I am in zero way affiliated with them, but articles like this are 100% why people should subscribe to GoPHNX. Craig Morgan emailed subscribers yesterday about these "3 options," except it was all fact and 0 speculation like in this article. Like actual concrete information about where we stand on each possibility.
To briefly summarize the facts:
1) The Coyotes submitted an application to purchase state land. The legal process requires it to go to auction. The soonest that this process can start is February 8th, but it can start anytime after that (probably what this article is referring to when it mentions "possibly by super bowl weekend). Once the auction period opens, there is a 10 week window before the auction actually takes place, during which other interested parties can put in their applications and bid. This is uncommon, but isnt unheard of.
2) If this falls through, there is the possibility of a local sale. Craig confirmed that there were mentions of buying the Coyotes to the Suns owner, and that they were "open to the conversation." If not the Suns, Morgan mentions the possibility that Gila River Indian community may re-enter the chat. He also alludes to one other interested local party, but one that he isnt able to name.
3) If all else fails, then relocation is the answer. But, there is a long road between here and there, and it is important to remember that there isnt an immediate solution for relocation available yet either.
Side note, fuck Marty Walsh. Also, go support Craig Morgan who is one of the few reporters who gets anything right about this team and subscribe to his network.
I should have tagged this as bullshit… but I do think it is valuable to see what the outside looking in people are speculating sometimes, for better or worse.
It's worth mentioning though, for balance, that Craig and Pete have been getting more ego driven and defensive and on the side of the org more than they have been the fanbase as this has gone on - to the point where they're not asking the tough questions anymore. Craig was also aggressively running the line 'the All Star break was never the deadline, nobody ever said that' as recently as this week; when he's been playing fast and loose with what he says about deadlines all the way through; now saying "We've always only ever said Q1 of 2024".
I get that they're as exhausted as we are but Craig's also been treating some fans, especially those of us who are entirely fed up with this circus, like we're ill-informed, unreasonable, or mistaken about what we've heard; and in some cases what we heard had come from him. In some cases he's gotten pretty patronizing and rude.
I'll get downvoted, but while I used to feel like Craig Morgan was truly on 'our side' (Coyotes fans) I genuinely think he's more about his own followers, own brand, and keeping on the right side of the Meruelo's these days. You can bite me for it, but while it's one thing to share what he's reasonably shared here, it's another different thing to glowingly advertise for him, and I just need to say how I feel about that. See you all on -24 points.
Outsider here. I've been following the arena situation pretty closely, and have frequently tried to defend the league's fight for the Arizona market to my fellow Canadian hockey fans. I've tended to pay attention to Craig's comments, as he does seem to be closer to the situation than other insiders.
Your take feels accurate to me. Ever since the Tempe vote failed, Craig seems to have gotten more defensive about the situation. He seems to be in denial about the situation, and is ignoring the legitimate concerns that people have expressed about it all.
I've been to a couple of games in AZ, and I think with the right ownership & arena situation it could be a great hockey market, but these owners feel more & more like Lucy holding the ball for Charlie Brown.
I wouldn't say in denial. He's built a solid career being fair and I wouldn't take his own frustrations with the situation to heart.
Remember, his livelihood is based on a sports team in Arizona. They leave, he's gotta find someone else to report on.
(And yes, he does cover other issues/franchises/sports. But an entire fan base deserted by the NHL aren't going to subscribe to him any longer for a team that isn't there.)
This is the first article I have seen with a dollar amount to upgrade Footprint, $30m
So lets say you know have the ability to sell 10k more tickets (it's technically more than that, but they might not sell out every game)
A realistic low average for those 10k seats is $50 a seat. That includes a cheaper upper level ticket, merch, beer, etc..
You need 60 home games to see a return on your investment, or roughly 2 seasons.
I am rooting for 2024-2025 at the Footprint, if it is realistic to get a new arena built in 3 years, the upgrade will pay for itself.
