This is actually a very good news, I could have seen that crap ending up tied in court for the rest of the decade. Now everybody can move on and never mention the Coyotes or Arizona for a couple of years will help. Let the dust settle, and than you consider going back eventually.
Probably won’t know the real number.
My loosest guess:
Correct. Even with the unusual caveat of Alex keeping the Intellectual property of the franchise, that still wouldn't have required much more work on the bill of sale between the principles for a straight sale.
SEG absolutely did not acquire Coyotes debt as they did not acquire the Coyotes or Coyotes liabilities. SEG purchased the contracts of players, the operations staff and draft picks.
I'd eat my hat if that debt wasn't between $400-500M. 28 years as the Coyotes, they never once turned a profit... in the article @TheLegend posted on the last page from 2008 about Jerry Moyes waving the white flag, it said the team had estimated losses of $30M in back to back years of 06-07 & 07-08. Add another $30M in the season directly before the bankruptcy & you're almost at $100M for those 3 years. $200M was probably lost before the league extracted $50M from Glendale over 2 years in 2011.Correct. Even with the unusual caveat of Alex keeping the Intellectual property of the franchise, that still wouldn't have required much more work on the bill of sale between the principles for a straight sale.
The reason Smith never met Meruelo and the cash was washed through the League was so the League could pay off the established debts (Estimated at around $200M) they've been holding on to. They then gave the remainder to Alex so he could pay off the short-term debts he accrued in the ~5 years he had the team and walked away with whatever was left.
Hence Smith's quote about "not worrying" about the valuation of the franchise:
This deal was expressly made in a way no one would know just how much Meruelo walked away with, so the League could protect the valuation for future concerns. And everyone in the league knows better than to question it.
But it would also explain why it's Utah and not Atlanta or Houston etc. because Smith was willing to play ball and write the check where other ownership groups like Fertitta would balk (or probably balked) at the idea of having to horribly overpay for an existing franchise because it's mountains of debt from past sins needed to be paid off.
Maybe in a few years someone will leak the details. Won't hold my breath on Craig Morgan though
I think the $450M included the assumption of debt. So if you figure $30M a year of regular losses and another $50 million on the Mullet retrofit and pursuit of a new arena. That's $650 million. So I have him walking away with $350M if you increase the losses to $40M a year that's still $300M
The league has been doing everything they can to prioritize expansion fees. Why would they accept something so low when they controlled the entire process? (Also, it's 200 million, not 200k
)Media members haven't asked publicly because, like this entire process, they've been told if they want to continue to have access to the things they can report about, and subsequently the reason for having a job, they better control the narrative to the NHL's liking. Been that way the entire team.Llama and I have used this article circa 2015 as the reference point but I definitely wouldn't argue with you though if it was double+ my estimate.
Absolutely. The fact that no one has even bothered to actually ask the league about this throughout this entire saga certainly speaks volumes though. Funny how when I brought his losses up a year ago I was met with "it's just paper losses and he's not really losing that much"
The league has been doing everything they can to prioritize expansion fees. Why would they accept something so low when they controlled the entire process? (Also, it's 200 million, not 200k
Fixed it..... thanks.
You're right about protecting the expansion fee. I expect Atlanta will be a minimum of $1.2 billion.... possibly more if it takes another year or two to get the process rolling officially.
Also don't expect the $1 billion "reactivation" fee for Arizona to be there either. It goes back into the "whatever the hell the league feels like queue".
You mean "time" don't you??
Footprint was renovated around Covid time. The new lease extended by 15 years to 2037. So lots of time between now and around 2034 when they would discuss plans for the arena. It only received a facelift not a structural change like Utah is now doing.Report: Alex Meruelo officially relinquishes rights to Coyotes
According to a report by PHNX Sports' Craig Morgan on Wednesday, NHL debut commissioner Bill Daly confirmed that the former Arizona Coyotes owner has signed off on relinquishing his rights to the franchise.www.sportsnet.ca
The line at the end: As for the future of hockey in the desert, Bettman said at the NHL's Board of Governors meetings it is not something the NHL is focused on.
The only hope is if its paired with the Suns somehow. Either the Suns expanding Footprint's footprint (pun intended) or waiting until the lease is up and a new arena is built.
Report: Alex Meruelo officially relinquishes rights to Coyotes
According to a report by PHNX Sports' Craig Morgan on Wednesday, NHL debut commissioner Bill Daly confirmed that the former Arizona Coyotes owner has signed off on relinquishing his rights to the franchise.
The line at the end: As for the future of hockey in the desert, Bettman said at the NHL's Board of Governors meetings it is not something the NHL is focused on.
The only hope is if its paired with the Suns somehow. Either the Suns expanding Footprint's footprint (pun intended) or waiting until the lease is up and a new arena is built.
Phx or AZ is supposed to be a big market. Is it about time that they begin daring their sports team to make good on their threat to leave vs giving in and putting up 9 figures of tax payers money into arenas? I mean the suns being in AZ was about a $500 mill difference vs what the Milwaukee Bucks was valued for.
