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Arizona Coyotes Lease Cancelled By Glendale City Council

By William Grigsby |

In a City of Glendale special council meeting Wednesday night the city voted 5-2 to cancel the lease agreement with the Arizona Coyotes, which still has 13 years remaining on it. Part owner Anthony LeBlanc and the team’s attorney, Nick Wood advised the council that the team would be filing an injunction, and will begin legal procedures. The lawsuit will be in the range of $200 million, and if the city thinks they have financial issues now, we shall see how a mega-lawsuit works for their balance sheet.

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This injures the Arizona Coyotes financially, and leaves the future of the team’s existence in Glendale doubtful, at best. They were already losing about $30 million a season, and forfeiting the $15 million a year arena management fee will put their books in a tether.NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman commented before the vote was taken by saying,

“I’m not concerned about the Coyotes. If I lived in Glendale, I’d be concerned about my government.”

This after Bettman gave the Arizona Coyotes a vote of confidence saying  “The club isn’t going anywhere”

LeBlanc and Wood met with reporters after the council’s vote. CLICK HERE

In a post by Rick Westhead of TSN.com:

“There are a lot of questions even now about whether the current owners of this team will be able to fund losses next year, let alone if they have huge legal costs and lose the arena management cash,” said an investment banker.

A former NHL team owner would only speak on the condition of anonymity because he is in talks to buy a minority interest in another NHL club said that the NHL might direct the Coyotes owners to put the team up for sale, allowing new owners to start fresh negotiations with the city of Scottsdale, another suburb of Phoenix that is more affluent than Glendale.
The former NHL team owner said Scottsdale city staff might be enticed to help finance an arena if new team owners manage the relationship well, perhaps also promising to build a new practice facility in Scottsdale.
“To me, that’s the one that makes the most sense long term,” the former NHL team owner said. “You go to Glendale in the meantime and say ‘let’s avoid the legal fees over this and just agree to cut the arena management deal to three more years.” They can probably live with that and you have yourself a bridge to a new building.’”

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    • The other choices are for the team to re-locate to Seattle, Las Vegas, or Quebec City. That would only hurt the league, who has discussed expansion possibilities, since they projected expansion fee of $300-$500 million would be lost.

    All of this discussion is premature at this point until the attorneys sink their teeth into the lawsuit, which could take some time. And, through all of this turmoil sits the Arizona Coyotes fans, who have hung in there, only to be denied once again.

    I can only feel dismay and disgust that the City of Glendale would act so unprofessionally, and heartlessly to cancel a legal agreement. This leaves a team who thought they were finally getting things in order, in the state of disarray… AGAIN.

    Here’s some Yotes fans giving their opinions of the decision to cancel the arena lease agreement:

    • Glendale’s city council has been a circus since it was NHL news. I feel horrible for the fans of the Yotes, they don’t deserve this. But lets be honest, in 2013 when they voted the deal in they all knew it was bad for the city. Hockey isn’t going to work in Glendale, its a money pit. I personally enjoyed my visit to Glendale and the games we attended, it will be a shame, but the reality is this was a bad deal 2 years ago…
    • This is perfect! The threat of a suit is just a threat…the lowest revenue team is going to drown itself in legal fees? I sure hope not. What the Coyotes need to do is make sure that the cancellation of the lease leaves them free and clear of the city of Glendale. If that is the case, the best thing for the Coyotes to do is move back in with the Phoenix Suns. No, that arena is not ideal, but the attendance will be higher as it is closer to the downtown core, and the two teams can lobby for a new arena in Phoenix or Scottsdale. This is a blessing in disguise, Yotes.
    • There comes a time when enough is enough. This ladies and gentleman is that time. Arizona is not a viable NHL market. It’s time to admit it, and move on. Wither it’s to Quebec, Las Vegas, Seattle or other, this ongoing saga has gone on long enough and is not fair to the fans, the players, and the entire Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes staff. NHL, please move on.

    And in the end, it’s the fans who lose out. It’s the players who don’t know AGAIN if they will be playing here or somewhere else. It’s the management group who must somehow figure out how to progress as an organization and go about their daily business running a hockey club.

    It’s NOT about some city council members deciding they don’t all of a sudden, approve of a lease and arena management deal they signed in good faith — and are now reniging on. That’s about ethics, something the council members lack. If the city thought they had to cut services, lay off workers because of this agreement, then they shouldn’t have signed it. Now, let’s see how well things turn for them. GOOD LUCK CITY OF GLENDALE — YOU’RE GOING TO NEED IT !

    Next: Arizona Coyotes Rumor: Glendale Lease In Jeapordy

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