CXL - UPDATE 12/9 - Coyotes settle bills after unpaid taxes come to light

[Llama19]

There is going to be significantly more grey area here then many you are implying. If it was as basic of a dispute as the Yotes truly owe $1.6MM the league would no way ever allow it to get to the point where the city was threatening to kick the team out.

I am 100% sure there is much more to the story than what is being tweeted out. I am also 100% sure the team will not be locked out of the arena.

The tweet, to me, comes across as nothing more than the city generating negative publicity for the team. I wont claim to be a lawyer but i would assume there would have to be some sort of legal filing for this to happen, as the debt is "tax" debt which means the city is taking action to enforce tax law. Any legal filing would be publicly available, since no one has posted anything I am going to assume it does not exist.

As far as this "killing" the Tempe deal, again there is obviously going to be more to this than the Yotes being far enough behind on tax payments for action to be taken, as once again the league would not allow it to get to the point where legal action could be taken.

Lets wait for more info to come out before jumping to conclusions.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

In the big picture 1.55 million isn’t that much. However, I can’t imagine the BOG being happy about it.

Hockey historians. Has the NHL had to come to the financial rescue of a franchise during the season before?

The 2003 Senators missed payroll and the team needed to declare bankruptcy and secure financing just to pay their players through the end of the season.

The league itself didn't step in but I assume they were prepared to if the financing deal fell through.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

I'm thinking that there is a very serious conversation taking place between Bettman and Meruelo right now.

As I mentioned above, it seems almost impossible for him to remain as owner. The optics of that would be terrible. And, if he disappears, the Tempe situation disappears, too, because his company is on it.

That would seem to mean the end in Phoenix.

It's not problem for the league to pay the bill. But paying the bill doesn't fix the situation.

There could be big plans being made, right now.

The league will pay the bill to get the Coyotes through the season, but I will be stunned if they are in Arizona next season.

 

[Boris Zubov]

Just when you think this soap opera couldn't get any weirder, this Christmas jewel shows up two weeks early. Simply priceless.

Somewhere out there a bunch of people who badmouthed Katie Strang who are eating a hearty serving of crow right about now.

 

[TheLegend]

Did the Coyotes every follow through on their lawsuit threat against Katie Strang? I'm guessing not.

That was the general manager accusing her of getting information that he claimed was taken off his computer. Nothing more than a he said, she said.

 

[MNNumbers]

Morgan tweets that the Coyotes put out a statement blaming "unfortunate human error", and promising to have all outstanding debts and bills paid by the morning.

I'm guessing Bettman had a chat with Meruelo.

 

[hockeyguy0022]

Why Saskatoon??? There are probably cities in the US closer to Phoenix that could accomplish the same thing. Though I doubt the NHL does this temporary move.

At face value... high ticket prices (Edmonton type 150-400 seat), sellouts, Geographically the same/close to division opponents, same time zone, natural rivalries with MIN/WPG, Practice rink/facility in the same parking lot as main arena.

Most importantly... No other "Big 4" tenants/ownership to compete/swing deals with. Which seems to be more of a factor then it should be a lot of times..

Just an interesting idea.

 

[LetsGoIslanders]

The NHL will keep paying the bills until the season is over.

They'll be playing in the Toyota Center in Houston in October 2021. The arena situation is not optimal in downtown Houston due to demographics -- a new arena would need to built in northern Houston.

I think Houston and Austin will be bidding for a 2023/2024 opening start date.

 

[takimaki]

Coyotes just issued a statement saying it was all some kind of human error or oversight.

Ok lol

 

[hockeyguy0022]

Coyotes just issued a statement saying it was all some kind of human error or oversight.

Ok lol

Didn't they have this exact problem last summer? or this summer or something? What kind slumlord operation is being run down there? Are his pockets sewn shut?

Garys flying down to shake them upside down.

 

[Boris Zubov]

Morgan tweets that the Coyotes put out a statement blaming "unfortunate human error", and promising to have all outstanding debts and bills paid by the morning.

I'm guessing Bettman had a chat with Meruelo.

Shameful. Why didn't they square up after the Athletic article came out?

 

[TheLegend]

 

[Boris Zubov]

Sounds like a college kid who missed his car insurance payment wrote that. Truly embarrassing.

 

[TheLegend]

Sounds like a college kid who missed his car insurance payment wrote that. Truly embarrassing.

Well it's late Wednesday night. NHL BoG meeting is this weekend and I would think Bettman wanted a statement NOW.... not in the morning.

I'm not gonna lie..... they screwed up massively here.

 

[jonathan613]

I just wonder how much the NHL really knew about meruelo and hs financials before approving his ownership. Either way, it seems like Bettman will have to make some public comments on the Coyotes situation in a press conference setting because meruelo seems unwilling to do so

 

[kaiser matias]

In the big picture 1.55 million isn’t that much. However, I can’t imagine the BOG being happy about it.

Hockey historians. Has the NHL had to come to the financial rescue of a franchise during the season before?

