Latest on the Arizona Coyotes Arena ordeal

[MardyBum]

Makes sense, the owner doesn't seem capable or apparently trustworthy enough to get an arena deal done.

If they do move somewhere else they could always go back to Arizona in the future with a better owner and an arena ready to go.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Never give up. Never surrender. Don't let your dreams be dreams.

If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough. Hashtag Coyotes hashtag NHL.

 

[Voight]

If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough. Hashtag Coyotes hashtag NHL.

Dreams don't work unless you do.

Hashtag Tumblr

 

[Divine]

According to two separate sources, Smith has even offered to purchase the Coyotes for a significant sum, well beyond the current valuations per Forbes and Sportico, and is willing to cover the relocation fee on top of it. Whether that offer was formally in writing or something vocalized is semantical, but the overall price of doing so would be less than the expansion fee and the NHL remains firm on its position on the Coyotes.

 

[JAK]

The other 31 owners might not be making as big of a fuss about it when some of their teams are using Coyotes as a LITR dumping ground for cap space.

 

[tarheelhockey]

If your dreams don't scare you

“Never give up on your dreams nightmares”

- Gary Bettman

 

[Bear of Bad News]

“Never give up on your dreams nightmares”

- Gary Bettman

The goal is to be like "The Cutting Edge", and not like "The Cutting Edge 2".

 

[SR]

Craig Morgan has spoken to this issue on his last 3-4 PHNX pods.

Yeah, he’s not the only one though. Some of these people just don’t wanna dig and find out what’s really happening. Just living through the Canadian headlines

 

[GrumpyKoala]

The schrodinger coyotes.

 

[Kryten]

I think they are heading to SLC

A team thats gone through 2+ divorces isnt going to Utah

 

[Tanknation]

The logo sucks tho

You must be new to life. Any classic NHL logo is amazing. Great logo.

 

[Headshot77]

I think the Coyotes get stuffed into Houston on the cheap, and you'll see $1b expansion teams in Utah and Atlanta in short order.

Fertitta isn't willing to buy an expansion franchise and we all know the NHL wants the Houston market. Alex Smith and the Atlanta people are willing to pay expansion prices so you can't waste that on a cheap Yotes team.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Makes sense, the owner doesn't seem capable or apparently trustworthy enough to get an arena deal done.

If they do move somewhere else they could always go back to Arizona in the future with a better owner and an arena ready to go.

Friedman says this will definitely happen. Arizona will happen, whether now or in the future. He also thinks the timing of Ryan Smith with SLC wasn't a coincidence. However, I saw something in local Phoenix news where Meruelo is set to buy a huge tract of empty land in North Phoenix next to the Marriott. But it would still take weeks for land commission to approve it. Maybe that's what the NHL is waiting for?

 

[Llewzaher]

Just because Friedman and Servalli do a podcast , in response to the NHLPA guy and Bettman being questioned at the All Star break, changes absolutely nothing to the fact that AM and the Yotes are looking at different spots of land to build an arena. Only 1 spot of land was made public a few moths ago, and another one will be in the next day or so. Nothing else has been leaked , or made public. Everything else is speculation. It’s only being talked about because some people thought the All Star break was a deadline, and are thinking the Yotes missed it.( and likely to draw attention away from the WJ players and the trials)

supposedly ( and I may have misunderstood) there is a section of “Reserve” land that is a worse case scenario that could be signed tomorrow, but that wouldn be done unless all other options were exhausted. According to some on the ARZ boards who live in the area.

 

[Tuggy]

Damn Canadian media!

 

[jetsmooseice]

Out of all the poorly thought out processes that place sports franchises in cities they don’t belong in, I don’t really feel that denying Texas a second hockey team is one of them.

Utah at least has hosted the Winter Olympics, has a winter sports draw, etc. A second team in Texas would get the “bastard red-head stepchild treatment” about 2 seconds after the start of a local HS football broadcast. I get that Houston’s gained loads of northern transplants, but speaking as someone who lived in Austin for work long enough to note the lack of Stars presence in the city where the Stars’ AHL affiliate plays, I truly believe SLC would be the “thirstier” franchise……kind of like how Winnipeg’s tumult over their team overshadows their size, but to a lesser extent.

I never understood the clamour for SLC, which is a smaller market that already has a well established NBA team as a winter sport already soaking up a large share of disposable income in that area. SLC has a smaller population than Calgary and if you proposed Calgary getting a NBA team to play alongside the Flames, people would think you were nuts. But for SLC everyone just nods their heads.

Why not a city like San Diego which is significantly larger than SLC and doesn't have a NBA team to compete with? Their arena is legitimately old and undersized so it's the perfect situation for an owner to try and extort a free shiny new arena from local authorities.

