Today is March 12, 2013, and the Coyotes ownership situation is silent…deathly so. What we know or think we know is that Mayor Weiers announced over a month ago that he had received calls expressing “interest” from mystery buyers. If there really were mystery buyers we have to assume that he passed those contacts on to the appropriate person, in this case, the Interim City Manager. We know from the public statements of Councilmember Gary Sherwood that Greg Jamison is making another run for ownership. We also know from media reports that Grant Woods is likely assisting Ice Edge in a possible bid and that Anthony LeBlanc, reputed to have broken away from the original Jamison investment group, said any new ownership deal has got to look very similar to the deal Greg Jamison was working previously. Councilmember Sherwood publicly stated that Glendale was hiring Beacon Sports Capital to negotiate for the city. Since then we have heard that Beacon is writing the RFP for the deal and that it is not expected to be completed until the end of March. It will have to go to council in executive session for approval and then will be released. That means a public RFP won’t hit the streets until April…and the clock continues to tick.
We know that Beacon Sports has a close relationship to Michael Reinsdorf and that relationship may offer insider access to the RFP for a possible Reinsdorf/Kaites bid.
We know that Bill Daley of the National Hockey League has said that if the deal cannot be completed in this round, I presume by the end of the season, the NHL will consider relocation of the team…and the clock continues to tick.
What is worrisome is the seeming lack of any sense of urgency by the seven councilmembers or upper management of the city to complete a deal before the NHL pulls the plug. The end of the season for the Coyotes, if they do not have any play-off games, is the end of April. After the RFP is issued in April it will likely stay open for 45 days. Then the council needs to bless a possible owner, the NHL has to approve the possible owner and then, only then, is the final deal crafted. The attorneys bless their hearts; will take quite some time and many billable hours to finalize this new deal. Bear in mind the city will not have the services of former City Attorney Craig Tindall. In past years he had negotiated (some say obstructed) several possible deals for the city. Without his expertise, it could take considerably longer…and the clock continues to tick.
Something which may or may not relate to the Coyotes deal is the attendance of Senator John McCain and Grant Woods at the Saturday hockey game where they were seen chatting with Mayor Weiers. Could one of the topics of conversation have been the Coyotes deal? Following that game Mayor Weiers, accompanied by Councilmembers Sherwood and Chavira, flew to Washington, D.C. The trip appeared to have as its goal Luke Air Force Base and an effort to lobby for the F-35. However, a March 12th Phoenix Business Journal article reports that the F-35 has never been considered for a possible sequestration cut. Now, if they were there to lobby for keeping the Glendale Airport’s tower open that would make far more sense as it is on the chopping block. But this was not declared to be part of their lobbying agenda. If nothing else it sure makes for a great photo op for newly elected officials. There are so many questions floating about. I’ll leave it to you to decide if this was the kind of politics where one hand washes the other. You must decide for yourself. Was this trip with access to the Department of Defense a means of acknowledging access to Beacon and the RFP before issuance or just an opportunity for a local mayor to have a photo op? I don’t know. This is all pure speculation of course but it’s interesting to try to figure out if and how the dots may connect.
I guess we have to assume that there is much scurrying behind the scenes and we may see that a Kaites/Reinsdorf group or a Jamison Group emerges as the front runners However, if a deal similar to the previous Jamison deal, requiring a $13M or $14M annual management fee, is offered to the city, as Anthony LeBlanc stated is needed, will this current council accept it? Will we see an offer coming forward at the moment the RFP hits the streets? And the clock continues to tick.
We know Councilmember Alvarez has publicly stated that NO deal is a good deal. Will she reconsider a five year deal? Or does she have the clout to bring Councilmembers Ian Hugh and Sam Chavira with her and find just one more vote in rejection of any deal? If so, could it be the Mayor? We saw those same four join forces to oust the City Attorney Craig Tindall…and the clock continues to tick.
Weiers ran for election saying that any Coyotes deal must not be done on the backs of Glendale taxpayers. Is the real plan to let the time run out on putting any deal together? Only time will tell.
Joyce, you could set this to music and have a #1 hit! Your talent is shining through; I can tell because you are making me think. Your goal here was to forse the reader to think wasn’t it? I sure hope the Counsil was among the readers!
Larry,
Thanks. I am glad you are thinking about this stuff. I hope it will cause others to do so as well.
