CXLVI - Future of Coyotes up in air after Tempe rejects arena deal - will remain at Mullet Arena for 2023-24, looking at Fiesta Mall site in Mesa

[LadyStanley]

Bettman’s non-update: looking at options in greater Phoenix area

 

[Llama19]

Bettman’s non-update: looking at options in greater Phoenix area

Gary Bettman gives updates on NHL salary cap, Senators sale, Coyotes' new home

The NHL salary cap isn't expected to see a big increase next year, the Senators' sale is on track, and the league still hopes to keep the Coyotes in Arizona.

Source: sports.yahoo.com/gary-bettman-gives-updates-on-nhl-salary-cap-senators-sale-coyotes-new-home-004313684.html

 

[Fenway]

Gary Bettman admits to Ron MacLean we are running out of time in Phoenix

 

[PredsHead]

Was looking into something else and saw this and wondered if this could be one of the sites that Meruelo is looking at? Apparently it is where Phoenix Rising played its home games for a few years and is mentioned as being part of a bigger sports and entertainment complex. It would seem to fit most of the cryptic pieces of information about the possible site that has been hinted at by Craig Morgan and John Buccigross. Does anyone local know if this development ever actually took off or where it is at?

Arizona's Akimel 7 Development Carries $4B Price Tag

Tribal land in East Valley may finally see development. Here's what is envisioned

Nevermind, it looks like the guy was a complete fraud......AZ employees, business partners say ex-NFL player owes them money

 

[Fenway]

Bettman telling MacLean we are running out of time in Arizona is a significant development.

Meruelo needs to find a land deal that needs no voter approval and that will be difficult.

Best option is on native-American land but.......is there a viable option in the East Valley?

Explore a working arrangement with the NBA Suns? Coyotes have no leverage.

I suspect it will come down to Houston and Salt Lake and the NBA Jazz owner WANTS a team.

 

[Fatass]

Bettman telling MacLean we are running out of time in Arizona is a significant development.

Meruelo needs to find a land deal that needs no voter approval and that will be difficult.

Best option is on native-American land but.......is there a viable option in the East Valley?

Explore a working arrangement with the NBA Suns? Coyotes have no leverage.

I suspect it will come down to Houston and Salt Lake and the NBA Jazz owner WANTS a team.

Can the league force Meurello to see to their preferred choice, or can he sell to the highest bidder? What if the Quebec people offer 200 million more? Do the other owners have to make up the difference to get Meurello to sell to Huston or Salt Lake?

 

[Llama19]

Bettman telling MacLean we are running out of time in Arizona is a significant development.

Meruelo needs to find a land deal that needs no voter approval and that will be difficult.

Best option is on native-American land but.......is there a viable option in the East Valley?

Explore a working arrangement with the NBA Suns? Coyotes have no leverage.

I suspect it will come down to Houston and Salt Lake and the NBA Jazz owner WANTS a team.

Fiesta Mall is dead...deal will be with their long-term sponsor...Gila River...

So...the question is...which of their four casino properties...

The only 'centrally' located one is...Wild Horse Pass...

As the Phoenix Rising is no longer there...nor is the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park...

 

[Boris Zubov]

Bettman telling MacLean we are running out of time in Arizona is a significant development.

Meruelo needs to find a land deal that needs no voter approval and that will be difficult.

Best option is on native-American land but.......is there a viable option in the East Valley?

Explore a working arrangement with the NBA Suns? Coyotes have no leverage.

I suspect it will come down to Houston and Salt Lake and the NBA Jazz owner WANTS a team.

Maybe It's me reading into his body language, but it's the first time I can recall where Bettman wasn't totally defiant about the team staying in the Valley. There was almost a quiet acceptance about the situation that it's out of his control.

Of course it wouldn't be a Bettman interview if he didn't throw shade at Glendale, but this time he had a new city to "dump" on with the voters in Tempe. Such a bitter old dude when he doesn't get his way.

 

[Brodie]

I can't recall an interview with Bettman where he was this upfront and honest about things, really seemed like he was suggesting the league would be totally fine with a scenario where Meruelo sells up to SLC

 

[aqib]

The Athletic has interviews with Bettman and Daly and they basically admit that time is almost up to get a deal in Arizona and point to Salt Lake City as the home should they move.

They also say expansion isnt far off and Atlanta is one of the destinations. LeBrun: Clock ticking on Coyotes as Gary Bettman lays out NHL's options for relocation and expansion

 

[ForumNamePending]

Regarding Salt Lake City, the current arena isn't going to cut it, so how far along in the process is a new arena in Salt Lake City? Admittedly, I didn't look super hard, but I wasn't able to find anything much beyond... well, maybe something as part of a successfully Olympic bid.

Can't the Coyotes struggles be traced all the way back to the fact the original arena wasn't really suitable for hockey? Would seem sorta crazy to potentially create a similar situation.

