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Coyotes say state canceling land auction ‘seriously jeopardizes’ pro hockey in Arizona

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6 months ago

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Coyotes say state canceling land auction ‘seriously jeopardizes’ pro hockey in Arizona

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Exactly two months after the owners of the Arizona Coyotes sold the team to a Salt Lake City businessman, the team’s leadership says the future of hockey in Arizona is in serious jeopardy.

That’s because the Arizona State Land Department announced Friday it scrubbed an auction for desert land in north Phoenix that the hockey team owner Alex Meruelo eyed for development of a new arena.

The Land Department said in a news release that it was “in the best interest of the Trust to cancel the auction and reorder the steps.”

According to the Land Department, the proposed development will need a special use permit, which the Department is now asking the applicant, the Coyotes, to secure before buying the land.

The NHL franchise had been eyeing the land, totaling about 100 acres, located at Loop 101 west of Scottsdale Road, for an arena and mixed-use development. The land was scheduled to be sold at auction on June 27, with a starting bid of $68.5 million.

Coyotes blast Land Department in statement

The Coyotes released a scathing statement about the auction’s cancelation, which they said “seriously jeopardizes the future of NHL hockey returning to the desert.”

The team called the cancelation a “unilateral” move from the department against the Coyotes’ objections, after saying they had met every legal obligation.

“The organization has worked in good faith with the ASLD and has been on track to win the auction next week until the sudden reversal by ASLD today,” the team said in a statement.

The statement said the cancelation of the auction meant the state was forgoing “millions, potentially billions, of dollars that would have gone directly to K-12 education.”

“The Arizona Coyotes are exploring all our legal options given this shortsighted decision by the state,” the statement said.

Phoenix site currently doesn’t allow an arena

Phoenix spokesperson Teleia Galaviz said the Land Department asked for an interpretation of the zoning on the site, and the city had determined a sports arena was not allowed under the existing zoning. An arena would require “approval of a special permit through the rezoning process,” she said. A rezoning is a process that changes what uses are allowed on a site, and requires a series of public hearings and can take several months.

Galaviz said the Coyotes had not filed a special use permit application yet, “but we look forward to receiving an application and working through the process with (the team).”

Earlier, a State Land Department spokesperson said the team needed such city approvals to move forward.

“We understand the delay in an auction is a disappointment for our applicant and members of the public, but the change in timing is the prudent decision for the Trust,” a department spokesperson said in a news release. The state trust “remains open to working with our applicant to bring the land forward to auction in the future if a special use permit is received.”

Fans, Valley leaders take aim at Meruelo’s leadership

Phoenix Councilman Jim Waring, whose district the proposed arena would be in, said Friday that the Coyotes should “get a zoning attorney. They don’t have one. Get in the city, come up with a plan and go through the process. Then buy it.”

A staff member who works for Phoenix Councilman Kevin Robinson in District 6, which does not include the site, blasted the Coyotes’ statement and intentions on X, formerly Twitter.

“You morons have never worked in good faith – nobody trusts you and nobody wants to work with you,” Jack Keeney wrote. “Years of being bad actors means you have to jump through some hoops to earn trust back, and instead you turn to complaining on Twitter.”

Rich Nairn, the former executive vice president of communications for the Coyotes who worked for Meruelo until September 2023, criticized Meruelo’s ownership on social media.

“Hopefully, he will finally bow out so that the NHL can begin discussions with other real potential owners,” Nairn wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in response to PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan.

The land is in Phoenix but sits along the boundary with Scottsdale, whose mayor has also been openly critical of the project.

Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega said Friday that he had previously pointed out the land had “questionable zoning entitlement.”

“Mr. Meruelo’s fantasy hockey proposal was just a smokescreen as he exited after running the franchise under,” Ortega said in a text message. Ortega also criticized Meruelo’s intentions of seeking a “theme park district” designation as a mechanism to fund the development. However, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego has previously said she is not interested in granting a tax incentive like a theme park district.

Meruelo must pursue expansion team himself

Meruelo sold the team’s hockey assets to Ryan Smith, the owner of the Utah Jazz, in April, but retained the Coyotes name and trademark, with the intention of getting an expansion team back to Arizona. The NHL gave Meruelo a five-year deadline to construct an arena suitable for professional hockey in order to be granted an expansion team.

Under the agreement, Meruelo can only bring in partners for up to 20% of the project, meaning he must retain the lion’s share of the ownership.

In April, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league would need about 18 months’ notice to reactivate the franchise and said the league will be keeping an eye on milestones the project hits, especially progress on the physical buildings. At the time, Meruelo said he was committed to winning the auction.

The team has released renderings of the proposed arena and mixed-use district surrounding the new facility, which would include restaurants and retail, a hotel, office space, a 3,500-person theater and 1,900 residential units.

When the team’s move to Salt Lake City was announced, Bettman said it had become apparent that the Coyotes would be playing at Mullett Arena at Arizona State University too long for the NHL’s liking.

“As a college rink, it’s a good facility, but it is not a major league facility,” Bettman said at the time.

An average NHL player’s career is between four and five years long, so Bettman said it was unfair for professional players to potentially play their entire career in a college arena.

Republic reporter Sam Kmack contributed to this article.

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