CXLVIII - Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo had 'productive' meeting with Phoenix mayor

[bleedblue94]

That presser compared to the one this afternoon... Wowsers

 

[GKJ]

Yeah...nothing said so far is anything less than a brand new arena. They've identified their spot, the state has cleared the law for funding, they've got a few more hurdles to clear but they're full tilt for a brand new arena/district.

Maybe I missed the boat but he seemed to be committed to renovating Delta Center and building around it. He talked a lot about how it’s not about an arena, and that there isn’t land to do it.

 

[LadyStanley]

Bettman and Mr Smith asked what advice they would give to prospective owners. Bettman reiterated the arena, ownership, area and improve the NHL; and be imaginative. Also mentioned that this moved helped the league get over a problem. Smith indicated be open and follow through.

 

[bleedblue94]

Maybe I missed the boat but he seemed to be committed to renovating Delta Center and building around it. He talked a lot about how it’s not about an arena, and that there isn’t land to do it.

Agreed, he flat out said they want to be downtown and don't want to do a district in the presser today.

 

[sneakytitz]

Maybe I missed the boat but he seemed to be committed to renovating Delta Center and building around it. He talked a lot about how it’s not about an arena, and that there isn’t land to do it.

Agreed, he flat out said they want to be downtown and don't want to do a district in the presser today.

Huh?

With NHL arena as a goal, Ryan Smith and SLC charge forward on new sports district

Salt Lake City and Utah's pro sports tycoon are pushing forward on a proposal to build a taxpayer-backed sports and entertainment district downtown.

www.sltrib.com

 

[SirJW]

I saw the tail end of the presser.

So now Utah is chasing an arena? From what I heard, there are no plans yet.

This is beyond comical.

 

[dj4aces]

Oh if Gary didn't drop some major hints with that last comment.

I just got back from the store. What hints were dropped?

 

[sneakytitz]

I saw the tail end of the presser.

So now Utah is chasing an arena? From what I heard, there are no plans yet.

This is beyond comical.

No plans? They just submitted them and it could be approved as early as July. Smith negotiated this with the governor last year, and the governor signed off on it. It's up to SLC to approve but they are fast tracking this.

Did I view this presser in an alternate universe? Lol. What in the world.

Salt Lake City Council begins process of discussing, reviewing plans for new downtown arena

The Smith Entertainment Group has formally submitted an application to Salt Lake City for the downtown reinvestment district, which is the procedure that must take place to both lure a team to Utah

www.fox13now.com

 

[Major4Boarding]

Damn that Meruelo press conference was awful. Does he not have a PR team?

• "I hate the media"
• "Can you let me breath?"
• "I spent 7 million on the tempe vote" - Public docs say 1 million

Gary probably left that thinking "Can't wait until year 3 when this guy is still searching for land and we can pull the carpet out from him." He had to take the mic away from him a few times and answer on his behalf.

(Paraphrasing) I couldn’t speak. I was gagged, threatened… that was my most WTF moment of the presser

Who threatened you? The man sitting to your left?

Wouldn’t doubt it but pretty ballsy to come right out and say it when you’re sitting next to him

 

[bleedblue94]

Huh?

With NHL arena as a goal, Ryan Smith and SLC charge forward on new sports district

Salt Lake City and Utah's pro sports tycoon are pushing forward on a proposal to build a taxpayer-backed sports and entertainment district downtown.

www.sltrib.com

I misunderstood, I thought you were talking about the district south of dt. Not the one in dt. They were asked about the .5 percent sales tax increase to help subsidies it and it was obvious that's where things are going.

 

[sneakytitz]

I misunderstood, I thought you were talking about the district south of dt. Not the one in dt. They were asked about the .5 percent sales tax increase to help subsidies it and it was obvious that's where things are going.

He said, in so many words, that they could have gone "south of the city" like everyone else but they were committed to keeping the new arena/district downtown.

I just got back from the store. What hints were dropped?

The last question was regarding expansion. The points/steps Gary outlined jive with the rumors we've heard about expansion candidates, primarily Atlanta.

 

[LadyStanley]

I saw the tail end of the presser.

So now Utah is chasing an arena? From what I heard, there are no plans yet.

This is beyond comical.

SLC to sign contract July 24 for 2034 Winter Olympics.

They need a hockey arena as part of the facilities. (And speed skating, ice dancing/figure skating facilities.) Currently Delta Center and echl grizzlies arenas available.

Mayor mentioned need for more ice sheets in region.