You make a lot of good points in this post.I am not worried at all about the coyotes staying in glendale for the next three years.The NHL has done there relighment and that can’t be changed for three yrs.Plus as of right now there is no where to put the coyotes.Even when Quebec finishes it’s arena they still could not relocate them there because they are in the east.You have no worries with seattle basketball is not going there.Thay will never build a arena without basketball.Other places make zero sense from a finacal standpoint or should I say for there contract with NBC sports.I like the idea that they are keeping it quiet people get sick of hearing two weeks maybe three you know what I mean.This will come down to who the nhl wants to be owner period.I bet bettman wished he took the ofter from Jerry c in 1998-1999 to redoe at that time amercia west arena.I can still see this team going downtown why well I make the drive from tempe everytime I go to a game know.Wow what a pain in the ass that is it takes on a good day over a hour CRAZY.I used to say it can’t be that bad well it sucks bad.If I was to do my tickets again I would only do weekends to much of a pain.I don’t know whats going to happen but I am not worried at least not for three years!!!
Darrold,
Thanks for your comments. I know that you are as frustrated as the rest of the Coyotes hockey world. My objective in this post was to get people thinking about what may or may not happen. Of course, I would like to see the team remain in Glendale permanently and I’ve offered the reasons why many times. All we can do is wait (for two weeks? Nah…) for the outcome.
Darrold…. if I’ve learned one thing the past 4 years…. never, ever underestimate the NHL and what it will or will not do.
The planned realignment may last three years does but that does not rule out the name “Phoenix” being replaced with “Quebec City” or “Seattle” or who knows what. Winnipeg was left to play in the East (and southeast in particular) because that’s where Atlanta was, despite it being better for them to be in the Western Conference (or the Northwest Division) from a geographical standpoint. They can easily juggle the alignment again after one year to move a team or two and get the NHLPA to agree.
This entire process is completely out of our hands at this point. The only thing we can do now is to continue supporting the team in what ever means possible.
None of us knows what will happen with the Coyotes. Your statement about supporting the team in any way possible is the best advice heard in a long time.
I am a Coyotes season ticket holder and a true hockey fan! However, I think there may be a couple holes in your thinking. First of all, the stadium in Seattle will happen. I have a friend in Seattle and he says so far all the lawsuits against the stadium have been thrown out. Sacramento is trying to keep their team, but ultimately the NBA wants them to move anyway. So they are as good as gone, if not next season, soon after. Second, I believe they can not change the realignment for 3 years, that doesn’t mean they can’t relocate a team. They would not have to change the realignment if they moved to Seattle, they would stay in the same division. The reason they would like to change the realignment after 3 years is so they can make room for expansion teams in Quebec and Markham. They would make more money by making Canadian teams pay $400 million for a new team than to relocate the Coyotes there. That is almost a billion dollars that they can make up for losing half of this season to a lockout. Third, I do agree with you about the TV contract with NBC sports. The NHL would lose money if they were to move them to a smaller city and again that would mean less NHL exposure. If you have been watching the Coyotes attendance figures and TV ratings, they have been way up this year and can only mean they are beginning to tap into their potential.
As I would love to join you in their enthusiasm, I think it could come to a point where the NHL will just want to cut their losses and move on. There are other options and potential owners in other cities with plenty of money to spend on a team. This has gone on for way too long and it doesn’t look like its getting much better lately. Lets hope their is SOMETHING going on behind the scenes!!
I will continue to hope that there is work going on behind the scenes. With Doan’s agent trying to broker a deal (via John Shannon the other day) that may be a very hopeful sign. No one wants to see the Coyotes move — except for Ken Jones and Councilmember Norma Alvarez!!
Joyce, I’m a Glendale resident and want the team to stay also. But not only does Alvarez, Hugh, Charva want to the team gone now!, no “two weeks” or even two minutes. Jerry wants and expects to be “emperor” of Glendale not simply the “mayor”. All of those three “owe” payback to their “campaign” donors. After April 18-19th Gary Bettman/Bill Daly won’t have to “pretend” to want the team here. I mentioned before just how much Gary is with NBA Commissioner David Stern is. Our fate was sealed when the “Maloofs” agreed to sell the Kings to Hansen/Ballmer. The NHL is done with us, they got their “50 million” fee to pretend to find a “buyer”. The “dance” is over for us here, and we haven’t gotten all dressed up for the “party” yet.
I still believe that the team will stay in Glendale. I know that time is running out but there are players at work behind the scenes.
Thats all I want is a outcome not two weeks.You are doing a great job with the blog!!
Thanks Darrold. As long as it gets people to think and to question I will continue to blog. The Coyotes are not just important to Glendale but to the entire Valley. It is disappointing that there are no other Valley communities that realize that fact.