There has been a LOT of chatter around the Arizona Coyotes today, as reports continue to swirl around their uncertain fate.
The Coyotes, who have been couch surfing on the campus of Arizona State University in Mullett Arena for two years already, are more likely than ever to be relocating out of Arizona.
The Coyotes’ temporary residency at Mullett, which can only fit 4,600 in fan attendance for NHL hockey, was originally a three year agreement with Arizona State University. The team was forced into this location after their old home, Gila River Arena, kicked them out for late payments and tax dues totaling $1.3 million, including $250,000 owed to the city of Glendale.
While in Mullett, the Coyotes’ original plan hinged on a city-wide vote to turn a current landfill into a new arena and entertainment district in nearby Tempe. The vote at one point looked like a sure thing for the Coyotes, but by the time the vote actually came, they lost pretty handedly.
Tempe 1st, the leading opposition group to the arena proposal, fiercely fought against Propositions 301, 302, and 303 that needed to pass in order for the Coyotes to finally put shovels in the ground for a new home. In the end, Tempe voters rejected each of the Coyotes’ propositions by over ten percentage points.
Ever since, the future of the team has been up in the air. Multiple plans have been dashed in recent time, including the rumored proposal to build in Mesa on the former Fiesta Malls property.
Now, the Coyotes have announced their intentions to win a public land auction in north Phoenix near Scottsdale, with the auction date being slated for June. Of note, Scottsdale mayor David D. Ortega has openly protested this idea, which he called a “fantasy” and said was “not feasible or welcome.”
Winning the land auction is not a guarantee. Though most state land auctions in Arizona attract just one bidder, the land is in a desirable enough spot that another bidder might come calling. It’s unlikely, but remember, Tempe at one point looked like a sure thing too.
So, with all that said, the Coyotes looked more and more likely to have finally run out of time in the desert. Let’s dive into everything that has been reported today.
NHL Planning Two Different Schedules
This whole swirl was sort of kicked off by Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, who reported this afternoon that the National Hockey League had been creating two different schedules for the 2024-25 season: one with a team in Arizona at ASU, and one with a team in Salt Lake City.
Seravalli said that it was all a very fluid situation, and that this did not mean that anything was official. Rather, this was more of a contingency plan in the event that the Coyotes are in fact relocated.
Coyotes’ Social Media Pushes Back
Almost immediately after the original reporting coming from Daily Faceoff, the Arizona Coyotes’ official Twitter/X account posted a video to their account, with a tagline proclaiming the team’s commitment and desire to remain in Arizona.
This is far from the first time the Coyotes’ account has openly claimed their desire to stay in the desert, and the posts relating to this subject have usually come after their uncertainty was back in the mainstream.
Why Salt Lake City?
Salt Lake City has been an under the radar city for a new NHL team for a long time. Ryan Smith, owner of the NBA’s Utaz Jazz, has the money and a serious desire to bring an NHL team to Salt Lake City for a while now.
He has been in contact with the NHL for a decent amount of time now, and now he bas become the front runner to acquire an NHL team. On Monday, Smith posted to his Twitter/X account asking fans what the team name should be called if an NHL team were to come to Utah.
Smith is willing to pay north of $1 billion to get a team. The NHL, like every other sports league, loves a deep pocketed owner like Smith, who has a much more viable situation for the Coyotes organization than Mullett can provide.
Smith would have the Coyotes bunk with the Utah Jazz in the Delta Center while a more suitable multi-purpose arena can be built for the both of them. We’ll circle back to the Delta Center in a moment.
Why Not Wait For The Auction?
It’s a fair question. The noise around the franchise has been so hot and cold all season long. Around the All Star break, there was a lot of chatter around the team, and how people in the NHL really believed that time was truly running out.
This has been an ugly look on the NHL ever since the Coyotes moved to Mullett. Even if the Coyotes won the land auction, the team would likely be in Mullett for at least three more years, finally having a permanent home starting in the 2027-28 season.
That assumes that there are no delays whatsoever in construction, permits, or anything else that could push back the finishing date.
At a certain point, the NHL has to be getting restless with the lack of progress in Arizona, and with a deep pocketed owner willing and able to buy a team, it’s hard to not look in his direction, especially with a team in peril.
How Does The Sale Work?
If this sale is to take place, it will certainly be an odd one. The NHL will be brokering the deal to make it al possible, as Meruelo and Smith are not talking to each other.
Via reporting from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, and Greg Wyshynski and Emily Kaplan of ESPN, the NHL would purchase the Coyotes from owner Alex Meruelo for $1 billion, and then turn around and sell the team to Ryan Smith for anywhere between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion.
Sportsnet has reported $1.2 billion. ESPN has reported $1.3 billion.
In any case, the sale is a win for all of the big wigs involved. Meruelo, who bought the team for around $300 million in 2019 and has been assuredly losing money ever since buying the team, makes a stellar profit. The NHL’s other owners, who will split the $200 million/$300 million profit amongst themselves, win. And Ryan Smith gets the team he always wanted.
The only losers here are the fans, and of course, they are the most important part in this transaction. Coyotes fans, who have propped up an underperforming and unstable team for decades, will be stranded in the desert as the NHL heads up to Mormon land.
Could The NHL Come Back To Arizona?
The NHL has long loved the Arizona market. That’s why the league has fought for so long to keep the Coyotes in Arizona.
The greater Phoenix area is one of the top markets in the United States, and despite all the struggles that the team has faced in the desert, there is a hockey market there.
The NHL also likes Meruelo as an owner, and as such, they want him to continue to be involved in the future.
Elliotte Friedman told PHNX Sports that, as part of some sort of condition of the sale, that Meruelo may have an exclusive right to the next expansion team, that would go back to Arizona.
The conditions with that would be that Meruelo and Co. would have to have the arena figured out and have a home ready for a new NHL team.
Timelines have been floated around there that Meruelo would have a five year window to provide a viable option for a future expansion team.
The Delta Center
Should the sale be finalized, the Coyotes, who likely would not be named the Coyotes anymore, would join the Utah Jazz playing in Delta Center.
It would be far from a perfect home for the newly relocated team. The Delta Center has hosted NHL preseason games five times prior, but the building is very clearly not fitted for hockey games.
The NHL has reportedly told Smith that adjustments would need to be made inside the Delta Center in order to make it a feasible NHL home.
Though it would surely be an upgrade over Mullett, there would still be concerns about the Coyotes playing in the Delta Center. A rocky arena situation is how the Coyotes kicked off their time in Arizona, and now they would enter the same situation in Salt Lake City.
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