Smith mentioned design for downtown entertainment/sports district where families could come at "3pm for a game and stay until 2am".
Nothing about NEW arena I heard, but working to get improved Delta Center to be in heart of that.

 

[GKJ]

Huh?

With NHL arena as a goal, Ryan Smith and SLC charge forward on new sports district

Salt Lake City and Utah's pro sports tycoon are pushing forward on a proposal to build a taxpayer-backed sports and entertainment district downtown.

www.sltrib.com

I’m going off what he said.

 

[PCSPounder]

That's an extremely external point of view. It's tarnished to you, but didn't stop thousands of people from proudly wearing the brand last night.

The best way to make this make sense is baseball stadiums. When my team (Mets) opened a new baseball stadium, 99% of fans said "It's not 'Mets enough.'". (WTF does that mean? What was Mets about the old place?). The common thing said was "Shea was a dump, but it was OUR DUMP."

What makes Ivy "Cubs" or a big green wall "Red Sox." ? It's the fact that the Cubs and Red Sox have played "my entire life" in front of the Ivy and Green Monster. The Mets new stadium feels like HOME now that the Mets had World Series games, a no-hitter, the farewell to David Wright, jersey retirements, and 15 seasons in it. New Yankee Stadium felt a lot more like home to Yankee fans on day one because it looked just like the old home than CitiField felt like home to the Mets.

And that's the point on the Coyotes brand.

YOUR perception of the Coyotes brand is "ownership/arena dumpster fire." But that's only a piece of the brand to the Coyotes fans, and the least important to the feelings of those fans for the brand.

What the Coyotes brand means to their fans is "My NHL team." And that's why you want the revival of an NHL team in Phoenix to be the Coyotes. And why Atlanta wants the Thrashers, and why Winnipeg wanted the Jets.

The game I went to at AWA, it wasn’t full, but you could tell fans were into it. The rabid base had been built. All the howling.

The game I went to in Glendale, just six years later. They already ditched the kachina for the next logo… which seemed like a problem to me. Plus that was against Detroit, the arena was maybe 2/3rds full, and it was 45% Wings fans (not a new phenomenon… and in talking to people in Vegas, we know things are different when an O6 team shows up).

I’m not privy to why the kachinas were ditched; perhaps there was a good reason. It seems to me that the Coyote branding was distinct enough and worked… it wasn’t the problem in and of itself. All the decisions made in leaving downtown seemed to lack certain details of vision and the organization never really recovered.

 

[sneakytitz]

SLC to sign contract July 24 for 2034 Winter Olympics.

They need a hockey arena as part of the facilities. (And speed skating, ice dancing/figure skating facilities.) Currently Delta Center and echl grizzlies arenas available.

Mayor mentioned need for more ice sheets in region.

Smith mentioned design for downtown entertainment/sports district where families could come at "3pm for a game and stay until 2am".
Nothing about NEW arena I heard, but working to get improved Delta Center to be in heart of that.

Did you miss the part about making an arena in "two square blocks" versus as many acres as they wanted south of the city?

I am seriously questioning my sanity at this point. It was abundantly clear on my NHL YouTube page that they were talking about a brand new arena/district. As I search Google, the filings and news articles reflect my reality - I have no idea what you and the rest are talking about.

I’m going off what he said.

HENCE HIS COMMENT THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASIER TO BUILD "SOUTH OF THE CITY" LIKE THE REST OF AMERICA THESE DAYS.

 

[LadyStanley]

IIRC Delta Center is currently 2 square blocks

 

[sneakytitz]

IIRC Delta Center is currently 2 square blocks

Yes, this would be Omni>Philips Arena. Not a renovation but a brand new facility/district on the same land.

 

[GKJ]

Did you miss the part about making an arena in "two square blocks" versus as many acres as they wanted south of the city?

I am seriously questioning my sanity at this point. It was abundantly clear on my NHL YouTube page that they were talking about a brand new arena/district. As I search Google, the filings and news articles reflect my reality - I have no idea what you and the rest are talking about.



HENCE HIS COMMENT THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASIER TO BUILD "SOUTH OF THE CITY" LIKE THE REST OF AMERICA THESE DAYS.

Sir, this is a Wendy’s

 

[NYRFAN218]

Apologies if this has been answered and I'm sure it has been but can someone explain to me how they're turning a basketball arena with only 12K unobstructed seats into a 17K unobstructed hockey venue? Don't they have to blow out the entire ends of the buildings/stands?

