According to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro, Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo has contacted multiple parties, including groups inside and outside the state, to gauge their interest in buying the franchise. He’s seeking an asking price of $1B, $50MM more than the Senators sold for when Michael Andlauer purchased the club last summer.
Gambadoro notes that the Coyotes have recently met with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to update him on their current bid to remain in Arizona, which revolves around winning an auction for a plot of land on the city’s north side. When approached for comment by Gambadoro, the Coyotes said, “Mr. Meruelo and the team are solely focused on the land auction and winning the bid. And to keep the Coyotes in Arizona.”
The lack of a suitable arena has plagued the Coyotes’ long-term future ever since the city of Glendale, which oversaw their previous full-time home, Gila River Arena, opted not to renew their operating agreement in the 2021 offseason due to large debts the club owed to the city. Meruelo struck a deal with Arizona State University to share the brand-new 4,600-seat Mullett Arena through at least the 2024-25 season, heading to the Phoenix suburb of Tempe after the club submitted a bid to build an arena and surrounding entertainment district in the city. However, a public referendum of Tempe voters in May 2023 failed to greenlight the project, sending Arizona back to square one.
Unfortunately, Arizona state law dictates that the land auction could occur as late as 240 days after the city’s board of appeals approved the sale, which occurred on March 14. That could punt the Coyotes’ certainty on landing the plot into next season, as late as November 9. That’s a tough pill to swallow for the league, facing mounting pressure from NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh to provide a suitable major league environment for Coyotes players. The auction won’t happen until mid-June at the absolute earliest, as state law also rules that “there must be an auction advertisement in print media for a minimum of 10 weeks before the auction.” That has yet to occur.
Interested parties outside the state surely include Ryan Smith, the majority owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz. His Smith Entertainment Group filed a formal request for the league to initiate an expansion process in January and has been public recently about his desire to bring an NHL franchise to Salt Lake City, whether by expansion or relocation. The city has an NHL-ready but not necessarily ideal venue in the Delta Center, which has a capacity of 20,000 for NBA games but would be significantly reduced in a hockey configuration. The franchise would have a new arena by the end of the decade, though, as the city has already approved the construction of a new downtown venue ahead of the 2034 Winter Olympics.
Bettman has stated the league will return to the Phoenix market in the near future if the Coyotes relocate. They’ll likely hold off on doing so until a suitable, more central-location venue becomes available, however.