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Post by mikecubs on Aug 20, 2021 11:34:30 GMT -6
Glendale terminating Coyotes' arena lease after 2021-22 season
According to reporting by Katie Strang of The Athletic, the decision comes after "stalled negotiations" between the city and team over a lease extension and potential renovations to the arena. But "multiple notices" of unpaid bills by the team to the city also contributed to the parting of ways.
Public records obtained by Strang show that Phelps informed the arena's management company, ASM Global, that the team owed $1,462,792 to the arena as of July 17.
“We’ve reached that point of no return,” Phelps said in an interview with The Athletic. “There’s no wavering.” Strang adds that the team will need to vacate the facility, which also houses the organization's management offices, by June 30.
The decision will renew discussion around the hockey world over the team's long-term future in the state of Arizona. One option, if the team were to be relocated, is Quebec City, which applied for an expansion franchise in 2015 and is home to the Vidéotron Centre which opened in 2015.
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Post by mikecubs on Aug 20, 2021 11:49:13 GMT -6
Coyotes' future is in Arizona, Commissioner Bettman saysCity of Glendale 'negotiating' after it doesn't renew Gila River Arena lease past this season The Arizona Coyotes will remain in the Phoenix area, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday after the city of Glendale announced it would not renew its operating agreement with the team at Gila River Arena following this season. "I'm not worried about the Coyotes." Commissioner Bettman said on WFAN 660 AM in New York. "I think their future stays in the greater Phoenix area." As part of a year-by-year lease agreement between the Coyotes and Glendale, either party was able to decide not to renew for an additional year by providing written notice each year on or before Dec. 31. "We are disappointed by today's unilateral decision by the City of Glendale to break off negotiations on a multi-year lease extension agreement," Coyotes president and CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez said. "We are hopeful that they will reconsider a move that would primarily damage the small businesses and hard-working citizens of Glendale. We remain open to restarting good-faith negotiations with the City. "Most importantly, the Coyotes are 100 percent committed to finding a long-term arena solution here in Arizona, and nothing will shake our determination to do what is right for our organization, residents of the entire Valley and, most important, our fans." Commissioner Bettman said this is the latest step in talks between the two parties. "First of all, I don't think the Coyote franchise is going anywhere," he said. "I think the city of Glendale is negotiating.
"There's no secret that Alex Meruelo, who's the owner of the Coyotes, is looking at his options to build a new arena somewhere else in greater Phoenix and I think the city of Glendale basically said to the Coyotes, you have to sign a 20-year lease or we're not going to renew."The Coyotes relocated from Winnipeg to Phoenix for the 1996-97 season and played at America West Arena downtown until moving 12.5 miles northwest to Glendale for the 2003-04 season. They changed their geographic name from Phoenix to Arizona on June 27, 2014. "We are thankful to the NHL and the Arizona Coyotes for being a part of the Glendale community for the past 18 years," Glendale city manager Kevin Phelps said. "The decision not to renew the operating agreement with the Coyotes was not made overnight or in a vacuum. We carefully weighed input from key stakeholders, our expert economist, our arena management firm and our city council." The Coyotes are reportedly looking to relocate to Tempe, telling AZ Central on July 22 they were "highly interested in the location." They made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in five of their first six seasons in Phoenix but once since advancing to the 2012 Western Conference Final. Andre Tourigny was hired as coach July 1 after it was announced May 9 that Rick Tocchet would not return after four seasons. The Coyotes will move from the Pacific Division to the Central Division this season, with the expansion Seattle Kraken joining the Pacific. The Coyotes begin the season at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 14, and host the St. Louis Blues in their home opener four days later. Their final regular-season game at Gila River Arena is scheduled for April 29 against the Nashville Predators. www.nhl.com/news/nhl-commissioner-gary-bettman-says-coyotes-future-is-in-arizona/c-325998880
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Post by mikecubs on Aug 20, 2021 11:50:03 GMT -6
There have been talks of a new arena in Tempe
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Post by wolfmannick on Aug 20, 2021 14:12:21 GMT -6
Even if there are zero plans to build a new stadium and the league is planning on going to Houston next season, they arent gonna come out and announce it now and have a lame duck season in Arizona. Theres always 2 more weeks with the coyotes
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Post by mikecubs on Aug 21, 2021 5:05:59 GMT -6
Bettman is so insane the NHL will spend a few years in a temp site to try and save Arizona while waiting for a new arena.
