If this doesn’t work, then I don’t see how the Coyotes can stay in Arizona. The Arizona Coyotes and their owner Alex Meruelo have sent a Letter of Intent to buy a plot of land in Mesa, Arizona to build the Coyotes desperately needed stadium and entertainment center to keep the team in the desert.
You’ve got to give Meruelo credit for trying to keep Coyotes in AZ.
Despite getting rejected by the citizens of Arizona time after time again, the Arizona Coyotes and their owner Alex Meruelo have made one final, desperate attempt to keep the team in Arizona by sending in a Letter of Intent to buy a vacant plot of land to build the Coyotes new stadium and entertainment center in Mesa, Arizona. And, if this moving bid fails, then the team will be forced to relocate.
So, this really is a desperate attempt to keep the Coyotes in Arizona as they really are running out of options of where to put the team. With the failure of the Tempe vote to build a massive, multi-billion stadium and entertainment center in the city a few months ago, the Coyotes have been living in a state of limbo over their future in Arizona.
On the one hand, the Coyotes have a very loyal, dedicated fanbase that has stuck with the team in some during its recent (and distant) history of abject failure and disappointment. I mean, I really have no idea how Coyotes fans are still sticking with the team as the Coyotes have not only made the playoffs just once in the last eleven years, but they’ve also only been out of the First Round of the playoffs once in the last 27 years.
Oh, and the team has been division title winners just once (2011-12), have made it to the Conference Finals once (2011-12), have finished with 40+ wins just four times (2001-02, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12), and have won 50+ games once (2009-10). This team has a single Hall of Fame-worthy player in the franchise’s history (Shane Doan) and is one of the few teams in the NHL to have a losing overall record (882-898-94-186; .428% winning percentage).
Simply put, the team has flat out sucked ever since it moved from Winnipeg to Arizona back in the 1996-97 season and have sucked all throughout its 27-year existence in the desert…but the fans have always stayed loyal and true to their franchise. But the real question is how MANY people in Arizona are fans of the Coyotes.
The Coyotes have been forced to move from Phoenix to Glendale to ASU’s small home rink in the 27 years of its existence in the desert, it has had plans to move to Tempe, Mesa, Scottsdale, and Tuscon fall through, and have had to change its name from the Phoenix Coyotes to the Arizona Coyotes because the city of Phoenix kicked the Coyotes to the curb.
This club has been in utter turmoil with its own fanbase ever since its conception as it was formed from the ashes of the old Winnipeg Jets franchise, and it seems like the fans and the state of Arizona feel that turmoil by rejecting the Coyotes at every turn.
But, like how a hungry Coyote will continuously risk its life to hunt for chickens on a farm, the Arizona Coyotes and Alex Meruelo have come back to the citizens and statesmen of Arizona to build a self-funded, multi-billion entertainment center to keep the Coyotes in Arizona.
Now, I don’t know if this deal will keep the Coyotes in Arizona as I’ve got no idea about the plot of land in Mesa and about the city itself, but I highly doubt Meruelo will be able to keep the Coyotes in Arizona after the numerous failed attempts. Even with the NHL and Gary Bettman’s blind, unwavering loyalty and commitment.
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