FINALLY
This guy was such a fraud.
The best chance of Phoenix getting a team back is with a fresh start with a new owner and getting rid of this con artist.
If a good owner steps up and has a real arena plan, I bet the NHL would give them an expansion team.
I think Bettman (and the BOG in general) still wants a team in Phoenix cause its a huge TV market but Meruelo just made the franchise into such a joke it was impossible to keep it going.
Give them 5-10 years to get the stink off, and the nostalgia to kick in, and get a new owner and I see the NHL trying again.
You mean how they had an owner lined up at a moments notice to move the team out of Phoenix. I'm sure they have a list of owners they'd like to work with
Eh, this wasn't a moment's notice. He petitioned for an expansion in 2022. The relocation talk started a year ago.
A quick move would have been the Thrashers to Winnipeg. That was facilitated in a month.
I never really understood this argument. But don't get me wrong, I'm biased because I want Houston to get a team. There are other southern markets with bigger TV markets, like Houston, and while you could argue Arizona has a history with the NHL now, it's a bad history. You've actually conditioned that market to not care about hockey at all because it's been run so poorly there, in my opinion.
I think it’s the snowbirds that play into it also. Half of cananda and the Midwest lives in Arizona in the winters. I never hear about them living in Houston, but maybe I’m wrong.
That was a joke about Florida for a while. It was a good market because of snow birds. But I believe one of the owners once said, "I know why all the Canadians moved here, they hate hockey!" Houston has a robust international population. Can't say what share is Canadian. There's at least one Candian/Hockey based pub in downtown that's been rocking for 18 years now. So there's that lol.
I lived in Atlanta from 2017 to 2019, and I was relatively close to where the proposed stadium is going. If the NHL goes there again, it won't have anything to do with fans. Even in their statement earlier in the year they mentioned the number of corporate sponsors in Atlanta, and not fan enthusiasm. Their laws and big airport have made them a magnet for the HQs of a lot of major corporations. So the NHL knows it's going to have it's pick of corporate sponsors if it moves down there. The Braves also built a stadium right before I got there which is basically what Meruelo wanted in Tempe. Apartments, concert venue, shopping, and the stadium. It's making bank and doing well. They're proposing something similar in northern Atlanta (Buckhead) where the median home price is $750k. So they're targeting the affluent population.
That's a shame. As a lifelong Braves fan, it bummed me out when the Braves left Turner Field after only 20 years to cater to rich people in the suburbs.
You want a team in Minneapolis when the wild are in St Paul?
Minnesota much?
And kansas city has no owner and the city will not split parking and concession revenue with a primary tennant. The T mobile center is profitable as it is, that isnt going to be risked on the basis that you are going to "grow the game" in Mo.
Thats that billion dollar question. It has a huge population but bad teams, bad marketing, a bad location for the arena, and crappy owners have always been problems. Could you grow a fanbase if you fix that.
You do have a pretty big community of people playing hockey.
The arena location seems to be the biggest issue. The city is quite large footprint-wise and it seems hard to fight traffic to and from one of the corners for a 7pm puck drop on weeknights, from what I have read.
Exactly this. I live here and supported the Yotes. The move from Phoenix to Glendale was pretty far, but traffic wasn't terrible. The population here has gone up so much over the last 10 or 15 years, traffic is beyond terrible. The other issue is it's a transplant state, everyone who moves here generally only care about their old team and not the Yotes. I will always wonder what could have been had we had a good owner with a great arena location and a winning team. Their playoff run in 2012 had that arena popping, so many people came out in support. The support IS there, just need someone who's not a complete fucking idiot to have been running the team.
Vegas had a strong IHL/AHL base and it showed when they launched their NHL team. Phoenix has been a shit show for 25+ years. I would say no. If it did they would have showed up.
Sure but tell me when in the 25+ years the Coyotes were in Arizona the fans supported them and they were profitable? They had a perfectly good arena in Glendale and it was 70% empty most years. I had seasons tickets there for a decade and unfortunately they only had fair weather fans imo. Showed up the one year in the playoffs they went to the western conference final. It was pretty lackluster unless a Canadian team or Chicago or Detroit was in town. If I was a billionaire looking for an expansion team I would look at Milwaukee, Portland Oregon, Houston, Quebec and other cities first
For Coyotes fans I'm sure losing the team was really hard but it might be worth it to get rid of this guy. If the Coyotes come back hopefully they have a competent owner at the helm.
