CXLIX - Alex Meruelo walking away from Coyotes ownership rights, no longer pursuing arena plans

[TheLegend]

Disagree....In 30 years, not one viable ownership group stepped up when the cost was less than $300M with a team friendly lease in place. If Glendale isn't in play(which it should be), the cost is going to be close to $3B for the team & an arena. Add in that the market itself & lack of of a stable fanbase is still an issue, as is getting a new building built in the political landscape that is AZ. Can't see a team back there within a decade.

Big difference in taking over a franchise that's in a bigger hole every time it turned over and starting from scratch. But your timeline is pretty much in the expected ball park here locally.

Craig Morgan says he has talked to a couple of groups who are interested. But he does not know how serious they are, and also feels it's going to take a very long time for this to settle down before anyone would attempt it.

 

[Boris Zubov]

Big difference in taking over a franchise that's in a bigger hole every time it turned over and starting from scratch. But your timeline is pretty much in the expected ball park here locally.

Craig Morgan says he has talked to a couple of groups who are interested. But he does not know how serious they are, and also feels it's going to take a very long time for this to settle down before anyone would attempt it.

Agree...but my point was more about the cost for a seat at the table moving forward.

 

[Llama19]

Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo giving up pursuit of NHL arena, report says

Source: www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nhl/coyotes/2024/06/24/arizona-coyotes-owner-alex-meruelo-giving-up-pursuit-of-nhl-arena-report-says/74201793007/

 

[TheLegend]

PHNX is having an emergency podcast at this moment.

As soon as it's over I'll embed it here. HF does weird things when you try to to it with a live stream.

 

[objectiveposter]

Coyotes fans are taking it for granted that a new owner will step up. The NHL isnt in houston because they cant find an owner willing to buy a team and build an arena. In Arizona you have to build a new arena in a market that already has 2 world class arenas. 3 is over saturated....not to mention they also have a baseball and football stadium. NHL tried desperately to find a legit owner for 10 plus years who could have had the team for 400 mill or cheaper and built an arena for less than 1 billion. Now the price tag has ballooned to 2.5 billion plus. I would be shocked if they find an owner willing to spend that type of money on a team that never made any money and an arena that has to compete with 2 others to book concert dates.

 

[Bixby Snyder]

Phoenix is the first Sunbelt city to lose a Big 4 team.

Thrashers, Oilers, Chargers, Raiders LA and Oakland, Rams, Clippers, A's, Flames, Jazz. Probably more, definitely not the first.

 

[QuizGuy66]

They are definitely relieved. Now they can charge a better expansion fee.

And do a more orderly expansion timeline on their schedule (and maybe just maybe with a little more thorough vetting).

I am curious if a clean slate will make getting in more desirable to potential owners. Utah wanted in bad enough (bad enough to essentially cut the line) - to the extent there were financial liabilities in the mix did they take some or all of those on too? Did the NHL? Perhaps having none of that to worry about gets some true heavy hitters involved.

Does Utah have a definitive plan to move the Roadrunners operation north? It would be somehow nice if that piece of the hockey footprint - one that predates the Yotes - would be able to stick around

 

[TheLegend]

Coyotes fans are taking it for granted that a new owner will step up. The NHL isnt in houston because they cant find an owner willing to buy a team and build an arena. In Arizona you have to build a new arena in a market that already has 2 world class arenas. 3 is over saturated....not to mention they also have a baseball and football stadium. NHL tried desperately to find a legit owner for 10 plus years who could have had the team for 400 mill or cheaper and built an arena for less than 1 billion. Now the price tag has ballooned to 2.5 billion plus. I would be shocked if they find an owner willing to spend that type of money on a team that never made any money and an arena that has to compete with 2 others to book concert dates.

NHL isn't in Houston because the owner of the Rockets won't pay the asking price.... full stop.

Most Coyotes fans I know are not taking anything for granted. If the NHL wants to come back they better have a legitimate owner this time and not the parade of posers they "vetted".

