Coyotes Moving to ASU's Mullett Arena for 2022-23 Season

[chile57]

I agree with @MTH - Coyotes still works. The only "issue" there might be since they've promised the existing Coyote ownership first crack at an expansion - are there rules they also get to keep the history (?). 

This is nothing to say you aren't nuts though @MTH as an affirmative vote from me doesn't gain you much stroke in that regard. 

On 4/29/2024 at 12:47 PM, MTH said:

Utah Coyotes works still.

Am I nuts?

If there wasn't the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes - the name would be on the list for sure. Utah isn't all mountains and snow.

 

Edited May 21 by chile57

[Chenner29]

1 hour ago, chile57 said:

I agree with @MTH - Coyotes still works. The only "issue" there might be since they've promised the existing Coyote ownership first crack at an expansion - there are rules they get to keep the history (?). 

This is nothing to say you aren't nuts though @MTH as an affirmative vote from me doesn't gain you much stroke in that regard. 

 

I still stand by my Utah Roadrunners statement.

Partially as a 'fuck you' to Coyotes ownership

Meep, meep

 

[jerd31]

18 hours ago, chile57 said:

I agree with @MTH - Coyotes still works. The only "issue" there might be since they've promised the existing Coyote ownership first crack at an expansion - are there rules they also get to keep the history (?). 

This is nothing to say you aren't nuts though @MTH as an affirmative vote from me doesn't gain you much stroke in that regard. 

 

Yeah, part of the deal is Meruelo keeps the rights to the Coyotes name/brand and has a 5 year exclusive window to re-introduce a team to Arizona.  I believe there's a timeline in place where he has to have certain things done by a certain time- IIRC he basically has three years to have a new stadium underway.  

 

 

[chile57]

Thanks for confirming @jerd31. Sooo - what happens if he doesn't get anything off the ground? Does the linear history of Winnipeg -> Phoenix -> Arizona go up in smoke?

48 minutes ago, jerd31 said:

Yeah, part of the deal is Meruelo keeps the rights to the Coyotes name/brand and has a 5 year exclusive window to re-introduce a team to Arizona.  I believe there's a timeline in place where he has to have certain things done by a certain time- IIRC he basically has three years to have a new stadium underway.  

 

 

 

[jerd31]

7 minutes ago, chile57 said:

Thanks for confirming @jerd31. Sooo - what happens if he doesn't get anything off the ground? Does the linear history of Winnipeg -> Phoenix -> Arizona go up in smoke?

 

Honestly no clue, from listening to Friedman a while back, the Coyotes are now considered a 'dormant franchise' and Mereulo can't sell the rights to the team over (ie if someone comes along in the next 5 years and says, "I want to bring back the Coyotes", Mereulo can't just sell the dormant team off).  

I think long term, Bettman wants hockey in Arizona and I'd wager they'll get back there one way or another.  

Edited May 21 by jerd31

[MTH]

4 hours ago, jerd31 said:

Yeah, part of the deal is Meruelo keeps the rights to the Coyotes name/brand and has a 5 year exclusive window to re-introduce a team to Arizona.  I believe there's a timeline in place where he has to have certain things done by a certain time- IIRC he basically has three years to have a new stadium underway.  

 

 

Makes sense. I head that this was the case. I presume the Utah team then paid into the league as an expansion rather than a much less relocation fee. I guess too that the Coyotes then sold all their assets to the Utah team. Contracts and all.

[MTH]

Found this article about the move by Bettman:

Quote

In brokering the deal, he made four shrewd financial moves.

First, he convinced SEG to pay $1.2 billion for a franchise recently valued at $675 million. Team sales routinely exceed public valuations, but a 48%-78% premium (depending on the relocation fee’s inclusion) is still notable. For comparison, the 2011 purchase-and-move of the Thrashers from Atlanta to Winnipeg was priced at $110 million plus a $60 million relocation fee for a team valued at $135 million. 

So why would SEG agree? Well, $1.2 billion is far less than the $1.7 billion to $2.5 billion expansion fee range that Bettman recently floated. Yes, there is bluster in those estimates, but consider the NHL was non-committal about when expansion might happen, and where. That might have been concerning for SEG given the interest from larger markets such as Houston and Atlanta.  By agreeing now, SEG guaranteed a team for Utah and the filling of 41 previously unoccupied game nights (plus playoffs) at the Delta Center, an arena SEG owns. That’s an estimated value of $71 million to $142 million per year, playoffs not included.

Second, Bettman convinced Meruelo to sell. By any conceivable metric, the Coyotes had been a drain on league economics. That $675 million valuation? Lowest in the league. The team’s revenue in 2023 was $120 million, also the lowest in the league. The arena situation didn’t help, but there were also reports of unpaid vendors and substandard player lodging, an embarrassing situation for a professional sports league.

From Meruelo’s perspective, he received a remarkable 235% premium on the $425 million he paid in 2019, the intellectual property of the Coyotes, an Arizona gambling license and an exclusive five-year right to reactivate the franchise if he meets certain requirements; while these requirements haven’t been disclosed, expect there to be a cornucopia of terms and conditions to prevent a repeat of the current mess.

In addition to the financial leverage, there may have been legal leverage from the NHL’s constitution, which allows for involuntary termination of a club under certain circumstances, though such a move has limited precedent.

Third, the NHL set a new valuation benchmark for the other 31 franchises. Team valuations are tricky because of scarcity and emotion, so professionals rely heavily on comparable transactions. For example, consider Nashville, which has three major professional sports teams in the 26th biggest TV market in the U.S. Its NHL team, the Predators, sold for $880 million in 2023. 

Salt Lake City also now has three major pro sports teams and the 27th biggest TV market in the U.S., but its NHL team just sold for $1.2 billion. That sets a new peg for NHL teams in upper-mid-TV markets and supports the case that valuations across the board (pun not intended) have increased 36% year-over-year. 

And fourth, Bettman preserved bigger markets for future expansion. Houston and Atlanta are appealing, but not as turnkey ready as Salt Lake City. When they are, expect both markets to be on the higher end of expansion fees. So, any assertion that the league chose a $200 million relocation fee instead of a higher expansion fee is wrong; it will still get its fee(s), just from other markets. And depending on which, the fee will be more than the league would have received from SEG for Salt Lake City.

Now, many have criticized Bettman for steadfastly supporting Arizona when it’s been apparent for decades that this would be the inevitable outcome. But in brokering this transaction, the NHL has corrected a mistake, put hockey in an exciting new market, gave $6 million to each of the existing owners, enhanced franchise values and preserved lucrative expansion markets in Houston and Atlanta.

All while buyer and seller never actually spoke to each other.

 

[SaveByRichter35]

6 hours ago, MTH said:

Makes sense. I head that this was the case. I presume the Utah team then paid into the league as an expansion rather than a much less relocation fee. I guess too that the Coyotes then sold all their assets to the Utah team. Contracts and all.

The league bought the franchise back from Meruelo and then sold it to Smith.  Its the most crooked scheme I have ever heard.  All of this because Bettman's ego can't take the fact that the Coyotes were a complete failure of a franchise.  And the fact that he is giving Meruelo a back door back into the league is just as bad.  He is the worst owner in the league.

[Snowman30]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/arizona-state-land-department-cancels-land-auction-for-coyotes-arena-requires-permit/sn-amp/

 

Wonder if the NHL will get the hint, they don't want the team backor it's owners around anymore ? 

 

https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2024/06/18/arizona-coyotes-layoffs-alex-meruelo/74137221007/

Seen this also this week, this guy a frigging joke. How did they even let him in the league ?

Edited June 21 by Snowman30