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Post by mikecubs on Aug 22, 2021 4:48:02 GMT -6
Glendale evicts Coyotes after 2021-22 season, figuring it can make more money on concerts than hockeyaccess_timeAugust 20, 2021 personNeil deMause In a move that came out of nowhere, the city of Glendale announced yesterday that it was putting an end to lease extension talks with the Arizona Coyotes, and would instead be evicting the hockey team at the end of the 2021-22 season. The explanation: With the city having to pay the Coyotes around $5.6 million a year to run the arena under its current lease, and team owner Alex Meruelo behind on his rent, city officials figured they’d be better off booting the NHL and just staging concerts: “With an increased focus on larger, more impactful events and uses of the city-owned arena, the city of Glendale has chosen to not renew the operating agreement for the Arizona Coyotes beyond the coming 2021-22 season,” a statement from the city reads. And this wasn’t just bluster. According to The Athletic, a economic impact study calculated that concerts and other events bring in more than double the sales tax revenue of Coyotes games:R ecently, the city requested a study to identify the impact of monthly sales tax collections for retail, restaurants, bars and hotels within the Westgate Entertainment District from attendees at Coyotes home games versus other live events. According to that economic-impact study, which was reviewed by The Athletic, “ it would take approximately 20 additional concerts or large other events (with attendance of 10,000+) to equal the same amount of sales tax revenues to the city as 43 Coyotes games” in spending at the Westgate Entertainment District (outside the arena).
“What we think is not being tethered to the Coyotes really allows us to take the asset of the arena and do something really special with it,” Phelps said.
This isn’t a totally new idea: T he operators of Kansas City’s arena, for one, have previously said they’re not eager to land a sports team as a tenant, because sports teams demand sweetheart lease deals while concerts actually pay decent rent. But actually telling the team that’s played in your arena for 18 years to go pound sand is a bold move, one that’s usually reserved for teams that go so long without paying rent that they end up with a tractor parked on home plate. In a statement, Coyotes president Xavier Gutierrez declared the team “disappointed” with the turn of events and “hopeful that they will reconsider a move that would primarily damage the small businesses and hard-working citizens of Glendale,” which makes it sound like he didn’t actually read the economic impact study. Presumably the team will start looking for a temporary home for the 2022-23 season — the Phoenix Suns‘ arena, where the Coyotes formerly played despite one of those arena layouts that required the hockey rink to be off-center with one whole end of the stands not able to see the ice, is one option, as is the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which is at least laid out for hockey and hasn’t been used for much in decades. In the long term, though, this makes it all the more likely that Meruelo will step up plans for a new arena in Tempe, even though no one is exactly sure yet who would pay for that or how. Or, you know, maybe not. In most circumstances, a team owner would be crazy to consider leaving the nation’s 11th largest media market, but the Phoenix area has always been famously disinterested in attending hockey games, making a move to a new city not an entirely crazy idea. Unfortunately for Meruelo, his options are fairly limited there: A Yahoo Sports article on potential new homes for the team lists Quebec City, Houston, and Hamilton, Ontario as the top three choices, but both Quebec’s and Houston’s arenas are controlled by local owners who would want to own the team as well, and Hamilton has traditionally been considered by the NHL to be too close to the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ doorstep, so if Meruelo wants to stay in charge of his team, it may be Tempe or bust. All this is still breaking news, obviously, so expect to see more fallout on Monday. For now, though, Glendale is one of the few cities to take a long, hard look at what it takes to host a sports team in this era of massive subsidies and gone, “You know what? We’re better off without.” If it means the Coyotes leave town as a result, that would suck for local fans, but given attendance figures you could make a good case that they’d have a better time going to the added concerts the city could book during hockey season instead. www.fieldofschemes.com/2021/08/20/17795/glendale-evicts-coyotes-after-2021-22-season-figuring-it-can-make-more-money-on-concerts-than-hockey/
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Post by wolfmannick on Aug 22, 2021 7:02:06 GMT -6
From that article it sounds like theyre actully kicking them out. Could make things interesting in Tempe where i read theyre having problems finding suitable land to build due to soil contamination
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Post by mikecubs on Aug 22, 2021 15:36:21 GMT -6
From my understanding they got the site but it needs soil remediation and there is stuff at that site that is still being used so it is unclear if the can start remediation right away or have to wait until things move off site. It sounds like it would be 5 years until a new arena would get built. Will do more research when I get a chance.
