Coyotes gets some absolutely brutal news on getting back to Arizona!

A few months ago, the Arizona Coyotes were sold to the NBA’s Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith who was acquired the team’s existing hockey assets – including its full Reserve List, roster of Players and draft picks and its Hockey Operations Department.

In the meantime, owner Alex Meruelo remains committed to win the auction and develop the land into an unrivalled sports, lifestyle and entertainment district without taxpayer funding.

The trouble is, Meruelo is not the only planning to win that auction. According to Richard Rodier, “ the June 27 land auction in Phoenix already has four bidders registered including Meruelo.”

He adds: “That means there will be at least 3 bidders against Meruelo, and maybe more as there is still plenty of time for others to register. Should be interesting.”

The Arizona State Land Department set the auction for June 27 in a legal notice and the starting bid is $68.5 million.
Meruelo made the statement back in April on how he plans to bringing the Coyotes back to Arizona.

“Arizona is our home and an incredible market where the Coyotes belong,” Coyotes chairman-governor Alex Meruelo said in a statement. “This district would provide a beautiful home for the Arizona Coyotes for decades to come. Our loyal fans deserve this vibrant gathering place that would serve as a landmark to create lifelong memories.”

The Coyotes’ announcement for a proposed arena and district include:

* 17,000-seat capacity for NHL games and about 1,500 extra temporary seats for non-hockey events;
* A 150,000-square-foot practice facility and headquarters;
* 400,000 square feet of retail space and a multi-purpose watch party plaza;
* A live music theater for 3,000 concertgoers;
* About 1,900 luxury residential units;
* 10,800 new permanent jobs the Coyotes say this proposed development would create;
* $15.5 billion generated in new spending over the next 30 years;
* $581 million in new tax revenues for Phoenix and $232 million in new tax revenues for Maricopa County;
* More than $100 million worth of infrastructure improvements the Coyotes say will “unlock thousands of acres of land around the property” that the Arizona State Land Department can sell later on;
* “No burden placed on taxpayers,” said Meruelo.

This is the plan going forward after two seasons spent playing out of Arizona State University’s Mullett Arena, which sits only 4,600 spectators for NHL games.

At the end of the 2023-24 campaign, Smith Entertainment Group (SEG) purchased the Coyotes and relocated the team to Salt Lake City with SEG’s Ryan Smith paying a $1.2 billion expansion while Meruelo was paid $1 billion by the NHL for the Coyotes franchise. The group announced on May 8 that the team would play their first season as “Utah” with no logo, name or mascot, though the team search is down to six possible team names as they prepare for the 2024-25 season, including Utah Blizzard, Utah Hockey Club (Utah HC), Utah Mammoth, Utah Outlaws, Utah Venom and Utah Yeti.

The Utah team will play out of the Delta Center next season, which is already home to the NBA’s Utah Jazz .