 

[57special]

I honestly feel its not a lost market.

In my opinion, i think its best to relocate the team and potentially try again in a few years. Try to find stable ownership who can secure land. It would suck for the locals and fans in the short term but i think hockey in arizona needs a hard reset.

Not sure about the market, but it would be interesting to see what would happen if they had a team that went far into the playoffs on a consistent basis.

Having said that, the issue in ARI is clearly about the ownership. They seem to be trying to pull the classic Al Davis "I'm holding you hostage, give me a better deal" with the ARI city(s), but are doing a really bad job of it.

 

[Deplorable Lenny]

Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Salt Lake City i dont care just move them

Agreed, Anywhere but Quebec!

 

[AintLifeGrand]

I never understood the clamour for SLC, which is a smaller market that already has a well established NBA team as a winter sport already soaking up a large share of disposable income in that area. SLC has a smaller population than Calgary and if you proposed Calgary getting a NBA team to play alongside the Flames, people would think you were nuts. But for SLC everyone just nods their heads.

Why not a city like San Diego which is significantly larger than SLC and doesn't have a NBA team to compete with? Their arena is legitimately old and undersized so it's the perfect situation for an owner to try and extort a free shiny new arena from local authorities.

While SLC has some environmental issues (diminishing GSL, SW Mega Drought, Diminishing Water Supplies to sustain the fastest growing metro in the country), it is very appealing as a NHL city for the following reasons

1. Economy: Salt Lake City may be per capita one of the most affluent cities in the country. A few reasons for this 1. Mormon Industriousness- I have never met a poor Mormon. I lived in SLC for the better part of 5 years, my company is HQ'd in Utah, and I still spend a ton of time there- It is a very wealthy city (check out the property values), Mormons are hardworking and as a whole earn more than the average American by a significant multiple.

Then factor in the huge influx of California and East Coast transplants who have moved to the state to staff high paying Tech Jobs (I'll touch on this more in pt #2) and other white collar professions. These people are drawn to Utah for the skiing and the outdoors- They have a much higher pre-disposition to be hockey fans. While the Jazz and the U are huge, SLC is a winter sports/outdoor sports town. There will be a ton of enthusiasm and fan support.

2. The Wasatch Front is a Tech Juggernaut: The new name for Utah county is the Silicon Slopes. There is a ton of VC money backing a plethora of successful, rapidly growing Mormon Tech Companies. The I-15 corridor from Sandy to Provo is dotted with brand new glass buildings branded by abstract/obscure names of tech companies like: Domo, Homie, Qualtrics etc.

3. Fastest Growing State/Metro in the country with a high birth rate: Look up statistics. Utah is growing too damn fast- part of the reason I moved out. Takes 90 minutes to drive 5 miles to get shred Snowbird on a Friday Pow Day.

4. Excellent Hockey Infrastructure: Becuase of the Olympics there are a ton of high quality rinks and hockey infrastructure in place. A NHL team could turn the region into a major US breeding ground of hockey talent.

 

[PelagicJoe]

Just rename them to the Arizona Cap Landfill already.

 

[FerrisRox]

I just think the NHL could do more. It is a small city, be trading one small market for a new small market. Houston makes far more sense to me as a major city that is untapped so far if you get good ownership it has the potential to be a strong market.

Arizona is one of the largest markets in the NHL, you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

 

[brentashton]

I just think the NHL could do more. It is a small city, be trading one small market for a new small market. Houston makes far more sense to me as a major city that is untapped so far if you get good ownership it has the potential to be a strong market.

Phx is top 10 population size in North American markets.

Population of U.S. metropolitan areas 2023 | Statista

In 2023, the metropolitan area of New York-Newark-Jersey City had the biggest population in the United States.

www.statista.com

 

[banks]

maybe just move them to atlanta

That would make my suggested Atlanta team name more appropriate. I suggested the Atlanta Phoenix, as in the firebird.

How appropriate would it be for Atlanta's 3rd NHL team be the ones that used to be in Phoenix!? A reference to rising from the ashes, and a callback to the former city? Perfection.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Arizona is one of the largest markets in the NHL, you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

It is a failed market.

Phx is top 10 population size in North American markets.

Population of U.S. metropolitan areas 2023 | Statista

In 2023, the metropolitan area of New York-Newark-Jersey City had the biggest population in the United States.

www.statista.com

Doesn’t matter lol it is a small market team in the NHL

 

[brentashton]

Doesn’t matter lol it is a small market team in the NHL

Yes, those stats must be fake news. It does matter because it refutes your point. But beleive what you want I guess.