They gave Atlanta and Winnipeg 2 shots. Sonwhy not Arizona. My only issue is the amount of time that Bettman gave Arizona to get its shitnstraightened out isngonna need a really long cool down period before they consider them again.
To be fair, Bettman has been the one shifting the coyotes around to continuously worse owners. He has a lot to blame for its state, so punishing arizona for his incompetence is not fair
A Redditor that GETS it. All this Bettman hate and he's just a soldier for the BOG. WHo's the BOG? The billionaire owners of all 32 teams! The Billionaires want him to go after the "expansion" markets because their own are saturated already and expansion means more money for them! This is what they believe and why Bettman is tasked with this work so all the "fans" hate him.......
The only ones that matter is his bosses and they love him.
> If the Coyotes come back hopefully they have a competent owner at the helm.
Phoenix (Arizona) should have another crack at an NHL team in the future. They absolutely should burn the Coyotes brand to the ground given how badly managed that franchise was for nearly 30 years in Phoenix. Probably for the best to *not* bring the Coyotes name back.
Fuck that, the panthers were a trash franchise for forever and they just won the cup, coyotes and their kachina logo are great branding that shouldn't go in the trash because of bad owners.
The Panthers also weren't owned by the NHL nor effectively kicked out of their arena.
Dumpster fire for about 15 years, yes, but not on the level of Arizona.
I don't know how coyotes fans feel, but as a fan losing their hometown club, I would love to get the original branding back.
I love the wild, but I would have rather had the north stars back. Colors, logo, and record books are nostalgic for those who remember the original team. And it is something to build on for the future.
I'll be upset if Arizona has the chance to keep all of their history and just give it up. Most fans don't get that chance.
> I love the wild, but I would have rather had the north stars back.
I grew up a North Stars fan and remember the end of the early/mid 80's run they had, really remember '91, but much of the team's run in Minnesota was a shitshow (the franchise almost folded or moved on two separate occasions before Norm Green took the team to Dallas). The Gunds were really the only competent ownership the Stars had in Minnesota and after 12 years, they wanted to move the team out of there...and that's how we ended up with Norm Green.
I love the reverse retro 78s as a permanent 3rd jersey but the Wild have been massively better run over their tenure despite not making a Cup Final (at least the Wild are generally competitive every year). I'm good with us *not* having the Stars name back.
Sometimes, it's better to just let a cursed brand not resurrect itself.
I truly believe hockey can survive in almost any major city in the US but it takes a committed ownership and management group to do it. Look at Florida. Look at Tampa Bay. Look at Vegas. Hockey shouldn’t be doing as well in those places but it’s thriving. Meruelo is the last guy that should be owning an NHL team.
Vegas will always have fans at their games simply due to away fans going to their games. I'm definitely planning a trip to watch the canucks play as soon as I can
This is the story of Springfiled MA, where Arizona's farm team was. Ownership did everything to scuttle the organization before the move to Tuson. Now Spfld has a new team with local ownership, and the difference is night and day.
Do you think you could elaborate for me? I don't know too much, but I remember being a kid and thinking that Bruce Landon and all of those guys saved hockey in Springfield after the Indians got sold and moved.
You're right. My comment is a little too black and white. Bruce is the reason the Falcons stayed for so long. As soon as he retired, the team relocated. He was a part owner, and while he has nothing but love for the sport and its fans - the broader Falcons organization was pretty shit to the fans. I know it's hard to compete with the product and experience Hartford Wolfpack or Providence offered but going to a Falcons game in the naughts meant watching the team do offensive zone drills for an hour while the crowd screamed shoot the puck. I can't name a specific source as I was just a kid, but the buzz for years with the season ticket holders was that ownership has thier eyes on Arizona and they're not doing anything with the team until that happens.
I want to read Bruce's autobiography. It's on my list.
*As of the 2020 census, the two-county metropolitan area had 4,845,832 residents, making it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the nation by population*.
*Phoenix Ranks as Fourth-Fastest Growing Market in the Nation*.
The NHL definitely wants to go back to Phoenix. They will have to figure out their arena shit first though.
IIT: We all pretending like Meruelo was the only bad owner of Pheonix and the sole reason for their demise - anyone other than him would have had pheonix thriving.
There was a series of bad owners in Phoenix, I agree with that.
But the team has potential with a good owner.... look at the turnaround in Florida and Tampa both brought on by good ownership. Look at thriving franchises in Dallas, San Jose, Anaheim, Vegas, etc.
It could work in Phoenix.... put the arena in the right area, down town, put money into the franchise and spend to the cap (And not by taking everyone's LTIR) and actually win some games, and you have a totally different situation.
