It was stated that the Arizona Coyotes might relocate to Salt Lake City.
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However, insider Frank Seravalli caught everyone off guard on Wednesday when he revealed that, should the Coyotes relocate, the NHL is developing a backup 2024–25 league schedule that would see them play in Salt Lake City.
Furthermore, it appears like the idea to relocate the Coyotes to Salt Lake City is gaining momentum. Here is all the information we currently know about the Coyotes and the rumors about their potential relocation to Salt Lake City, even if nothing is official.
What exactly is the fuss about Salt Lake City, then?
Seravalli’s study on Wednesday added Salt Lake City to the list of potential Coyote relocation locations. It was first rumored that the NHL was creating a backup schedule for the Coyotes in Utah for 2024–2025—obviously in case their present arena plans went through.
But when Seravalli later revealed that there had been “significant and meaningful progress” toward an agreement between the Coyotes, the NHL, and Smith Entertainment Group to move the franchise to Salt Lake City, things really heated up.
This is how Seravalli explains it in his Daily Faceoff report:
In response to rumors in the media, the NHL delivered an update memo to the Board of Governors on Wednesday. According to sources, Coyotes players have been informed that a “verbal” deal has been reached, although we have heard disagreement on that interpretation of the negotiations. No transaction has been finalized up to this point. There is a lot of work to be done, and it will require numerous layers of effort and lawyers.
ESPN confirmed the story and said that, while things are still subject to change, a relocation announcement may be made “as soon as this month.”
What current course of action are the Coyotes proposing?
The Coyotes are presently holding onto what appears to be their last hope for an arena in Arizona amid all the relocation discussions. Alex Meruelo, the team owner, is aiming to win the state land auction, which is scheduled to begin on June 27.
The Coyotes want to construct an arena and entertainment complex on this nearly 100-acre plot of desert land. The Arizona Republic claims that the following are the specifics of Meruelo’s plan:
Meruelo’s CEO and president, Xavier Gutierrez, said the company plans to construct a large complex valued at about $3 billion. The ideas resemble the ones Meruelo had in mind for Tempe until the proposal was turned down by the local voters a year ago.
Plans include a practice facility and an arena with 17,000 seats, which is more than three times larger than the Coyotes’ current temporary home at Arizona State University. In addition to 1,900 residential units, there would be a 3,500-person theater, a hotel, retail stores, and office space.
According to Gutierrez’s estimate, the project also entails infrastructure costs of about $100 million for items like roads, water, and sewage lines. The State Land Department projected that the infrastructure would require a minimum of eighty million dollars.
The Coyotes apparently had to propose this large and ambitious project as a last-ditch attempt to keep the franchise in Arizona after the Tempe Arena idea fell through.
What are the players’ thoughts on all of this?
Coyotes players appear to be as ignorant as the rest of us. Players have been monitoring the relocation developments on social media, according to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. It’s not a good look, but given the way this news came and the lack of firm plans for the coyotes’ future residence, it’s hardly shocking.
What’s the temperature in Arizona right now?
To put it mildly, things are tight. Scottsdale’s mayor, David D. Ortega, recently stated in an opinion piece that the city, which borders Phoenix, is against the proposed arena location and wants no part of it:
The proposed Phoenix version, which borders Scottsdale, was presented without taking into account the desire of the market for a new entertainment complex masquerading as a hockey rink, the traffic on the highway, or the dubious zoning entitlement for the arena. Furthermore, the flashy plan was presented as the last chance to preserve hockey in Arizona.
It is neither practicable nor welcome for a novice developer to try to purchase Arizona State Trust Land at the doorstep of Scottsdale, on the Phoenix side of the Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road interchange, with zero infrastructure.
Some rather harsh words! People in Arizona seem to be losing patience with the Coyotes’ current handling of the problem at this time.
Will the Coyotes relocate to Salt Lake City, then?
To be honest, I’m not sure. All of this could be a ploy to raise bids for the Coyotes’ anticipated state property auction, where they hope to win the right to erect their new arena. It’s hardly surprising that the NHL is investigating a backup plan in case things in Phoenix don’t work out, though, because everything is on the table for the Coyotes.
We probably won’t have to wait too long to find out the Coyotes’ fate, as the land auction is just a few months away.