Arizona Coyotes: Options After Two-Year Arena Lease Ends

By William Grigsby | Jul 24, 2015

Now That The Two Sides Have A Lease Agreement, What Happens To The Arizona Coyotes When It Ends?

Today, out of the blue (much like when Keith Yandle was traded) I checked my cell phone for the latest news, and was flabbergasted to read that the city of Glendale, and the Arizona Coyotes had come to an agreement on the arena lease.

It was going to go to trial in eight days, and I felt something had to give, but I never thought the hockey club would renegotiate the terms of the lease agreement. Not after President/Co-owner Anthony LeBlanc had adamantly denied that such an occurrence would take place. He was ready for a fight! Well… sorta.

At this early juncture perhaps we don’t know all the details of the settlement yet, but one deciding factor from the Arizona Coyotes’ standpoint had to be they wanted to stop the bleeding. As Tyson Nash (former player and TV color commentator for Coyotes games on Fox Sports AZ) so succinctly states it when a player is cut, “That’s a gusher!” The organization didn’t want another “gusher”, and relented in their lawsuit against the city of Glendale.

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They didn’t go down without a fight, however — they gave up $8.5 million to the city in reducing the management charge for the arena, but gained income almost equal to that in parking revenue, naming rights revenue, and ticket surcharges. All in all, one expert claimed the team may lose about $1 million in the new lease deal.

Now that brings us to the next chapter in the Arizona Coyotes’ continued reality show, fit to be compared to something Donald Trump would produce for TV. AFTER the two-year agreement has transpired, what happens to where this hockey team straps on their skates to play an NHL game?

Will this franchise be in a suspended state of uncertainty until then…AGAIN? It looks like it. The game of chicken is over for now, but two years goes by quickly. Both sides need to put on their thinking caps, and figure out what to do at that point… or sooner.

Here’s some options to ponder:

Start serious negotiations with the city of Phoenix to be a tenant in a new multi-purpose arena in downtown Phoenix. A possible site around the convention center has already been pegged as a good location.
Reach out to the Native American community to see if they would build a hockey arena in the east valley, since so many Coyotes’ fans seem to be griping about “driving all the way across the valley” to attend a game.
Re-locate to another city (are you listening Seattle?)
If the deal fell through with the Suns, renovate the soon to be re-named U.S. Airways Center to accommodate NHL hockey. That’s a long shot; can you imagine if the Suns and Coyotes were BOTH playing on the same evening? The traffic and parking mess would be unbearable. Like I said, a long shot option.
Re-negotiate (again) with the city of Glendale before the two-year agreement ends, to see if an amicable agreement to extend the two-year lease can be remedied. This option may be acceptable to the city of Glendale once they begin to sweat out the possibility of an empty facility producing little if any income, and the cost of building the arena still on their balance sheet. Not to speak of the retailers in the Westgate City Center, and their plight down the road.

What I can’t understand is why it even had to come to the boxing match it became. The city signed a bad deal, which they regretted. They found a loophole, which some felt would have given them the right to boot the team out of the arena, and went for the jugular.

The team thought the drama, the rumors, the uncertainty was over two years ago when they signed the 15-year arena lease agreement. It is still difficult to determine if each side can pick themselves up off the ice after being cross-checked in the back, and go on like they’re the best of buddies.

I don’t see it happening. Sure, in two years the Glendale city council will probably change, especially if the recall on several of them is successful. It’s hard to judge if a new council will be open to discussing a new agreement, but to the Coyotes advantage the building CANNOT remain empty. If that happens, the entire council will be seeking new employment.

The way I see it, there are only two viable options at the end of the two-year time period. The city of Phoenix somehow finds funds to build a new multi-purpose arena to house both the Suns and the Coyotes.

Or, the Arizona Coyotes find another landlord (Scottsdale, Native-American land owners) who may not give them anything close to the agreement Glendale did, but will give them a better geological location (since that seems to be so vital to most fans) to house the Desert Dogs.

You can’t ever say there’s a dull moment when you talk about the Arizona Coyotes… let’s see how it turns out. I know I’m intrigued by the possibilities. Aren’t you?

Next: Arizona Coyotes Lease Cancelled By Glendale City Council

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