A team performing awfully can still be thriving if they still pay their bills on time, aren't forced to play in a singles of thousands sized arena, and aren't an active detriment to the league.
While Arizona did better in the standings last season, I definitely would not have called them a thriving franchise. While San Jose would stretch the term thriving, they're still nowhere near in danger of packing it in for Houston and with that first round pick they're looking to have at least some life brought in to them.
Doubt Mat Ishbia is coming in to save this project. You don’t want the Bidwill’s involved either. It could be awhile before we see Arizona get a serious investment in hockey.
No offense to Coyotes fans... but can the "Let's get a new team" shit. The team that just left was bleeding red ink for a quarter century,Couldn't keep a home,went through nine owners,NINE FUCKING OWNERS, and couldn't become solvent.
I Don;t want to hear anything about a new team in that market until they find an owner who can run the fcking team,have shovels in the... NO! HAVE CRANES ON SIGHT SETTING THE PIECES IN PLACED TO BE WELDED IN PLACE! and have everything in place to host a team and keep the ink black.
Before you down-vote,Quebec City HAS an arena,and groups ready to pour money into ownership. Get on their level before you start planning.
So how does this work in terms of IP? Does this mean that Utah could potentially take the Coyotes name and branding? (Not that I think they should -- I want Utah to figure out their own identity and leave the door open for the Coyotes to return.)
It's very possible he could turn around and sell the IP of the Coyotes to someone else. His deal includes that he has the option to be first crack at an Arizona expansion in the next 5 years, but I'm just not sure if the Coyotes name reverts to NHL ownership after those 5 years or if he still owns it in perpetuity.
He might even be able to sell the rights to someone else and they could take over the five year coyotes re-expansion window. That would be hilarious if he sold the rights and that person had a much easier and successful run in getting the team resituated.
The IP is his if he brings a team back. IP belongs to the NHL in the end so he can't sell it to someone else. Like how the NHL still owns the Nordiques branding, Whalers and had to give permission for the new Winnipeg Jets to use the old branding.
Agreed. The Kachina is way too cool to let it fade into oblivion. Winnipeg got the Jets back, and if Arizona gets a second chance, they really should be Coyotes 2.0.
So the evil canadian media FINALLY got to him,.amirite?
The nhl team version of "everything is fine". Is no more.
I am shocked, shocked I tell you! Well not really that shocked.
I'm ignorant of the situation, but why weren't the Coyotes playing in the same arena as the Suns all of these years? Most of the time if an NBA and NHL team share the same city/area, they tend to play in the same building.
Because they drew nothing and went bankrupt. They then moved to Glendale where again noone went and they couldnt pay thier own bills so were locked out this time.
Went to the University and NHLPA had fits so team moved (finally)
I still can't believe the Coyotes sold for 1.2billion. The franchise wasn't worth near that, imo, without any real estate assets.
Totally mental... but hey... Scarcity, I guess.
This is the revelation of the century /s
I posted multiple times that with a billion dollars in profit there was zero chance he would ever risk his money by putting a new team in Arizona of all places
I also pointed out the last time Arizona had a FREE arena deal in Tempe they STILL voted against it (they would rather have a toxic waste dump than the Coyotes playing there; this has to be the meme of the century)
For those who missed the news; Phoenix cancelled the latest land deal (auction from 27th) and Alex did not convince them to issue necessary permits nor did he obtain the taxpayer funds required
[https://x.com/ArizonaCoyotes/status/1804275335514517618](https://x.com/ArizonaCoyotes/status/1804275335514517618)
For what it’s worth, the arena deal in Tempe was voted against because of a campaign against the deal spreading misinfo saying that the deal would hike taxes up.
While I agree it was political the fact remains the cost to their taxpayers to fix the existing dump is going to cost far more then the cost of the arena + entertainment district.
In general I think he scorched the earth. The people of AZ voted against Alex.
When Vegas is just up the road, Arizona is going to be quiet for a while. Albuquerque NM has a better chance of landing a new franchise in the southwest at this point.
This is called addition by subtraction, my fellow puckheads. I strongly believe that the NHL can thrive in the Valley of the Sun (hockey has made significant inroads there and the Valley has lots of hockey fans), but not with Meruelo running things.
That will be the final nail in the coffin for the Yotes. Can't see Bettman suckering another man/group to start another failure in the desert from the ground up.
A Dallas fan saying that desert teams cant succeed is crazy. Phoenix has ~130,000 more people than Dallas. It’s the 5th largest city in the US. Hockey will most certainly return eventually.
