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Question for the Arizona peeps. What's going on with the Coyotes?

lucas80

lucas80

HB King
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Jan 30, 2008
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Glendale was threatening to lock them out of the arena they play in due to failing to pay taxes, and it seems like they are telling them to leave town. They have already left one arena in Phoenix. How many arena options for an NHL team are there in the Phoenix area? Was this all about finances, or are there deeper issues which may signal a move to another market?
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/a...hreat-of-being-locked-out-of-gila-river-arena
 
lucas80 said:
Glendale was threatening to lock them out of the arena they play in due to failing to pay taxes, and it seems like they are telling them to leave town. They have already left one arena in Phoenix. How many arena options for an NHL team are there in the Phoenix area? Was this all about finances, or are there deeper issues which may signal a move to another market?
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/a...hreat-of-being-locked-out-of-gila-river-arena
Click to expand...

I haven’t been paying a lot of attention, mainly because I don’t give a shit about hockey, except for the Letterkenny Irish. ;)

The latest about not paying is new to me, but originally I think the issue was the long time arena the Coyotes played at in Glendale decided they could make more money by cutting ties with the coyotes and focusing on concerts and other events.
 
I’ll die on the hill that the Coyotes original logo was great.

phoenix_coyotes_logo_primary_1997_sportslogosnet-2144.png
 
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Jan Itor said:
I haven’t been paying a lot of attention, mainly because I don’t give a shit about hockey, except for the Letterkenny Irish. ;)

The latest about not paying is new to me, but originally I think the issue was the long time arena the Coyotes played at in Glendale decided they could make more money by cutting ties with the coyotes and focusing on concerts and other events.
Click to expand...
Cheers to that!

tumblr_pf8axpk6ft1wjlmwqo1_640.gifv
 
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lucas80 said:
Glendale was threatening to lock them out of the arena they play in due to failing to pay taxes, and it seems like they are telling them to leave town. They have already left one arena in Phoenix. How many arena options for an NHL team are there in the Phoenix area? Was this all about finances, or are there deeper issues which may signal a move to another market?
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/a...hreat-of-being-locked-out-of-gila-river-arena
Click to expand...
New ownership is close to a deal with city of Tempe to build an arena (plus arena district) just east of ASU campus. It’s going to happen but there are numerous complexities since it is a superfund site and those costs need to be negotiated. In the meantime, City of Glendale failed to renew the lease for the 22-23 season and the ‘Yotes have not announced where they will be playing. Feeling locally is they will move into the old fairgrounds Coliseum and that the Footprint Center (what the Suns’ place is now called) is now completely unsuitable for hockey after recent renovations. Talk of playing in Tucson off and on is also a rumor. New owners continue to say they are fully committed to the market and not looking to move but we’ve all heard that before.

The Tempe arena makes a lot of sense. Another reason to doubt is ASU is moving forward with their own plans for a small hockey/multi-use arena nearby when the original Tempe plan called for a joint Coyote/ASU facility.

Most Coyote fans live on the east side of town & Scottsdale and dread the drive out to Glendale. They really effed up building so much on the west side when the money (and corporate money) is in Scottsdale and the East side.

LONG LIVE THE KACHINA LOGO!!!!
 
Long story. Glendale built the arena with 100% city funding. Huge mistake. They also built their spring trading facility (which is actually located within the City of Phoenix) with almost all local funding. Another huge mistake. Surrounding development didn’t take place until almost 20 years later than expected. Thus the city didn’t get the anticipated sales tax needed to pay debt service. City came within a whisker of declaring bankruptcy. City had to raise sales taxes.

Locating the franchise in Glendale was huge mistake as 2/3 of fan base was located east of downtown Phoenix. Multiple failed ownerships. All wanting to relocate out of West Valley. Current Coyote ownership and City of Glendale officials despise each other. Glendale does study that shows concerts/special events would bring in more revenue than Coyote games. However, what they don’t say is that they could never get the number of events necessary to exceed existing revenues.

Coyotes strike deal with City of Tempe to build new arena located just east of Sky Harbor. FAA and Phoenix will fight the proposed arena saying it is too close to airport. In the end, new arena won’t be built and Coyotes will leave Arizona. Most likely next season.
 
Last edited:
peacehawk said:
Coyotes strike deal with City of Tempe to build new arena located just east of Sky Harbor. FAA and Phoenix will fight the proposed arena saying it is too close to airport. In the end, new arena won’t be built and Coyotes will leave Arizona. Most likely next season.
Click to expand...
I think the FAA angle is just a ploy by City of Phoenix to snub their nose at the Coyotes for not working with them and hold things up a bit. Ultimately, there is zero concern with the flight path as other taller structures are closer and pose no risk. Agree that they could still leave though. Hispanic ownership group and Houston could be attractive.
 