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Post by mikecubs on Aug 24, 2021 0:49:57 GMT -6
Did a tiny bit of research on the Tempe Arena. I guess there is a solid waste yard on the site. The land is contaminated and needs at least $70M of clean up(it could be much more). When the city put up request for proposals they wanted to be not be able to move off the site until 2024. It's unclear if that can be speed up. The request for proposals has been moved back to December. According to a poster on HF boards the Arizona Cardinals were going to put their new football stadium there instead of Glendale but it was too close to the airport for a stadium and the team gave up on the site.
So it's likely the Coyotes are looking at 5 years of MUCH MUCH MUCH worst loses that they current have to get to the new arena. If Glendale changes it's mind there are going to want an agreement where the Coyotes pay a crap ton of more rent. The Suns owner gets final say of the Coyotes old arena. He will reject them or make them accept an awful deal at best to play in his horseshoe. He's not going to help the Coyotes because he wants the winter market for himself and will NOT want a 3rd arena to compete with his renovated arena.
A poster on HF boards had an interesting idea. Move the Coyotes but promise the current owner an expansion franchise when you could open a new Tempe arena if that is possible.
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Post by mikecubs on Aug 24, 2021 0:53:46 GMT -6
Environmental remediation costs present challenge for Coyotes’ proposed Tempe arena siteIt’s a short declarative phrase in Tempe’s request for proposal, which was published July 22: “Finally, it will be respondent’s financial responsibility to remediate the land.” But along with a cost estimate of $70 million presented in June, it represents a considerable fiscal and logistical burden for the Arizona Coyotes if the team hopes to develop a new stadium in the East Valley. The process of environmental remediation – removing contaminants from water and soil – for the 46-acre site northeast of Priest Drive and Rio Salado Parkway on the Salt River will be multifaceted. Judith Grant Long, a professor of sport management and urban planning at the University of Michigan, said she has seen reports of land costs become much more detailed during her time studying sports venues. But she added that the public might not have a desire to know the intricacies of these estimates. “People want to know it’s $70 million,” Long said, “but they don’t really want to know how much of that is soil-based, how much of it’s water-based, how much of it’s trash-based, et cetera.” The Coyotes, who play in Glendale, acknowledged in a statement July 22 that it is looking at options for a new home, “given our determination to remain in the Valley for many years to come.” A geotechnical report prepared by Global Environmental Consulting in 2009, included with Tempe’s request for proposal, indicated that the area adjacent to the site (north of Hardy Drive) previously served as a sand and gravel mine. It also had landfill materials buried 16 to 37 feet below the surface. “That’s where your trouble’s going to be,” said Chris Spengler, who helped lead remediation for Petco Park in San Diego. “The sand and gravel mining shouldn’t be too big of a problem unless they have underground storage tanks for fueling equipment and vehicles.” The underground situation is also not uniform throughout the land. For example, the report mentions variance in landfill materials between construction and household debris. “You can’t make a broad statement about the entire site,” said Bruce A. Keyes, of counsel at Foley & Lardner LLP in Milwaukee. “You really have to look at it piece by piece.” Keyes, who described himself as “completely fascinated by the development of sports facilities on landfills,” has represented several such projects in Wisconsin, including a baseball and entertainment complex (Ballpark Commons), a college sports facility and multiple soccer fields. Building on fill materials, as in Tempe, presents a veritable minefield of obstacles. Keyes said these include contamination, instability caused by decaying landfill mass, ongoing maintenance and potential methane gas emissions, which can become explosive if not remedied.
