CXLIX - FINAL thoughts on the Arizona Coyotes

[TheLegend]

Alex, Jr. told the remaining staff yesterday.

 

[Mightygoose]

So it's officially no longer inactive.

Best not to prolong this instead of talking about multiple other plots of dirt they're exploring.

Soon we'll see how soon a group with a realistic plan emerges. I think it will be a longer road than Meurelo's timeline.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Little surprised Meruelo would just fold the entire thing so quickly.

He owned something that theoretically had some value - the right to own an NHL franchise in Phoenix. Even if he no longer thought he could get an arena built you'd think he'd keep that "franchise" alive with the idea he could sell it to somebody else for them to build an arena?

 

[eojsmada]

Little surprised Meruelo would just fold the entire thing so quickly.

He owned something that theoretically had some value - the right to own an NHL franchise in Phoenix. Even if he no longer thought he could get an arena built you'd think he'd keep that "franchise" alive with the idea he could sell it to somebody else for them to build an arena?

He was clearly out of his depth at almost every level of management other than having the title "owner" to the point that he had to have someone else to do all of the front-facing efforts.

 

[nickp91]

Meruelo was a failure from start to finish Beyond happy that he is gone Process moves forward now as expansion

 

[dj4aces]

What Intel executive is worth billions of dollars and is willing to sink much of his net worth into this project?

Sure anythings possible but I really don't see anyone, short of someone super desperate to own a pro sports team, wanting to sink a lot of money into something that isn't exactly guaranteed to succeed.

Who said it has to be just one person? Yeah, I threw out a possibility, but not a definitive.

The league wants to be there. Clearly they do, otherwise they wouldn't have bought the team and held on to it while they sought a buyer who'd keep it in Phoenix.

If it were all about someone being "super desperate to own a team", they'd buy a franchise in Hamilton.

 

[Boris Zubov]

Little surprised Meruelo would just fold the entire thing so quickly.

He owned something that theoretically had some value - the right to own an NHL franchise in Phoenix. Even if he no longer thought he could get an arena built you'd think he'd keep that "franchise" alive with the idea he could sell it to somebody else for them to build an arena?

The sale to Utah agreement with the NHL prohibited him from selling his rights to the franchise.

 

[awfulwaffle]

Little surprised Meruelo would just fold the entire thing so quickly.

He owned something that theoretically had some value - the right to own an NHL franchise in Phoenix. Even if he no longer thought he could get an arena built you'd think he'd keep that "franchise" alive with the idea he could sell it to somebody else for them to build an arena?

I thought it was reported he could only sell 20% of the franchise or something like that? We don't have the whole agreement, but don't know if that would have been an option. It was he either goes through with it, or it goes back to the NHL is what it feels like.

 

[takimaki]

Why did he even hash out this 5 year contingency deal with the league to just fold and walk away after less than two months?

What a joke.

 

[TheLegend]

Little surprised Meruelo would just fold the entire thing so quickly.

He owned something that theoretically had some value - the right to own an NHL franchise in Phoenix. Even if he no longer thought he could get an arena built you'd think he'd keep that "franchise" alive with the idea he could sell it to somebody else for them to build an arena?

He can’t sell or transfer the rights.

He knows he isn’t going to make any of the deadlines.

The special use permit COP wants (I’m told) takes 9-12 months to get.

Craig Morgan mentioned last night those two other properties he had LOIs out on will required full rezoning.

 

[TheLegend]

Why did he even hash out this 5 year contingency deal with the league to just fold and walk away after less than two months?

What a joke.

Given his personality, he really thought he could pull it off.

In his 40 years he never lost an asset he acquired and turned around. But he flat underestimated what owning a sports franchise involves.

 

[Skidooboy]

That argument is such garbage & so overblown. There is no perfect location in the valley. East side fans bitch about the west side, & vice versa. Fans in other markets travel longer times & distances to see their teams play.

Ask them today & I bet 99% of the Yotes fans who bitched about Glendale would happily take the team back there rather then have no team at all. Besides the fact that the west valley has developed rapidly it's not as remote as it was when it opened in 2003.

Thank you I have been hearing about the commute to Glendale for years here...and according to so many on this board....It's soooo much harder to drive 36 mins in AZ from downtown Phoenix than it is say to drive from Medford to Boston. or say The HOUR drive my friend in Markham makes to go to Leafs games.......in January....

BTW According to google maps...DT Phoenix to Glendale is 36 mins.
From Downtown Phoenix to the proposed Murello location was 27-31 mins.....

somehow that 4 mins of commute time became the reason why Murello would succeed while everyone in Glendale failed.... 4 minutes.....who knew. A real hockey market will drive 32 minutes...but 36? that's crazy.

Meanwhile I drive 2.5 hours each way for Jets games in -30C snowstorms......

 

[Boris Zubov]

Thank you I have been hearing about the commute to Glendale for years here...and according to so many on this board....It's soooo much harder to drive 36 mins in AZ from downtown Phoenix than it is say to drive from Medford to Boston. or say The HOUR drive my friend in Markham makes to go to Leafs games.......in January....

BTW According to google maps...DT Phoenix to Glendale is 36 mins.
From Downtown Phoenix to the proposed Murello location was 27-31 mins.....

somehow that 4 mins of commute time became the reason why Murello would succeed while everyone in Glendale failed.... 4 minutes.....who knew. A real hockey market will drive 32 minutes...but 36? that's crazy.

Meanwhile I drive 2.5 hours each way for Jets games in -30C snowstorms......

I get it....I live in the Hartford area almost directly in between MSG or TD Garden distance wise. This year I went to 2 games at MSG & the Stadium game at Metlife. To get to MSG takes me 3 hours+ between driving to my buddies house in Westchester & then jumping on a train to NYC. Ive been to a couple of Bs games at TD Garden, because my GF wanted to see the VGK after we moved out of Vegas & that's a 2 hour drive with no traffic.