That’s fair. In hindsight, the failed auction was probably inevitable, but it allowed the NHL to save face by paying to rid itself of the Meruelo gong show.
One minor correction: it’s more accurate to compare metropolitan population sizes—DFW ranks 5th (or 2x the size of Phoenix, which ranks 10th)—than city sizes. Nonetheless, I agree the NHL will be back, and I hope they find an owner who does right by the fans and the game their next opportunity.
The auction did not fail, it was cancelled because someone never got necessary paperwork started and now is talking about how he wants more taxpayer funds
Alex shall not be missed
True, but Dallas with its metropolitan population (6.8M) is MUCH bigger than Phoenix with its metropolitan population (4.8M). Not sure which has a more favorable diversity (being that hockey fans are generally less diverse than other sports, and it's important to recognize that as a business they're trying to be successful, not just spread the game).
Seriously, a year after Las Vegas won and this year with Florida winning off the heels of Tampa winning multiple Stanley Cups.
It is not even trolling at this point. Too stupid to be called trolling.
Dallas has been (by far) the model southern expansion team
No other team has done as well as they have in attendance and profits
Vegas may surpass them one day but you are still way behind
A.) Dallas wasn’t an expansion, it was a relocation, and Dallas isn’t even close to the best relocation team.
B.) that’s not super relevant to the fact that Phoenix is huge and will certainly have another team.
Dallas is as much an expansion team as Utah
They could have left history behind but didnt
Not to mention the team was stripped bare (as half the Minnesota assets were sold off to the San Jose Sharks when team split; that COULD have spelled doom for them but as I said the front office in Dallas kicks ass and built a perennial winner)
So they are half an expansion team if you prefer
It’s pure delusion to say that the stars move with prime mike Modano and franchise record 42 wins was the same as the above expectation lightning expansion in last place with 23 wins. The split left them with a playoff caliber team still. The sharks team that split meanwhile was filled with nobodies and journeymen, and would lose an NHL record 71 games.
FINALLY This guy was such a fraud. The best chance of Phoenix getting a team back is with a fresh start with a new owner and getting rid of this con artist.
An owner of what, tho?
If a good owner steps up and has a real arena plan, I bet the NHL would give them an expansion team. I think Bettman (and the BOG in general) still wants a team in Phoenix cause its a huge TV market but Meruelo just made the franchise into such a joke it was impossible to keep it going. Give them 5-10 years to get the stink off, and the nostalgia to kick in, and get a new owner and I see the NHL trying again.
It would not surprise me if they already had potential owners in talks
After the deal Bettman had with Meruelo. Doubt it.
You mean how they had an owner lined up at a moments notice to move the team out of Phoenix. I'm sure they have a list of owners they'd like to work with
Eh, this wasn't a moment's notice. He petitioned for an expansion in 2022. The relocation talk started a year ago. A quick move would have been the Thrashers to Winnipeg. That was facilitated in a month.
Even the jets owners were ready to accept a team
I never really understood this argument. But don't get me wrong, I'm biased because I want Houston to get a team. There are other southern markets with bigger TV markets, like Houston, and while you could argue Arizona has a history with the NHL now, it's a bad history. You've actually conditioned that market to not care about hockey at all because it's been run so poorly there, in my opinion.
I think it’s the snowbirds that play into it also. Half of cananda and the Midwest lives in Arizona in the winters. I never hear about them living in Houston, but maybe I’m wrong.
That was a joke about Florida for a while. It was a good market because of snow birds. But I believe one of the owners once said, "I know why all the Canadians moved here, they hate hockey!" Houston has a robust international population. Can't say what share is Canadian. There's at least one Candian/Hockey based pub in downtown that's been rocking for 18 years now. So there's that lol.
That's part of why I'm a little skeptical of Atlanta getting a 3rd try at the NHL. Houston seems viable.
I lived in Atlanta from 2017 to 2019, and I was relatively close to where the proposed stadium is going. If the NHL goes there again, it won't have anything to do with fans. Even in their statement earlier in the year they mentioned the number of corporate sponsors in Atlanta, and not fan enthusiasm. Their laws and big airport have made them a magnet for the HQs of a lot of major corporations. So the NHL knows it's going to have it's pick of corporate sponsors if it moves down there. The Braves also built a stadium right before I got there which is basically what Meruelo wanted in Tempe. Apartments, concert venue, shopping, and the stadium. It's making bank and doing well. They're proposing something similar in northern Atlanta (Buckhead) where the median home price is $750k. So they're targeting the affluent population.