Building a sealed facility like a hockey arena on top of a fill site could be particularly challenging on the methane front, he added.
“Open-air and limited closed structures are really good for landfills,” he said. “The Coyotes are talking about something that’s an enclosed structure. That makes it more complicated, not insurmountable.”Keyes explained that a hockey arena still doesn’t have a lot of small, confined spaces, which is good for avoiding potential accumulation and contamination. Given all these potential issues, the remediation process could be even more expensive than the $70 million forecast. Tim Kellison, a professor at Georgia State University who concentrates on sport in the urban environment, said going over budget is “inevitable” for this kind of project. He cited examples including Tropicana Field, which nearly tripled in land costs compared to its original estimate, according to a 1990 article in the Tampa Bay Times. “What tends to occur is an underestimation of just how badly the land is contaminated,” Kellison said. “and as a result, how much it will cost to actually do a good job cleaning up the site in a way that conforms with numerous environmental regulations.” Because stadium development projects are so wide-ranging in the scope and nature of their remediation (depending on what lies beneath the surface), the land costs vary widely. Spengler said his Petco Park project, completed in 2006, cost $8 million over 45 acres. On the other hand, the proposed CalgaryNEXT development was forecasted in 2016 to require between $85 million and $103 million in Canadian dollars ($68 million and $83 million in U.S. dollars), putting it right in the neighborhood of the Tempe site. Long said $70 million to be paid entirely by the respondent seems high relative to the overall cost of this sort of development. She and Kellison, however, agreed that the city would likely repay this total in kind somehow, with contributions like help through the regulatory process or tax aid. “My suspicion is, because municipalities or local governments tend to usually pay at least some of the tab of site remediation or environmental cleanups,” Kellison said, “that if the respondent pays for it, they’ll be getting that money back elsewhere, in terms of maybe tax incentives and things like that.” Long added that having the respondent at least apparently pay for remediation could serve a public relations purpose for Tempe. “The local politicians will be able to say yes, we got this cleaned up by the private sector … but meanwhile that $70 million actually comes into the deal through another part of the budget,” she said, “because it’s just a lot of money relative to the project cost.” For Keyes, the prospective site atop landfill materials in Tempe means the continuation of a trend. “The fact that I’ve worked on a half-dozen of these in the last eight to 10 years, and it seems to be increasing – I just think we’re going to see more of that,” he said. He added that building on a fill site represents an advanced stage in a city’s development. ”As cities are growing up, they would have the dump on the edge of town,” Keyes said. “And that dump on the edge of town is now consumed by the city or the village. And so, it represents some of the last large expanse of land that you have that is available for these types of uses.” cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2021/08/02/coyotes-proposed-land-remediation-costs/
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Post by wolfmannick on Aug 24, 2021 3:06:34 GMT -6
I really dont see them expanding and i see it even less likely they can convince someone to spend upwards of 750 million for an expansion team in phoenix given their financial history. Hell i see them playing in the football stadium across the street befor that will happen
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Post by mikecubs on Aug 24, 2021 15:55:02 GMT -6
It's possible they'd make an exception and not really consider it a true expansion if they are getting kicked out and consider it more like a "pause".
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Post by wolfmannick on Aug 24, 2021 17:02:32 GMT -6
But that brings imbalance back to the league unless theyre gonna expand by another team in the east
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Post by mikecubs on Aug 29, 2021 0:29:04 GMT -6
But that brings imbalance back to the league unless theyre gonna expand by another team in the east Hopefully they do if the NHL goes down that road(Quebec)
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Post by Bruinsfan on Oct 17, 2021 6:50:29 GMT -6
One thing I think will happen in American sports soon is the 32 team imaginary cap will go away. Nhl has such an international base of players they can support more teams.
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