Many times before, yes. In 2003, for example, the NHL had to cover the Senators payroll when owner Rod Bryden failed to meet it. This was part of his financial issues that saw the team sold to Melnyk shortly after.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Since they had the money to eat in order to gain draft picks in the summer they can clearly afford to pay but they either chose not to (bad) or did so incorrectly (even worse.)

If it is the former, what the f*** were they thinking? How do they think this looks to Tempe (which appears to be their last lifeline because I don't think there is any chance in Hades of salvaging any kind of relationship with COG whether either side wanted to or not)?

Totally embarrassing for both the team and the league. I imagine they pay it immediately but I would think the BOG is starting to get pissed with Meruelo and he's without a doubt the last option to keep the team where they are.

It seemed like they had such a good thing going with Tempe. Why risk spoiling that before it has a chance to work? It's either by design (which, honestly, does not give me confidence that Meruelo thinks Tempe will be a go and he's looking to cut bait and burn bridges on the way out) or through incompetence (which looks like shit to both the NHL BOG and the city you're trying to woo east of Phoenix.)

Mind-blowing. Maybe I'm overreacting here but just...wow.

EDIT: holy hell does this site suck on mobile.

 

[Mightygoose]

Sportsnet article on the statement

Coyotes blame ‘human error,’ vow to pay all bills to avoid arena lockout

Why do I have the feeling this isn't over? Nevermind the timing of the Strang article and response. During that response they take to defensive on semantic 'We don't owe any taxes'

In addition per Friedman, the city wants more than what's currently owed to ensure they're covered the rest of the season. Suppose Meruelo only pays what he thinks he's owes.

Tempe needs to put the brakes on the proposal immediately and reissue the RFP with wider parameters.

 

[kaiser matias]

The 2003 Senators missed payroll and the team needed to declare bankruptcy and secure financing just to pay their players through the end of the season.

The league itself didn't step in but I assume they were prepared to if the financing deal fell through.

The league did extend the Senators a loan to cover the salaries:

Missed payday causes no panic

There was little official reaction to the Ottawa Senators' failure to meet their player payroll on Wednesday, although a statement released by the National Hockey League yesterday implied the players will be paid soon.

"We continue to monitor the developments in Ottawa and remain committed to a course of action that ultimately will resolve the Senators' financial issues," the statement said.

However, there was no information whether that means the Senators will receive another loan from the league to cover the $3.7-million needed to meet the missed payroll. The club already owes the NHL about $14.7-million.

Instead of their paycheques on Wednesday, the Senators received a letter from majority owner Rod Bryden that assured them they will be paid.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

If the league does have to take over the team again, how would this not be the end of the Tempe proposal?

They wouldn't have enough time to find a new owner who can complete the deal

If the league takes over the team, Tempe is 100% over. As MNumbers mentioned, the legal entity that filed the RFP basically no longer exists in that scenario and no city would entertain a massive development proposal submitted by a defunct/insolvent entity.

If Tempe's over, I think the Coyotes are as well. I don't expect that the league will take over the team at this time but this makes the team look like shit in front of a city they have courted aggressively.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

The league did extend the Senators a loan to cover the salaries:

Missed payday causes no panic

Ahhh, I should have trusted my memory better.

I seemed to recall that the league stepped in but didn't see it explicitly stated when I quickly googled, or perhaps, misread what was there.

 

[bleedblue94]

I can't wait for the 30 for 30 to come out on this whole mess. Feel bad for these fans...

 

[TheLegend]

Sportsnet article on the statement

Coyotes blame ‘human error,’ vow to pay all bills to avoid arena lockout

Why do I have the feeling this isn't over? Nevermind the timing of the Strang article and response. During that response they take to defensive on semantic 'We don't owe any taxes'

In addition per Friedman, the city wants more than what's currently owed to ensure they're covered the rest of the season. Suppose Meruelo only pays what he thinks he's owes.

Tempe needs to put the brakes on the proposal immediately and reissue the RFP with wider parameters.

I'm going to presume Glendale will demand the Coyotes put X-amount of funds in an escrow account to cover what costs they rack up through June 30th.

Which is another ironic moment if you recall what happened just a few years back. .

 

[Jets4Life]

Well as much as I would love to see a return of the Quebec Nordiques, the Coyotes are almost certainly going to be moving to Houston by the 2022-23 season. Houston has everything:

-an owner interested in bring NHl hockey to the Toyota Centre
-NHL ready arena
-5th largest metro population in the United States
-natural rivalry with Dallas
-travel times reduced for Central Division clubs
-no divisional realignment
-long history of hockey in Houston (WHA Aeros and IHL/AHL Aeros always in top 5, in terms of attendance)

It's now a matter of "when"not "if."

 

[Jets4Life]

Other than Utah has been declared Bill Foley’s turf. A move there would involved compensation of some sort (or they offer Arizona.

But the Forbes report specifically mentioned Houston and that smells like Tillman Fertitta planting a story.

Utah is NOT Bill Foley's turf. Salt Lake City in a different states over 400 miles away. I've heard some ridiculous things on the forum in my day, but this one is priceless.

However, it won't matter since the NHL has no intention of moving the Coyotes to Salt Lake.