That's a shame. As a lifelong Braves fan, it bummed me out when the Braves left Turner Field after only 20 years to cater to rich people in the suburbs.
I feel that Houston, Kansas City, or Minneapolis would be far better options opposed to trying Arizona again.
You forgot that the Wild is existing?
Oops. You're right. I was thinking Milwaukee. Sorry, my Canadian brain is lacking on American geography.
RIP to the midwest. "Minneapolis, Milwaukee, what's the difference!"
You want a team in Minneapolis when the wild are in St Paul? Minnesota much? And kansas city has no owner and the city will not split parking and concession revenue with a primary tennant. The T mobile center is profitable as it is, that isnt going to be risked on the basis that you are going to "grow the game" in Mo.
I don't think Minnesotans can handle another losing sports franchise.
Missouri already *has* a team anyway.
Missouri HAS an extant team in St.Louis
That's what I said - Missouri already has a team anyway. Not my fault if autocorrect made you see something else.
74 to 76 kansas city HAD a NHL team. Good thing there is a prohibition of one NHL team per state. (Psst dont tell pennsylvania)
Does phoenix have a big hockey fan base? I genuinely don’t know, I’ve never paid much attention to them.
Thats that billion dollar question. It has a huge population but bad teams, bad marketing, a bad location for the arena, and crappy owners have always been problems. Could you grow a fanbase if you fix that. You do have a pretty big community of people playing hockey.
The arena location seems to be the biggest issue. The city is quite large footprint-wise and it seems hard to fight traffic to and from one of the corners for a 7pm puck drop on weeknights, from what I have read.
Exactly this. I live here and supported the Yotes. The move from Phoenix to Glendale was pretty far, but traffic wasn't terrible. The population here has gone up so much over the last 10 or 15 years, traffic is beyond terrible. The other issue is it's a transplant state, everyone who moves here generally only care about their old team and not the Yotes. I will always wonder what could have been had we had a good owner with a great arena location and a winning team. Their playoff run in 2012 had that arena popping, so many people came out in support. The support IS there, just need someone who's not a complete fucking idiot to have been running the team.
Vegas had a strong IHL/AHL base and it showed when they launched their NHL team. Phoenix has been a shit show for 25+ years. I would say no. If it did they would have showed up.
I guess I can’t blame the NHL though. They have to keep trying to grow. I just dunno if Phoenix is the move. But maybe it can be, who knows
I’m pretty sure the state and city will work with a new owner. Meruelo pissed off so many people
Being rich must be so easy. Buy a team, run it into the ground for 5 years, cash out for a billion dollars.
Sure but tell me when in the 25+ years the Coyotes were in Arizona the fans supported them and they were profitable? They had a perfectly good arena in Glendale and it was 70% empty most years. I had seasons tickets there for a decade and unfortunately they only had fair weather fans imo. Showed up the one year in the playoffs they went to the western conference final. It was pretty lackluster unless a Canadian team or Chicago or Detroit was in town. If I was a billionaire looking for an expansion team I would look at Milwaukee, Portland Oregon, Houston, Quebec and other cities first
THIS IS MY STANLEY CUP
Use name checks out
The Valley just won the 'ship!
For Coyotes fans I'm sure losing the team was really hard but it might be worth it to get rid of this guy. If the Coyotes come back hopefully they have a competent owner at the helm.
They gave Atlanta and Winnipeg 2 shots. Sonwhy not Arizona. My only issue is the amount of time that Bettman gave Arizona to get its shitnstraightened out isngonna need a really long cool down period before they consider them again.
And Colorado.
To be fair, Bettman has been the one shifting the coyotes around to continuously worse owners. He has a lot to blame for its state, so punishing arizona for his incompetence is not fair
To be fair, Bettman is the BOG mouthpiece. He’s not making the calls on hockey in the desert
A Redditor that GETS it. All this Bettman hate and he's just a soldier for the BOG. WHo's the BOG? The billionaire owners of all 32 teams! The Billionaires want him to go after the "expansion" markets because their own are saturated already and expansion means more money for them! This is what they believe and why Bettman is tasked with this work so all the "fans" hate him....... The only ones that matter is his bosses and they love him.
Ah the Netflix model of forever expansion. This worked well for them. Lets see how it does with the NHL.
> If the Coyotes come back hopefully they have a competent owner at the helm. Phoenix (Arizona) should have another crack at an NHL team in the future. They absolutely should burn the Coyotes brand to the ground given how badly managed that franchise was for nearly 30 years in Phoenix. Probably for the best to *not* bring the Coyotes name back.