 

[TheLegend]

And do a more orderly expansion timeline on their schedule (and maybe just maybe with a little more thorough vetting).

I am curious if a clean slate will make getting in more desirable to potential owners. Utah wanted in bad enough (bad enough to essentially cut the line) - to the extent there were financial liabilities in the mix did they take some or all of those on too? Did the NHL? Perhaps having none of that to worry about gets some true heavy hitters involved.

Does Utah have a definitive plan to move the Roadrunners operation north? It would be somehow nice if that piece of the hockey footprint - one that predates the Yotes - would be able to stick around

Alex Meruelo still owns the Roadrunners.

Morgan seen to think he will eventually move them to Reno to a new 10k capacity arena he's supposed to build for UNR Basketball.

 

[QuizGuy66]

Coyotes fans are taking it for granted that a new owner will step up. The NHL isnt in houston because they cant find an owner willing to buy a team and build an arena. In Arizona you have to build a new arena in a market that already has 2 world class arenas. 3 is over saturated....not to mention they also have a baseball and football stadium. NHL tried desperately to find a legit owner for 10 plus years who could have had the team for 400 mill or cheaper and built an arena for less than 1 billion. Now the price tag has ballooned to 2.5 billion plus. I would be shocked if they find an owner willing to spend that type of money on a team that never made any money and an arena that has to compete with 2 others to book concert dates.

Yeah and the 2-team building (Utah excepted) seems to be not the most sought-out model as compared to the past. Owning a 2nd team in the same building just gets you 40 dates filled. And owning.a team without a building gets you not even that (see the Sixers building their own arena). Maybe a category killer guy (like a Harris or a Balmer gets sudden interest but barring that the above post probably nails the challenge

 

[TheLegend]

The podcast just ended..... As promised.....

 

[Boris Zubov]

PHNX is having an emergency podcast at this moment.

As soon as it's over I'll embed it here. HF does weird things when you try to to it with a live stream.

Bonus cameo by Petey from the ESPN wrap party!

 

[objectiveposter]

And do a more orderly expansion timeline on their schedule (and maybe just maybe with a little more thorough vetting).

I am curious if a clean slate will make getting in more desirable to potential owners. Utah wanted in bad enough (bad enough to essentially cut the line) - to the extent there were financial liabilities in the mix did they take some or all of those on too? Did the NHL? Perhaps having none of that to worry about gets some true heavy hitters involved.

Does Utah have a definitive plan to move the Roadrunners operation north? It would be somehow nice if that piece of the hockey footprint - one that predates the Yotes - would be able to stick around

Utah didnt want in bad enough... they would have preferred an expansion team closer to the timeline of building the new arena. The NHL was desperate... they needed a home for the coyotes and utah was the only market that had an ownership in place willing to fork over 1.2 billion. It was similar in 2011 when Winnipeg was the only group actively pursuing an nhl team that had the funds and plan to pull it off. Fact is, if the utah owner wasnt interested gary bettman would be shitting his pants right now with no market for the coyotes to move to on short notice.

 

[GKJ]

The podcast just ended..... As promised.....

I wonder how many people thought this is what they’d be listening to the same night as Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.

 

[Boris Zubov]

I wonder how many people thought this is what they’d be listening to the same night as Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.

at 2am no less.

 

[objectiveposter]

NHL isn't in Houston because the owner of the Rockets won't pay the asking price.... full stop.

Most Coyotes fans I know are not taking anything for granted. If the NHL wants to come back they better have a legitimate owner this time and not the parade of posers they "vetted".

exactly...the rockets owner doesnt want to pay the franchise fee.. and no other potential owner wants to buy a team and build a new arena....its too damn expensive. Utah makes some sense because it makes it easier to justify building a new arena if you have 2 major tenants. I would be shocked if the league finds someone willing to invest 2.5 billion or more to bring hockey back to arizona

 

[TheLegend]

exactly...the rockets owner doesnt want to pay the franchise fee.. and no other potential owner wants to buy a team and build a new arena....its too damn expensive. Utah makes some sense because it makes it easier to justify building a new arena if you have 2 major tenants. I would be shocked if the league finds someone willing to invest 2.5 billion or more to bring hockey back to arizona

It won't be an individual. It'll take an OVG style group.

