Opinion: Alex Meruelo’s reported decision to walk away from the Arizona Coyotes clears the ice. Now, can we talk about what it’ll take to bring NHL hockey back to the Valley?
Coyotes owner, NHL commissioner address the team’s relocation
Coyotes Owner Alex Meruelo and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman address the media on the relocation of the Coyotes.
Mourn not for Alex Meruelo, the billionaire ex-owner of a now-departed, previously homeless hockey team.
PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan is reporting that Arizona Coyotes owner Meruelo is throwing in the towel on pursuing an National Hockey League expansion team to replace the one the he sold away to Salt Lake City.
Apparently, he’s figured out that nobody in Arizona wants to do business with him.
And by “do business,” I mean give him what amounts to a massive subsidy to build yet another professional sports arena in a Valley that already has two.
Meruelo blames Arizona for his miscalculation
Meruelo’s decision to abandon Arizona — or put another way, to free the state to find a viable replacement group to bring major league hockey back to the Valley — comes just three days after he threatened to sue the state Land Department for canceling this week’s auction of the prime north Phoenix land on which he was hoping to build his new arena.
But, as so often seems to be the case, Meruelo miscaluated.
Meruelo is: The cheapest cheapskate of them all
He didn’t think he needed to obtain a special use permit to build a 17,000-seat arena, something that would have required him to go through a nearly year-long rezoning process.
And he apparently was delusional enough to think the Phoenix City Council would award him property and income tax exemptions that amount to a massive subsidy to build what he touted as “the first ever privately funded sports arena and entertainment district in the history of Arizona.”
Either that, or he never really wanted it in the first place.
Hockey can work here with the right owners
Meruelo, just five years after buying the team for a reported $450 million, walks away with a cool $1 billion in his pocket.
And Arizona? We get to watch what was once our team skate off to Salt Lake City.
Where it will play inside Delta Center, an arena built for the Utah Jazz.
Imagine that. A centrally located basketball arena that is converted for use also as a hockey arena.
Of course, the same thing could happen here …
With the right ownership group …
One that understands what it is to run and grow a…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at "ice hockey" – Google News…