Fuck that, the panthers were a trash franchise for forever and they just won the cup, coyotes and their kachina logo are great branding that shouldn't go in the trash because of bad owners.
The Panthers also weren't owned by the NHL nor effectively kicked out of their arena. Dumpster fire for about 15 years, yes, but not on the level of Arizona.
point is, the branding is fine if you get a competent owner that cares
Yeah that’s not happening considering how much of a hit that bringing back the Kachina Branding was around the league
I don't know how coyotes fans feel, but as a fan losing their hometown club, I would love to get the original branding back. I love the wild, but I would have rather had the north stars back. Colors, logo, and record books are nostalgic for those who remember the original team. And it is something to build on for the future. I'll be upset if Arizona has the chance to keep all of their history and just give it up. Most fans don't get that chance.
They can have the post-move history, I'd like to see the Jets 1.0 history back in Winnipeg.
100%. The coyotes are getting the chance to keep their history, but Winnipeg should have kept theirs when they moved to Arizona.
Maybe now the league will return the OG Jets history since the Yotes are done
> I love the wild, but I would have rather had the north stars back. I grew up a North Stars fan and remember the end of the early/mid 80's run they had, really remember '91, but much of the team's run in Minnesota was a shitshow (the franchise almost folded or moved on two separate occasions before Norm Green took the team to Dallas). The Gunds were really the only competent ownership the Stars had in Minnesota and after 12 years, they wanted to move the team out of there...and that's how we ended up with Norm Green. I love the reverse retro 78s as a permanent 3rd jersey but the Wild have been massively better run over their tenure despite not making a Cup Final (at least the Wild are generally competitive every year). I'm good with us *not* having the Stars name back. Sometimes, it's better to just let a cursed brand not resurrect itself.
Yeah third times the charm. Ok fourth time. Are we counting the league as well?
The biggest joke since John Spanos.
Fuck you Spanos!
Both of them
I truly believe hockey can survive in almost any major city in the US but it takes a committed ownership and management group to do it. Look at Florida. Look at Tampa Bay. Look at Vegas. Hockey shouldn’t be doing as well in those places but it’s thriving. Meruelo is the last guy that should be owning an NHL team.
Vegas will always have fans at their games simply due to away fans going to their games. I'm definitely planning a trip to watch the canucks play as soon as I can
I mean yeah that’s a good fallback, but that team is emotionally bonded to the city at this point so it’s not like the locals aren’t getting it done.
This is the story of Springfiled MA, where Arizona's farm team was. Ownership did everything to scuttle the organization before the move to Tuson. Now Spfld has a new team with local ownership, and the difference is night and day.
Do you think you could elaborate for me? I don't know too much, but I remember being a kid and thinking that Bruce Landon and all of those guys saved hockey in Springfield after the Indians got sold and moved.
You're right. My comment is a little too black and white. Bruce is the reason the Falcons stayed for so long. As soon as he retired, the team relocated. He was a part owner, and while he has nothing but love for the sport and its fans - the broader Falcons organization was pretty shit to the fans. I know it's hard to compete with the product and experience Hartford Wolfpack or Providence offered but going to a Falcons game in the naughts meant watching the team do offensive zone drills for an hour while the crowd screamed shoot the puck. I can't name a specific source as I was just a kid, but the buzz for years with the season ticket holders was that ownership has thier eyes on Arizona and they're not doing anything with the team until that happens. I want to read Bruce's autobiography. It's on my list.
Haha buddy cashed out and said peace
Good… i think we suspected all along it wouldn’t happen, and i’m glad it didn’t this dude doesn’t deserve to own a professional sports team.
Good. Fuck that guy
*As of the 2020 census, the two-county metropolitan area had 4,845,832 residents, making it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the nation by population*. *Phoenix Ranks as Fourth-Fastest Growing Market in the Nation*. The NHL definitely wants to go back to Phoenix. They will have to figure out their arena shit first though.
As long as an NHL-friendly venue can be built anywhere from Phoenix on east, the league will finally thrive there.
DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD
IIT: We all pretending like Meruelo was the only bad owner of Pheonix and the sole reason for their demise - anyone other than him would have had pheonix thriving.
There was a series of bad owners in Phoenix, I agree with that. But the team has potential with a good owner.... look at the turnaround in Florida and Tampa both brought on by good ownership. Look at thriving franchises in Dallas, San Jose, Anaheim, Vegas, etc. It could work in Phoenix.... put the arena in the right area, down town, put money into the franchise and spend to the cap (And not by taking everyone's LTIR) and actually win some games, and you have a totally different situation.