 

[StreetHawk]

Regarding Salt Lake City, the current arena isn't going to cut it, so how far along in the process is a new arena in Salt Lake City? Admittedly, I didn't look super hard, but I wasn't able to find anything much beyond... well, maybe something as part of a successfully Olympic bid.

Can't the Coyotes struggles be traced all the way back to the fact the original arena wasn't really suitable for hockey? Would seem sorta crazy to potentially create a similar situation.

Even if the footprint arena where the coyotes began in AZ was nhl suitable the coyotes wouldn’t get anything more than game day revenue since the suns control the arena.
They would have still been looking for another arena.

 

[ponder719]

Regarding Salt Lake City, the current arena isn't going to cut it, so how far along in the process is a new arena in Salt Lake City? Admittedly, I didn't look super hard, but I wasn't able to find anything much beyond... well, maybe something as part of a successfully Olympic bid.

Can't the Coyotes struggles be traced all the way back to the fact the original arena wasn't really suitable for hockey? Would seem sorta crazy to potentially create a similar situation.

The arena was certainly a problem, but the deeper issue was that the original ownership was incapable of keeping up with rising costs in the league, and the team then got passed around through a cavalcade of idiots, hucksters, and jokes in human form masquerading as owners. What SLC seems to have that Phoenix was never fortunate enough to have is a very rich, very civic-minded person with a genuine interest and desire to own the team as something other than a way to make a quick buck. If Smith is as well-off as he seems, and is genuinely willing and able to accept some measure of loss on the Coyotes until such time as the arena question can be sorted, then it almost doesn't matter that the arena is more hypothetical than tangible at this juncture. If everything collapses in Arizona, and the team has to leave the market, if Smith is willing to have his two teams share their current arena, and accept the financial implications of that, until the other components are in place, then there fundamentally is no issue.

 

[powerstuck]

Can the league force Meurello to see to their preferred choice, or can he sell to the highest bidder? What if the Quebec people offer 200 million more? Do the other owners have to make up the difference to get Meurello to sell to Huston or Salt Lake?

See Jim Balsillie saga covered in the 145 previous threads.

Basically, the league has the last say at who gets to buy the team and where to move them (if there is a move).

 

[JimAnchower]

Regarding Salt Lake City, the current arena isn't going to cut it, so how far along in the process is a new arena in Salt Lake City? Admittedly, I didn't look super hard, but I wasn't able to find anything much beyond... well, maybe something as part of a successfully Olympic bid.

Can't the Coyotes struggles be traced all the way back to the fact the original arena wasn't really suitable for hockey? Would seem sorta crazy to potentially create a similar situation.

I'm going to guess any talk for a new arena in SLC is going to accelerate over the next 6-12 months. Smith is a local and probably has political allies with most of the cities and towns as well as the state, And, of course, an announcement for a new arena will help it's Olympics bid.

 

[Dr Pepper]

See Jim Balsillie saga covered in the 145 previous threads.

Basically, the league has the last say at who gets to buy the team and where to move them (if there is a move).

So if an owner representing a different area is willing to offer more, the league can just ignore it and go with the more preferable location?

I guess that makes sense.

 

[powerstuck]

So if an owner representing a different area is willing to offer more, the league can just ignore it and go with the more preferable location?

I guess that makes sense.

The league went to court with Jim Balsillie to prove a point which is that only they can decide where their franchises will be localed.

Balsillie wanted to purchase the Coyotes and relocate them to Hamilton, Ontario.

We've seen similar things happen later. When the league did a Vegas expansion, Quebec City had a bid for an expansion slot.

Now, it am not saying it wouldn't have went that way, but even if Quebec put a 2 billion $ expansion bid, the league would have ''deffered'' them and only went with Vegas.

 

[oldunclehue]

So if an owner representing a different area is willing to offer more, the league can just ignore it and go with the more preferable location?

I guess that makes sense.

Yup, organizations are franchises that are tied to the league they play in. Much like if you owned a McDonalds franchise, you can't just sell it to anyone without the Mcdonalds corp being involved in the sale and approval.

If Bettman is starting to sway on his belief that the Coyotes stay in the area, then its likely they are done. He is just starting the soft landing approaching "we did more than we should of to keep this team there, but in the end the area doesn't have a location for this organization to prosper. The Coyotes will be sold to XYZ"

 

[awfulwaffle]

Fiesta Mall is dead...deal will be with their long-term sponsor...Gila River...

So...the question is...which of their four casino properties...

The only 'centrally' located one is...Wild Horse Pass...

As the Phoenix Rising is no longer there...nor is the Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park...

Wild Horse Pass is NOT centrally located......

 

[Brodie]

SLC arena stuff is almost a sure thing anyway, they are not giving up the Jazz

 

[Yukon Joe]

The league went to court with Jim Balsillie to prove a point which is that only they can decide where their franchises will be localed.

Balsillie wanted to purchase the Coyotes and relocate them to Hamilton, Ontario.