Don't know much about the arena but did catch the Yotes game in Dallas last week. Jeez.....talk about a completely uninspired hockey team.

Kessel skates around like he's got a god damned umbrella.
 
The Iowa Coyotes have a nice ring to it, anyone think the DSM area could support a big 4 professional team?
 
LuciousBDragon said:
New ownership is close to a deal with city of Tempe to build an arena (plus arena district) just east of ASU campus. It’s going to happen but there are numerous complexities since it is a superfund site and those costs need to be negotiated. In the meantime, City of Glendale failed to renew the lease for the 22-23 season and the ‘Yotes have not announced where they will be playing. Feeling locally is they will move into the old fairgrounds Coliseum and that the Footprint Center (what the Suns’ place is now called) is now completely unsuitable for hockey after recent renovations. Talk of playing in Tucson off and on is also a rumor. New owners continue to say they are fully committed to the market and not looking to move but we’ve all heard that before.

The Tempe arena makes a lot of sense. Another reason to doubt is ASU is moving forward with their own plans for a small hockey/multi-use arena nearby when the original Tempe plan called for a joint Coyote/ASU facility.

Most Coyote fans live on the east side of town & Scottsdale and dread the drive out to Glendale. They really effed up building so much on the west side when the money (and corporate money) is in Scottsdale and the East side.

LONG LIVE THE KACHINA LOGO!!!!
Click to expand...
That's interesting. Last headline I saw said the ownership is in negotiations with Quebec.
 
Dvs9021 said:
The Iowa Coyotes have a nice ring to it, anyone think the DSM area could support a big 4 professional team?
Click to expand...
No. Just not enough population. And with hockey, not enough people to care.

It’s set itself up as a pretty good Triple A city with the Cubs, Wolves, and Wild though. And likely soon a USL soccer team. Those types of events are cheap and that’s also a reason a Big 4 franchise wouldn’t work. Not enough big money here.
 
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lucas80 said:
They will play in a 5000 seat arena on ASU’s campus for at least 3 seasons. That seems small for a professional team.
https://amp.azcentral.com/amp/6726996001
Click to expand...
Yotes needed this to move forward with the new arena plans. The Yotes will also have to pay millions to ASU for permanent upgrades to their facility because there are rules with the NHL about sharing space with a non-NHL entity. That means the Yotes will have to build an attached locker room, training center, offices, etc. They’ll turn all that over to ASU once their new arena is built. The new arena is still not a done deal but it’s going to happen.

ASU comes out the real winner in this. Their hockey program is on the rise and there is a lot of young talent in the area whose parents were pro skaters.
 
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I’ll add that this has the chance to be a brilliant move by the Yotes to energize the fan base. Hockey was never meant to be played in a giant arena. It was meant to be played in a small, tight arena where the fans are pressed next to each other and the glass so they can actually hear and feel the slam of a player thrown into the boards. If the Yotes can put together a tough physical team that hits those boards hard, the place will erupt and the noise will be amplified with the tight surroundings echoing off. Players are used to seeing 5,000 fans and 11,000 empty seats. Now, they’ll sellout regularly. If they can have a few years and make that place loud like a game in Hamilton, Ontario or the way the Bucs arena in DSM used to get, could be special.
 
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A ballot measure fell last night that would have allowed the owners to build on a 46 acre parcel near the airport. An arena surrounded by 1900 housing units, and some commercial ventures.
It seems like the franchise will be moved very soon.
 
lucas80 said:
A ballot measure fell last night that would have allowed the owners to build on a 46 acre parcel near the airport. An arena surrounded by 1900 housing units, and some commercial ventures.
It seems like the franchise will be moved very soon.
Click to expand...
The folks in Tempe were the only ones allowed to vote, is my understanding.
 
Coyotes are a native canine in AZ
They are smaller than wolves but bigger than foxes
Coyotes have been very successful adapting to human environments
We'll see more coyotes in Arizona as they continue to adapt.
 
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What a disappointing development. Have always enjoyed Phoenix as an NHL city. Lots of frostbacks there during the summer. Truth be told, Phoenix is just a disappointing sports town when you look at Suns, Diamondbacks and Cardinals fanbases.

And from a hockey players perspective, I think I'd much rather play in Phoenix than Quebec City, Houston or Kansas City.
 
The NHL has too many teams. If Arizona leaves it's probably going to another lackluster market.
 
Breastman said:
Does Salt Lake City meet the qualifications for a 'lackluster market'?
Click to expand...
It's growing, but it's not a hockey city. Now, neither was Phoenix, but for awhile they seemed to embrace it. SLC only has one pro team, the Jazz, so not much of a pro sports market.
SLC has the same population as Des Moines, incidentally. County population is double Polk County's population, but, still, I'd say this is a little lackluster when you look at potential attendance and media revenues.
 
The NHL is fairly pathetic in that 3 of the top 10 US metro populations won't have a team after this season
 
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