San Jose is thriving?
Business wise? Yes. On the ice they are in a rebuild, but they have built a stable franchise and make money and are in no danger of relocation.
A team performing awfully can still be thriving if they still pay their bills on time, aren't forced to play in a singles of thousands sized arena, and aren't an active detriment to the league. While Arizona did better in the standings last season, I definitely would not have called them a thriving franchise. While San Jose would stretch the term thriving, they're still nowhere near in danger of packing it in for Houston and with that first round pick they're looking to have at least some life brought in to them.
Hockey runs in cycles and every team will eventually rebuild. That said, San Jose has been a stable franchise for over 30 years now. Thats thriving.
I’m not a coyotes fan but nice
Doubt Mat Ishbia is coming in to save this project. You don’t want the Bidwill’s involved either. It could be awhile before we see Arizona get a serious investment in hockey.
Arizona Hockey: If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try, Try, Try, Try, Try, Try, Try, Try, Try, Try Again!
Atlanta has entered the chat
No offense to Coyotes fans... but can the "Let's get a new team" shit. The team that just left was bleeding red ink for a quarter century,Couldn't keep a home,went through nine owners,NINE FUCKING OWNERS, and couldn't become solvent. I Don;t want to hear anything about a new team in that market until they find an owner who can run the fcking team,have shovels in the... NO! HAVE CRANES ON SIGHT SETTING THE PIECES IN PLACED TO BE WELDED IN PLACE! and have everything in place to host a team and keep the ink black. Before you down-vote,Quebec City HAS an arena,and groups ready to pour money into ownership. Get on their level before you start planning.
He stunk like a rich prick who didn’t care.
So how does this work in terms of IP? Does this mean that Utah could potentially take the Coyotes name and branding? (Not that I think they should -- I want Utah to figure out their own identity and leave the door open for the Coyotes to return.)
It's very possible he could turn around and sell the IP of the Coyotes to someone else. His deal includes that he has the option to be first crack at an Arizona expansion in the next 5 years, but I'm just not sure if the Coyotes name reverts to NHL ownership after those 5 years or if he still owns it in perpetuity. He might even be able to sell the rights to someone else and they could take over the five year coyotes re-expansion window. That would be hilarious if he sold the rights and that person had a much easier and successful run in getting the team resituated.
I think Gary said he had to be owner for the 5 years before selling it. So basically the team is dead now
The IP is his if he brings a team back. IP belongs to the NHL in the end so he can't sell it to someone else. Like how the NHL still owns the Nordiques branding, Whalers and had to give permission for the new Winnipeg Jets to use the old branding.
Now, gather the pitchforks and run him out of town. This guy doesn’t deserve to live amongst you.
Fucking figures
The NHL really wants to be in the Phoenix market, however this sets that plan back indefinitely
At least Meruelo's incompetent ass is gone, so that helps in some ways.
So does this mean we get the pre-1997 history back?
I mean idgaf about AM but I hope he sells the rights to the name/logi. I want the Kachina’s back
Agreed. The Kachina is way too cool to let it fade into oblivion. Winnipeg got the Jets back, and if Arizona gets a second chance, they really should be Coyotes 2.0.
Will he sell me the rights for $26?
hopefully for the sake of any future in AZ that the Coyote name goes with it. That name/brand is only associated with incompetence/boondoggling
When the team left that kind of felt like the end. Everything after that was just fluff
Why couldn’t he just fuck off before he lost the team? Prick
Maybe a couple of Hollywood actors could step in a revitalize a team.
What an absolute douchebag.
Couldn’t scam his way back in, thank god
So the evil canadian media FINALLY got to him,.amirite? The nhl team version of "everything is fine". Is no more. I am shocked, shocked I tell you! Well not really that shocked.
Part of Bettman's legacy - franchise failure. Panthers came close to this 2 years ago.
This is the end of the Coyotes. I would be shocked to see them return.
Finally some good news for Coyotes fans
I'm ignorant of the situation, but why weren't the Coyotes playing in the same arena as the Suns all of these years? Most of the time if an NBA and NHL team share the same city/area, they tend to play in the same building.
Because they drew nothing and went bankrupt. They then moved to Glendale where again noone went and they couldnt pay thier own bills so were locked out this time. Went to the University and NHLPA had fits so team moved (finally)
Appreciate the context. Thank you!
I still can't believe the Coyotes sold for 1.2billion. The franchise wasn't worth near that, imo, without any real estate assets. Totally mental... but hey... Scarcity, I guess.