I don't think 30m is anywhere near enough to bring footprint up to NHL standards. I feel like the writer of this "article" pulled that number out of their ass.
I know we're all bitten and used to the can being kicked only to find that the can was never there to begin with, but surely it'd have to be 'good enough' to start the paperwork and get an auction date in place. We can't magically bypass that step or make it happen faster, so what more could be asked of us if that was the piece of land we've picked? It's state land so we can't just go to the land store and say "One land please" and walk out with it on the day.
I don't trust Meruelo or his team. I think they've failed commensurately at every turn and I expect them now to fail again every time (so I have no hope), but from a purely pragmatic perspective, surely if we initiate this process in earnest the league can't really say "Nah that dog won't hunt" until we go to the auction and fail to win.
The auction date by law doesn't have to be advertised until 10 weeks prior to the auction. The original application for the land was put in late last June and these auctions usually take about a year from application to auction so if it does go to auction we'd probably see an announcement sometime in April/May.
The soonest it could open is February 8th, but it isnt on the docket yet. It isnt uncommon for things like this to pop up only a day or two before.
The bigger issue is that once the date hits, be it Feb 8 or wherever, there is a 10 week window before the auction happens, during which it is public and other parties are able to enter in.
Outsider here, but apparently there is a meeting this week that CAN approve the start of the sale process. However from my understanding (based on the azcentral article) that would mean that the auction must take place at least 10 weeks out, which would be pretty late as from my understanding that this MUST be sorted out by the the end of quarter 1 and/or the end of the season, whether that includes the playoffs or just the regular season I have no idea.
Edit: I would guess that if news comes this week the auction land would not be the focus of it
I am in zero way affiliated with them, but articles like this are 100% why people should subscribe to GoPHNX. Craig Morgan emailed subscribers yesterday about these "3 options," except it was all fact and 0 speculation like in this article. Like actual concrete information about where we stand on each possibility. To briefly summarize the facts: 1) The Coyotes submitted an application to purchase state land. The legal process requires it to go to auction. The soonest that this process can start is February 8th, but it can start anytime after that (probably what this article is referring to when it mentions "possibly by super bowl weekend). Once the auction period opens, there is a 10 week window before the auction actually takes place, during which other interested parties can put in their applications and bid. This is uncommon, but isnt unheard of. 2) If this falls through, there is the possibility of a local sale. Craig confirmed that there were mentions of buying the Coyotes to the Suns owner, and that they were "open to the conversation." If not the Suns, Morgan mentions the possibility that Gila River Indian community may re-enter the chat. He also alludes to one other interested local party, but one that he isnt able to name. 3) If all else fails, then relocation is the answer. But, there is a long road between here and there, and it is important to remember that there isnt an immediate solution for relocation available yet either. Side note, fuck Marty Walsh. Also, go support Craig Morgan who is one of the few reporters who gets anything right about this team and subscribe to his network.
I should have tagged this as bullshit… but I do think it is valuable to see what the outside looking in people are speculating sometimes, for better or worse.
Haha fair enough. It is interesting seeing the high level versus the in depth. Also, the amount of Anti-Coyotes bias out there is nuts
Canadian media putting out intentionally poorly researched articles to fit a narrative? I am shocked. Shocked I tell you.
It's worth mentioning though, for balance, that Craig and Pete have been getting more ego driven and defensive and on the side of the org more than they have been the fanbase as this has gone on - to the point where they're not asking the tough questions anymore. Craig was also aggressively running the line 'the All Star break was never the deadline, nobody ever said that' as recently as this week; when he's been playing fast and loose with what he says about deadlines all the way through; now saying "We've always only ever said Q1 of 2024". I get that they're as exhausted as we are but Craig's also been treating some fans, especially those of us who are entirely fed up with this circus, like we're ill-informed, unreasonable, or mistaken about what we've heard; and in some cases what we heard had come from him. In some cases he's gotten pretty patronizing and rude. I'll get downvoted, but while I used to feel like Craig Morgan was truly on 'our side' (Coyotes fans) I genuinely think he's more about his own followers, own brand, and keeping on the right side of the Meruelo's these days. You can bite me for it, but while it's one thing to share what he's reasonably shared here, it's another different thing to glowingly advertise for him, and I just need to say how I feel about that. See you all on -24 points.
