically force the Yotes to be in the arena. Yes Muerello could technically try to sell the team but the likelyhood of anyone else buying them and not operating the arena is pretty slim.
As mentioned above there is also the sports book angle. I agree the market may become over saturated, but with AZ limiting the licenses to 20 any over saturation will be limited. Also have to factor it doesnt appear all of those will be issued and several of those will not be in PHX. Its possible Muerello's license becomes the most profitable in the state, its also possible it never makes any money. I am sure Muerello's people have run the numbers on the value of the license.
There is also the flip side of the coin, why would he sell the team at all? There is plenty of land out there that cities want developed that doesnt require owning an NHL team. If Muerello's goal was to build the arena then sell the team its probably not a good long term plan. Based on some of the losses being reported it would make substantially more sense for him to just sell the team now and develop something else