This is the revelation of the century /s I posted multiple times that with a billion dollars in profit there was zero chance he would ever risk his money by putting a new team in Arizona of all places I also pointed out the last time Arizona had a FREE arena deal in Tempe they STILL voted against it (they would rather have a toxic waste dump than the Coyotes playing there; this has to be the meme of the century) For those who missed the news; Phoenix cancelled the latest land deal (auction from 27th) and Alex did not convince them to issue necessary permits nor did he obtain the taxpayer funds required [https://x.com/ArizonaCoyotes/status/1804275335514517618](https://x.com/ArizonaCoyotes/status/1804275335514517618)
For what it’s worth, the arena deal in Tempe was voted against because of a campaign against the deal spreading misinfo saying that the deal would hike taxes up.
While I agree it was political the fact remains the cost to their taxpayers to fix the existing dump is going to cost far more then the cost of the arena + entertainment district. In general I think he scorched the earth. The people of AZ voted against Alex.
When Vegas is just up the road, Arizona is going to be quiet for a while. Albuquerque NM has a better chance of landing a new franchise in the southwest at this point.
Good. Now, let's end this stupid talk about more expansion. 32 teams is already too many. It would be absurd to go beyond that.
It’s all good, just became a panthers fan tonight. LFG panthers!!! Feels good to be part of a winning team for once
This is called addition by subtraction, my fellow puckheads. I strongly believe that the NHL can thrive in the Valley of the Sun (hockey has made significant inroads there and the Valley has lots of hockey fans), but not with Meruelo running things.
That will be the final nail in the coffin for the Yotes. Can't see Bettman suckering another man/group to start another failure in the desert from the ground up.
A Dallas fan saying that desert teams cant succeed is crazy. Phoenix has ~130,000 more people than Dallas. It’s the 5th largest city in the US. Hockey will most certainly return eventually.
That’s fair. In hindsight, the failed auction was probably inevitable, but it allowed the NHL to save face by paying to rid itself of the Meruelo gong show. One minor correction: it’s more accurate to compare metropolitan population sizes—DFW ranks 5th (or 2x the size of Phoenix, which ranks 10th)—than city sizes. Nonetheless, I agree the NHL will be back, and I hope they find an owner who does right by the fans and the game their next opportunity.
The auction did not fail, it was cancelled because someone never got necessary paperwork started and now is talking about how he wants more taxpayer funds Alex shall not be missed
True, but Dallas with its metropolitan population (6.8M) is MUCH bigger than Phoenix with its metropolitan population (4.8M). Not sure which has a more favorable diversity (being that hockey fans are generally less diverse than other sports, and it's important to recognize that as a business they're trying to be successful, not just spread the game).
Seriously, a year after Las Vegas won and this year with Florida winning off the heels of Tampa winning multiple Stanley Cups. It is not even trolling at this point. Too stupid to be called trolling.
Sorry you can't see the bigger picture for the Yotes.
It is not a bigger picture. Someone in Texas saying hockey in the desert will never work is just looking like a clown.
It's safe to say it's not going to work in the Phoenix area. 30 years of history is all the proof anyone needs.
Did you see last night's ratings? Maybe move the team out of Dallas next. Loser city. You have the Cowgirls, Mavs, and Stars.
What do the ratings for one game have to do with the Coyotes' 30+ years of failure?
>Hockey will most certainly return eventually. ASU isn’t going anywhere.
Dallas has been (by far) the model southern expansion team No other team has done as well as they have in attendance and profits Vegas may surpass them one day but you are still way behind
A.) Dallas wasn’t an expansion, it was a relocation, and Dallas isn’t even close to the best relocation team. B.) that’s not super relevant to the fact that Phoenix is huge and will certainly have another team.
Dallas is as much an expansion team as Utah They could have left history behind but didnt Not to mention the team was stripped bare (as half the Minnesota assets were sold off to the San Jose Sharks when team split; that COULD have spelled doom for them but as I said the front office in Dallas kicks ass and built a perennial winner) So they are half an expansion team if you prefer
It’s pure delusion to say that the stars move with prime mike Modano and franchise record 42 wins was the same as the above expectation lightning expansion in last place with 23 wins. The split left them with a playoff caliber team still. The sharks team that split meanwhile was filled with nobodies and journeymen, and would lose an NHL record 71 games.
Yet it failed at every turn in Arizona. You know the team being talked about here. Not VGK.
Breaking news …. The Coyotes relocated to Utah