This might very well be the end of the franchise as we know it. The Arizona Coyotes are facing the very real possibility of relocation as the city of Tempe, Arizona voted to REJECT their new stadium proposal, all but dooming the franchise to uncertainty.
They have at most two years left in Arizona. That’s it.
The Arizona Coyotes and their billionaire owner Alex Meruelo’s $2.1B entertainment proposal, which would have given the Coyotes a brand-new stadium, for the city of Tempe, Arizona was resoundingly rejected by the citizens of Tempe, ensuring the Coyotes don’t have a stadium to play in after their lease with Arizona State University expires. What a wonderful predicament the Coyotes find themselves in, right?
Now, putting the jokes aside for a moment, I really do feel bad for all the Arizona-resident Coyotes fans out there as I think this team staying in the state beyond the 2024/25 season (which is when the lease expires) is extremely unlikely.
Sure, they could try to build a stadium in other cities, such as Scottsdale or Mesa, or build a stadium on the outskirts of either Tempe or Phoenix, but those projects seem just as improbable of success as the now-defunct entertainment district as the people and municipal governments of Arizona have spoken time and again now: they don’t want the Coyotes.
The Coyotes already had to move out of Glendale (a suburb of Phoenix), Arizona as they lost their stadium rights, the ownership group of the Phoenix Suns have rejected all proposals of the Coyotes moving into their building, the team can only seat 4,500 or so fans a night in ASU’s university, the team had to change its name from Phoenix Coyotes to Arizona Coyotes as the city rejected them, and now the citizens of Tempe have voted no to the new stadium and entertainment district.
Along with years of mismanagement under horrible owners and leadership that has caused this team to spiral into an endless rebuild, this situation has turned into an unmitigated, unwanted disaster.
I really do feel bad for the Coyotes players, coaches, executives, fans, staff, etc. as the vast majority of their home state wants them gone.
Still, as I said, the Coyotes won’t be uprooting and heading off for a new city (which I’ll get to in a minute) overnight as they have a 3-year license agreement with Arizona State University to play out of the college’s local rink, giving the team two more seasons to find a new city, build up the appropriate infrastructure if necessary, and perhaps find a new owner as Meruelo has previously stated he has no desire to own the team if it’s not in Arizona.
So, for the meanwhile, all Coyotes fans can enjoy two more seasons of their team playing out of ASU under the “Arizona Coyotes” logo…maybe.
I know the NHL and the Coyotes management has stated the team will play in Arizona for the upcoming season, yet it’s almost guaranteed these two entities will be looking at new cities, states, and even countries to bring the Coyotes when the deal with ASU eventually runs out. And if the bidding process rapidly accelerates, the Coyotes could very well be moved this offseason.
I’ve heard the biggest contenders for the team are Houston, Texas, Kansas City, Missouri, Atlanta, Georgia, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Quebec City, Canada, though there might be other contenders to come forth with this proposal now officially dead.
We’ll have to wait and see if the Coyotes ownership can somehow resurrect this deal or find a new city to build the stadium, yet it looks very likely the NHL’s project in the desert is going to fail.
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