 

[sneakytitz]

Sir, this is a Wendy’s

It's easier to just say you were wrong.

 

[sneakytitz]

Apologies if this has been answered and I'm sure it has been but can someone explain to me how they're turning a basketball arena with only 12K unobstructed seats into a 17K unobstructed hockey venue? Don't they have to blow out the entire ends of the buildings/stands?

It's a brand new arena. I interpret things as the way they did it with Shea Stadium to Citi Field. Build Citi Field, tear down Shea, build around it after. They have no place to put either team in the interim. It's not like Atlanta where they had the Georgia Dome and GA Tech to host the Hawks for 2 seasons while Philips was built, with no hockey team needed until after the fact.

 

[Llama19]

Hold onto your wallet: Former Arizona Coyotes owner says a new team won't cost us anything
Opinion: Arizona Coyotes ex-owner Alex Meruelo claims he'll build a privately funded hockey entertainment complex to bring hockey back to Arizona. Yet just look at the tax perks he's chasing.

To quote:

"Theme Park District.

Under the law, a developer who manages to snag theme park status can create a special taxing district.

He then can borrow the city’s credit rating to finance his development with low-interest government bonds and levy a sales tax of up to 9% on anything sold within the district, which in this case would presumably apply not just to hockey tickets and T-shirts but anything sold in the 400,000 square feet of stores, offices, restaurants, hotel and theater inside the 110-acre development.

That up to 9% levy would be on top of the 8.6% sales tax collected to fund government operations.

“The property acquired, leased or constructed by the district, the activities of the district in maintaining and caring for the property and the monies derived by the district from operating the property are exempt from state and local income and property taxation,” the law says.

Put another way, if Meruelo wins the right to buy to the land when it goes up for auction on June 27 and the city agrees to the theme park scam, he could take a pass on paying state income taxes and city, county and state property taxes.

By my read of the law, only his hotel would be subject to taxation."

Source: www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2024/04/19/arizona-coyotes-meruelo-stadium-taxing-district/73384533007/

 

[NYRFAN218]

It's a brand new arena. I interpret things as the way they did it with Shea Stadium to Citi Field. Build Citi Field, tear down Shea, build around it after. They have no place to put either team in the interim. It's not like Atlanta where they had the Georgia Dome and GA Tech to host the Hawks for 2 seasons while Philips was built, with no hockey team needed until after the fact.

But they said in the presser today they're doing renovations and it'll be at 17K not this upcoming season but the following one. I'm just not understanding how they're doing this in the current arena because it doesn't seem like a new arena is coming anytime soon if at all.

 

[sneakytitz]

But they said in the presser today they're doing renovations and it'll be at 17K not this upcoming season but the following one. I'm just not understanding how they're doing this in the current arena because it doesn't seem like a new arena is coming anytime soon if at all.

No, they said the new arena will be 17k for hockey. Bettman joked "Well how will you handle that if you have 22K depositing already?"

People, rewatch the presser. Lol.

They're doing short term renovations to improve experience in the interim between now and the new arena.

 

[GKJ]

It's easier to just say you were wrong.

Then I would be actually wrong, why would I do that?



Delta Center was built for basketball and seats 18,306 for NBA games. It will need to be renovated for NHL games in the short term.

“It’s probably the tightest bowl in the NBA,” Smith said. “It’s an envy of the NBA for basketball. Right now, we’ve got 12,000 perfect seats (for hockey) that kind of come in where the sight lines are beautiful and another 6,000 where we can go have fun with who we bring in and how we do that, because it’s a little more compromised from a viewing standpoint.

“But you know, I was just looking at the plans to be able to get to [about 17,500] on hockey without ruining the slope and having to really, like, extract the bowl using new technology that’s available both from seating and the way that we can turn from basketball to hockey, which is super exciting.”

Smith said he has spoken to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver about doing something different.

“We want to actually use our arena and really spend time creating the best dual-sport arena that exists out there, because we want to keep people as close as we possibly can or as vertical as we possibly can to watch both games,” Smith said. “… How do we maintain that while making it really cool and innovative for hockey? And it’s super fun and challenging, but we’re going to do it.”





Could it happen? Anything can happen, he did talk about the possibility of the Jazz going wherever the NHL team goes and not have two arenas. But as I always say, money finds a way. However, there’s no obvious directive or any urgency to get a new arena. He said talked about how everyone knows what a new arena looks like and the experience is really about the blocks surrounding the arena.