We've seen similar things happen later. When the league did a Vegas expansion, Quebec City had a bid for an expansion slot.

Now, it am not saying it wouldn't have went that way, but even if Quebec put a 2 billion $ expansion bid, the league would have ''deffered'' them and only went with Vegas.

I mean you have to read between the lines a bit, but I think it was pretty clear that in between the time that Quebec City submitted their expansion bid, and by the time the league decided in 2016, PKP and Quebecor just couldn't afford the expansion fee.

Efforts to bring the NHL back to QC really got going in around 2010-2011. Bettman said the league was favourably inclined, but the city needed a new arena. So Quebec City built a new arena, which was ready by 2015. And 2015 is when the NHL launched it's expansion process, and Quebecor replied.

If you plot the exchange rate though the Canadian dollar went from almost par around 2011, to under $70 by 2016. Quebecor, which is a media and publishing company, has faced the same pressure everyone in those businesses had faced.

So: Quebec City had built the NHL a new arena, but no longer could afford a team. That's why the league went with the face-saving "deferred" decision rather than rejecting it outright, or PKP having to withdraw the application.

But you'll note how much less serious talk there has been about the NHL coming to Quebec City since 2016.

 

[aqib]

NHL a new arena, but no longer could afford a team. That's why the league went with the face-saving "deferred" decision rather than rejecting it outright, or PKP having to withdraw the application.

But you'll note how much less ser

As much as we talk about geographic balance as being a factor, QC is really the only eastern market that I thought would make sense that the league would be open to. The league has crapped on Southern Ontario repeatedly. Even in the Athletic article I posted they were saying to the reporter that a second Toronto team was "something that comes up more in your world (i.e. Canadian media) than ours"

So I figured move the Coyotes to The other markets are in the West (Houston, SLC, Portland if the Blazers ever sell) it would make it easy to put the distressed team in QC and then use expansion on the Western cities. However, now it seems they are open to Atlanta again so then it makes sense for them to put the Coyotes in Salt Lake City and then expand to Atlanta and another Western city.

 

[Slashers98]

I mean you have to read between the lines a bit, but I think it was pretty clear that in between the time that Quebec City submitted their expansion bid, and by the time the league decided in 2016, PKP and Quebecor just couldn't afford the expansion fee.

Efforts to bring the NHL back to QC really got going in around 2010-2011. Bettman said the league was favourably inclined, but the city needed a new arena. So Quebec City built a new arena, which was ready by 2015. And 2015 is when the NHL launched it's expansion process, and Quebecor replied.

If you plot the exchange rate though the Canadian dollar went from almost par around 2011, to under $70 by 2016. Quebecor, which is a media and publishing company, has faced the same pressure everyone in those businesses had faced.

So: Quebec City had built the NHL a new arena, but no longer could afford a team. That's why the league went with the face-saving "deferred" decision rather than rejecting it outright, or PKP having to withdraw the application.

But you'll note how much less serious talk there has been about the NHL coming to Quebec City since 2016.

Bettman simply hates Canada, so he was doing everything he could to avoid moving a franchise here... Now that Vegas and Seattle are not options anymore, he's pushing for weak markets like SLC to land a team instead of a hockey hotbed like Quebec City. As long as Jacobs and Bettman are there, forget about expanding or relocating to Canada.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Bettman simply hates Canada, so he was doing everything he could to avoid moving a franchise here... Now that Vegas and Seattle are not options anymore, he's pushing for weak markets like SLC to land a team instead of a hockey hotbed like Quebec City. As long as Jacobs and Bettman are there, forget about expanding or relocating to Canada.

I disagree.

SLC appears to have someone willing to pay $1 billion US to move a team there. QC doesn't.

Bettman is definitely a "show me the money" kind of guy.. Money talks.

 

[Dynamite Kid]

I mean you have to read between the lines a bit, but I think it was pretty clear that in between the time that Quebec City submitted their expansion bid, and by the time the league decided in 2016, PKP and Quebecor just couldn't afford the expansion fee.

Efforts to bring the NHL back to QC really got going in around 2010-2011. Bettman said the league was favourably inclined, but the city needed a new arena. So Quebec City built a new arena, which was ready by 2015. And 2015 is when the NHL launched it's expansion process, and Quebecor replied.

If you plot the exchange rate though the Canadian dollar went from almost par around 2011, to under $70 by 2016. Quebecor, which is a media and publishing company, has faced the same pressure everyone in those businesses had faced.

So: Quebec City had built the NHL a new arena, but no longer could afford a team. That's why the league went with the face-saving "deferred" decision rather than rejecting it outright, or PKP having to withdraw the application.

But you'll note how much less serious talk there has been about the NHL coming to Quebec City since 2016.

Quebecor has been really quiet through all this. You could say almost "True North" quiet. They could host the team this fall without an issue. I think expansion is being lined up for SLC and Atlanta, leaving another western city. 9 teams per division......the final goal being 10.