 

[objectiveposter]

Yeah and the 2-team building (Utah excepted) seems to be not the most sought-out model as compared to the past. Owning a 2nd team in the same building just gets you 40 dates filled. And owning.a team without a building gets you not even that (see the Sixers building their own arena). Maybe a category killer guy (like a Harris or a Balmer gets sudden interest but barring that the above post probably nails the challenge

even if they find a balmer with deep pockets ... why wouldnt he try houston instead? its a bigger market that doesnt have the stench or failure of the coyotes....and houston only had 1 other arena to compete against.

 

[bossram]

LMAO. The saga of Meruelo, the Coyotes, and the never-ever-was-actually-happening-new-arena played out almost exactly as I predicted. Meruelo never had any intentions of building a new arena. That would require work and competence, not grifting and fraud (the only things he's good at). It was always about selling the team at a profit before having to put up any real money. And then the NHL basically does it for him and hands him a cool $1B. This is exactly what he wanted and what happened. Now he gets to walk away and laugh all the way to the bank.

I feel bad for the real hockey fans in Arizona. I don't feel bad for the ones who kept telling me I had it all wrong.

Meruelo is just finally put out of his misery - It's been a long time coming.

This isn't his misery. It's his dream. It's what he wanted all along!

He got the big payout ($1B courtesy of the NHL) and doesn't actually have to work to build the arena he never intended to actually build.

Grifter ends his hockey grift to go back to his other, more profitable grifts.

Pretty much.

 

[dj4aces]

Alex Meruelo still owns the Roadrunners.

Morgan seen to think he will eventually move them to Reno to a new 10k capacity arena he's supposed to build for UNR Basketball.

Aye... such a thing was reported back in September with the idea that Uni of Nevada Reno's basketball team could play there. The idea that the Roadrunners could move to Reno, in my estimation, isn't far-fetched... but for pro hockey fans in the desert, I sincerely hope they don't.

 

[PCSPounder]

Alex Meruelo still owns the Roadrunners.

Morgan seen to think he will eventually move them to Reno to a new 10k capacity arena he's supposed to build for UNR Basketball.

I was reading back to last September’s announcement of this arena. Meruelo announces so many things around this that I’m given to think he’s all hubris and no brain about that proposal, too.

Believe it or not (and I shouldn’t gauge Reno’s issues by all the casino failures that have taken place near downtown, but that has happened), in the age of online gambling and expanded gambling legalization and major companies trying to squeeze every last buck out of Vegas, the ROI for improvement to that property is NOT a slam dunk.

 

[Mightygoose]

And this may be finally the shoe to end this saga after a decade and a half.

I think that's the timeframe we're looking at for the 2nd franchise here. After the long train of owners here, I don't think there's any political appetite to help fund a new arena while the region already has 2. Going to have to wait as they age further.

For all of Meruelo bursting in '**** I'm going to win'. He will still he able to do this for his minor league team. Fitting for a minor league owner.

 

[Melrose Munch]

Thrashers, Oilers, Chargers, Raiders LA and Oakland, Rams, Clippers, A's, Flames, Jazz. Probably more, definitely not the first.

Of the recent "new" cities to get one though? First since Atlanta over 10 years ago.

 

[GKJ]

 

[Headshot77]

Honestly I feel so melancholic that this saga is over. I've been following it as a lurker here since the bankruptcy, and it feels like the end of an era.

I'm so sorry for Yotes fans and the existential torture they have endured for 20+ years.