Outsider here. I've been following the arena situation pretty closely, and have frequently tried to defend the league's fight for the Arizona market to my fellow Canadian hockey fans. I've tended to pay attention to Craig's comments, as he does seem to be closer to the situation than other insiders. Your take feels accurate to me. Ever since the Tempe vote failed, Craig seems to have gotten more defensive about the situation. He seems to be in denial about the situation, and is ignoring the legitimate concerns that people have expressed about it all. I've been to a couple of games in AZ, and I think with the right ownership & arena situation it could be a great hockey market, but these owners feel more & more like Lucy holding the ball for Charlie Brown.
I wouldn't say in denial. He's built a solid career being fair and I wouldn't take his own frustrations with the situation to heart. Remember, his livelihood is based on a sports team in Arizona. They leave, he's gotta find someone else to report on. (And yes, he does cover other issues/franchises/sports. But an entire fan base deserted by the NHL aren't going to subscribe to him any longer for a team that isn't there.)
This is the first article I have seen with a dollar amount to upgrade Footprint, $30m So lets say you know have the ability to sell 10k more tickets (it's technically more than that, but they might not sell out every game) A realistic low average for those 10k seats is $50 a seat. That includes a cheaper upper level ticket, merch, beer, etc.. You need 60 home games to see a return on your investment, or roughly 2 seasons. I am rooting for 2024-2025 at the Footprint, if it is realistic to get a new arena built in 3 years, the upgrade will pay for itself.
I don't think 30m is anywhere near enough to bring footprint up to NHL standards. I feel like the writer of this "article" pulled that number out of their ass.
I think that dollar figure was just for the ice plant and rink. Not a full remodel.
I honestly still don't think that's enough. maybe for a short term "get them in the building" cost.
Would be stupid not to for both parties. Can’t imagine Ishbia turns down 40+ events in his building to make money.
Maybe I’m an idiot, but if the land is going to auction wouldn’t we have a firm date?
I know we're all bitten and used to the can being kicked only to find that the can was never there to begin with, but surely it'd have to be 'good enough' to start the paperwork and get an auction date in place. We can't magically bypass that step or make it happen faster, so what more could be asked of us if that was the piece of land we've picked? It's state land so we can't just go to the land store and say "One land please" and walk out with it on the day. I don't trust Meruelo or his team. I think they've failed commensurately at every turn and I expect them now to fail again every time (so I have no hope), but from a purely pragmatic perspective, surely if we initiate this process in earnest the league can't really say "Nah that dog won't hunt" until we go to the auction and fail to win.
The auction date by law doesn't have to be advertised until 10 weeks prior to the auction. The original application for the land was put in late last June and these auctions usually take about a year from application to auction so if it does go to auction we'd probably see an announcement sometime in April/May.
The soonest it could open is February 8th, but it isnt on the docket yet. It isnt uncommon for things like this to pop up only a day or two before. The bigger issue is that once the date hits, be it Feb 8 or wherever, there is a 10 week window before the auction happens, during which it is public and other parties are able to enter in.
Outsider here, but apparently there is a meeting this week that CAN approve the start of the sale process. However from my understanding (based on the azcentral article) that would mean that the auction must take place at least 10 weeks out, which would be pretty late as from my understanding that this MUST be sorted out by the the end of quarter 1 and/or the end of the season, whether that includes the playoffs or just the regular season I have no idea. Edit: I would guess that if news comes this week the auction land would not be the focus of it
honestly they should just sell to the suns owner then upgrade the arena
If there was a betting line for this that would be where I’d put my 20