As much as I feel for Yotes fans, they seemed a bit entitled regarding this issue. Fandom requires making sacrifices...sometimes that means sitting in traffic or going to work the next morning on less sleep than usual. However, I was never convinced this was the deal-breaker it was made out to be. The team sucked forever & didn't give people reason to travel. Had they been a consistent playoff team, you wouldn't hear about Glendale being an issue.

Regardless, the market had endless hurdles to clear & frankly the plug should've been pulled a decade earlier.

 

[TheLegend]

Thank you I have been hearing about the commute to Glendale for years here...and according to so many on this board....It's soooo much harder to drive 36 mins in AZ from downtown Phoenix than it is say to drive from Medford to Boston. or say The HOUR drive my friend in Markham makes to go to Leafs games.......in January....

BTW According to google maps...DT Phoenix to Glendale is 36 mins.
From Downtown Phoenix to the proposed Murello location was 27-31 mins.....

somehow that 4 mins of commute time became the reason why Murello would succeed while everyone in Glendale failed.... 4 minutes.....who knew. A real hockey market will drive 32 minutes...but 36? that's crazy.

Meanwhile I drive 2.5 hours each way for Jets games in -30C snowstorms......

Those drive times you show from Google do not take into consideration what rush hour is like around Phoenix Metro.

Even the players would say it took them at least 90 minutes to get from their homes in the Scottsdale area out to Glendale on game days. And that’s before the heaviest part of rush hour hits.

I mean it’s great that you drive 2.5 hours in subzero weather to watch the Jets. If 15,000 more of your fellow Jets fans all said the same thing then I’d definitely be impressed. But somehow I doubt that’s going to happen as we all saw how Jets attendance was running earlier this past season.

 

[Headshot77]

At some point we need to ask if the business model is broken. I saw a tweet that the league was happy with 6 million viewers on ABC for Game 7 last night. That's a regular season NBA game on TNT in November. How long is this sustainable for the NHL?

The NHL is trying to have it both ways. They want NBA franchise values while only pulling a fraction of the revenues. IMO an NHL franchise is the most overvalued of any big 4 sport.

 

[Voight]

Who said it has to be just one person? Yeah, I threw out a possibility, but not a definitive.

The league wants to be there. Clearly they do, otherwise they wouldn't have bought the team and held on to it while they sought a buyer who'd keep it in Phoenix.

If it were all about someone being "super desperate to own a team", they'd buy a franchise in Hamilton.

I just dont see many people pouring money into something that isn't really a safe investment or guaranteed to make money.

The NHL is trying to have it both ways. They want NBA franchise values while only pulling a fraction of the revenues. IMO an NHL franchise is the most overvalued of any big 4 sport.

I agree with you, but that's stretching it.

 

[Melrose Munch]

The NHL is trying to have it both ways. They want NBA franchise values while only pulling a fraction of the revenues. IMO an NHL franchise is the most overvalued of any big 4 sport.

At some point we need to ask if the business model is broken. I saw a tweet that the league was happy with 6 million viewers on ABC for Game 7 last night. That's a regular season NBA game on TNT in November. How long is this sustainable for the NHL?

The business model is broken.

It needs to change. The NHL has some of the best jerseys in sports. They need to market that much more, for example

 

[JKG33]

It's hilarious because most everyone on this forum predicted Meruelo would take his billion and go home, but I don't think even the biggest pessimist thought he'd pull the chute just 60ish days in

 

[LadyStanley]

The reason he failed:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1805666164183331124

 

[madhi19]

Problem is - that's true of 80-90% of the league. Outside of the Rangers, Leafs - maybe the Habs - every team has team-friendly arena deals that rely on below rate arenas and secondary sources of income.

Back to Glendale - under new ownership I think Glendale would be 100% happy to sign a medium to long term lease for a Yotes 2.0 franchise - at fair market rates. And no NHL team can survive on such a deal.

The Leafs and the Habs have taxes deal, the Rangers have the mother of all sweetheart lease. It's so good it was worth spending more than a billion to renovate MSG.

 

[TheLegend]

It's hilarious because most everyone on this forum predicted Meruelo would take his billion and go home, but I don't think even the biggest pessimist thought he'd pull the chute just 60ish days in

Well he’s not getting a billion…. but he will walk away with money in pocket.

 

[Fatass]

Well he’s not getting a billion…. but he will walk away with money in pocket.

With Meurelo out of the picture doesn’t that actually improve the regions chances to get another nhl franchise?

 

[IU Hawks fan]

At some point we need to ask if the business model is broken. I saw a tweet that the league was happy with 6 million viewers on ABC for Game 7 last night. That's a regular season NBA game on TNT in November. How long is this sustainable for the NHL?

Bullshit. The NBA averaged 1.6 million in the regular season.

NBA's viewership steady in regular season compared to recent years

The NBA's regular season viewership in 2023-24 was in line with recent years, averaging 1.6 million viewers per game.

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

 

[madhi19]

With Meurelo out of the picture doesn’t that actually improve the regions chances to get another nhl franchise?

I figure if the NHL is clever they let the dust settle for awhile (2030 at least)... Get fresh faces to run the league, and see if somebody serious is interested. The problem is when did they do the clever thing when it come to Arizona? Despite all the nice things they said and will be saying publicly there might be a "Never again." feeling behind the scene.

 

[TheLegend]

With Meurelo out of the picture doesn’t that actually improve the regions chances to get another nhl franchise?

A lot of people think it saves us three to five years. But in spite the league saying they want to be back here, it’s going to take a group with very deep pockets who can build the arena and meet the expansion price.

That…. On top of wading through all the local politics. We saw a lot of that the last five years.