Arizona Coyotes Likely Moving From Glendale
Per a story by Pierre LeBrun of ESPN, it’s likely that the Arizona Coyotes will move from Glendale’s Gila River arena.
Ever since the Arizona Coyotes and the City of Glendale finally resolved their controversial disagreement about the team’s lease with the city, things have as ice COLD as the arena ice between them.
Pierre LeBrun wrote Tuesday that the Coyotes are likely to move “down the highway” to Phoenix or Scottsdale “in the next three or four years.”
LeBrun cites the language in the new arena lease agreed upon by the Coyotes and the City of Glendale in July, noting it “sparked conversations and opportunities elsewhere in the Valley for a new arena,” he said.
“A local Native American tribe expressed interest in building the Coyotes a new arena in East Valley Scottsdale. And there is a third confidential option, a source said, that would also keep the team in the local area.”
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It’s also been stated publicly by Arizona Coyotes CEO/President and part owner Anthony LeBlanc that he and his ownership group are not pleased that the City of Glendale is bidding out the arena management. His group handled arena management until the city made it known they were seeking another arrangement. They hired an outside service known as Beacon Sports Capital Partners LLC as a consultant to find bidders to manage the arena, with the new manager set to take over as early as July of 2016.
Vice Mayor Ian Hugh stated the city hopes that IceArizona submits a proposal, but Leblanc had said he expected to start negotiating with the city on an extension of the two-year lease agreement, but the city’s sudden move on the request for proposals has made that a moot point.
Leblanc stated to azcentral.com’s Peter Corbett:
”The fact that (Glendale) jumped forward … changes the dynamics.”
In other words, the Arizona Coyotes have other options, and the freedom to use them — if they wish.
It’s been stated over and over that if the Arizona Coyotes were to move elsewhere, (even locally as the ownership group insists will be the case) that the concert industry insiders have said it will be difficult to impossible to book shows, and keep the arena in business if Glendale loses the hockey team. That is more than 40 dates which would be lost. That’s revenue lost, and businesses destroyed.
Some Glendale city council members insist that they could fill the spots with more concerts (good luck with that, it is very competitive with all the high-class venues in the Valley), or even bring in a minor league hockey team. This being said, if one does their research, it would show that even NHL hockey does not draw well here. This is just not a steaming pot location for hockey. You can’t even come close to comparing it to the east coast or Canada when it comes to the popularity of the sport.
With the Phoenix area entertaining fans in all four major sports (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL) the competition for the fan’s wallets is intense.
As an editor of Howlinhockey.com, I can testify to that fact. Other sites on the FanSided network do much better in readership numbers because they are located in hockey havens like Toronto, Chicago, New York, Montreal, etc. Hockey is a hard sell here in the desert where many have said, “why do you even have a NHL team there?”
Moving the Arizona Coyotes to the east valley, or downtown, or some unknown third location may save the franchise from doom and re-location out of the state — but what it won’t do is increase the fan following. Some success by the team would perhaps increase interest, but even when the team went to the Western Conference Finals in the 2011-12 season the average attendance that season was a paltry 12,420, or 72.5 percent of capacity.
In the end, the losers of the Arizona Coyotes possible move from Glendale is Glendale itself, and Westgate Entertainment District… particularly. Those businesses, even with the Arizona Cardinals giving them some revenue, will suffer enough to make them become extinct. The citizens of Glendale need to recognize this fact, and seek better leadership next time they vote for council members. The Arizona Coyotes WILL move from Glendale. They WILL exercise their right to work with a partner who does what they say will do, instead of signing a lease agreement and deciding it’s not really what they want.
So, the winners of this will be the Arizona Coyotes, because even if they share a facility with the Phoenix Suns in downtown, they will be better off than continue to take the abuse that the City of Glendale feels they can dish out. The other winners will be the fans who can maybe cheer for their team, without the extra drama and battle which has gone on dealing with the City of Glendale.
The team wins, the fans win, and due to their poor leadership and ignorance the City of Glendale loses.
Next: Arizona Coyotes Lease Cancelled By City Council
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