All the dots are on the i’s, all the bars are on the t’s. NHL governors have given the green light to the sale of the Arizona Coyotes, confirming their move to Salt Lake City, Utah.
This latest step marks the end of a saga that spanned almost three decades, during which the Coyotes played their home games in three cities and changed owners six times.
The transaction is complex. In reality, it is the league which acquires the franchise, until then owned by billionaire Alex Meruelo, and makes it “inactive”, according to the press release published Thursday afternoon. The league then assigned a new team to the Smith Entertainment Group (SEG), led by Ryan and Ashley Smith. According to information published by various media in recent days, the purchase cost by the league would have been 1 billion dollars, and the entry fee for the new team, 1.2 billion. The difference would be redistributed among the owners of the 31 other clubs on the circuit. Ryan Smith is the current owner of the Utah Jazz in the NBA and co-owner of Real Salt Lake in the MLS.
SEG thus acquires everything related to the organization’s hockey operations, starting with its staff, its players and its draft picks. The new team will play its local games at the Delta Center, home of the Jazz. In an interview with ESPN, Ryan Smith indicated that the capacity of the building for hockey games would be 12,000 seats next season, but that redevelopment work would then increase it considerably. The league required a capacity greater than 17,000 seats, he said.
The same press release specifies that Meruelo retains the right to be reassigned a franchise if he succeeds in building a “new, ultra-modern and appropriate arena for an NHL team” within five years.
“The NHL’s confidence in Arizona has never wavered,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. We thank Alex Meruelo for his commitment to the franchise, and we offer our support in his efforts to find a new home in the desert for the Coyotes. »
PHOTO ROSS D. FRANKLIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
“We are committed to building a team that aspires to the Stanley Cup and we are excited to welcome the players, staff members and their families to Utah,” said Ashley and Ryan Smith in the same note. It’s a big day for Utah and for hockey. »
Outcome
After years of stalling, during which the NHL insisted on keeping the team in Arizona by all means, the matter evolved at high speed. About a month ago, the Athletic media wrote on Monday, commissioner Gary Bettman and his right-hand man Bill Daly went to meet Alex Meruolo in person to discuss the fate of the organization. During the previous weeks, the club’s management had expressed its intention to bid, as part of an auction next June, on public land in Scottsdale, in order to build a new arena. Models were even posted on social networks. The project, however, quickly aroused opposition from municipal authorities, starting with the mayor of Scottsdale, who castigated the Coyotes’ plan in an open letter.
PHOTO ROSS D. FRANKLIN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
On Wednesday, the Coyotes played their last local game in their history against the Edmonton Oilers. This emotional evening ended with a 5-2 victory for the crowd favorites.
According to Athletic, Bettman asked Meruelo if he could guarantee that he would be able to build an amphitheater for the Coyotes to leave Mullett Arena in Tempe, a 4,600-seat building originally designed for college hockey. Meruelo would then have responded in the negative.
“I agree with Gary Bettman: it was simply unfair for our players, our coaches, our hockey staff and the other teams on the circuit to continue to play in an arena that is not suitable for NHL hockey. “, indicated Meruelo in the press release issued Thursday by the league.
“But this is not the end of NHL hockey in Arizona,” he said, adding that he still wants to build a “first-class” arena as well as an “entertainment district” in the region, and this, “without the help of public funds”.
The Coyotes have experienced instability since arriving in the Phoenix area in 1996, and it hasn’t improved under the reign of Meruelo, who purchased the franchise for some $300 million in 2019.
The organization fell out with suppliers and with the City of Glendale, owner of the arena where local matches were played from 2003 to 2022. The team was even threatened with being expelled in December 2021 if she did not immediately pay a debt of $1.3 million in taxes, and she had to leave Gila River Arena after the conclusion of the 2021-2022 season.
For two seasons, she has been playing at Mullett Arena. No project for a new amphitheater having yet worked to date, the future of the club was highly uncertain. We now know what happens next.
Great speed
The sales process happened at great speed.
It must be said that Ryan Smith had shown his colors for a long time. It was known, through the NHL, that the billionaire wanted to attract a franchise to Salt Lake City. Last January, he published a press release in which he assured that he was ready to welcome a franchise from next season.
“If you had told me at the beginning of the year that we would be here today, I would have told you that you are crazy! “, Smith said in an interview with ESPN published moments after the news was made official.
In his eyes, such a turnaround, resulting in a gender transaction, is “unprecedented”. “It’s a different process,” he continued. I don’t think anyone has done this before. But we’re on board, we’re all in [all in]. »
The club’s management met with the players over the past few days to inform them of the latest developments. On Wednesday, the Coyotes played their last local game in their history against the Edmonton Oilers. This emotional evening ended with a 5-2 victory for the crowd favorites.
Several former players expressed their sadness. Shane Doan, the face of the franchise from his arrival in Phoenix in 1996 until his retirement in 2017, spoke to local media about the unique relationship between athletes and community. “The fans, the people who have spent their entire careers here, the security guards, the ticket office employees,” he enumerated. That’s everyone. It’s a small group here, very tight knit. That’s what makes it so difficult. »
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Shane Doan and Carey Price in 2016
“Hockey is more than a sport,” he added.
Today a television analyst, ex-tough guy Paul Bissonnette held back a sob on air while paying tribute to the team that gave him his chance in the NHL. He expressed the wish that a team would return to this market, but was disappointed with the conditions of the sale.
“I know hockey has its place in the desert,” he said. I know he will come back. But not with this owner. »