I have been following all of the public speculation since the Renaissance group (LeBlanc/Gosbee) and the Pastor group have submitted bids to the NHL. There are some opining right this minute on which bid is better. How can anyone possibly know? There is only one entity, the NHL, that has the complete package of information and they’re not telling. It is interesting, when you think about it, that neither bid has been blessed by the NHL to date. If either bid was that spectacular trumpets would be blaring. I suspect there are a few more bidders out there. Why declare a winner when all of the contestants haven’t signed in yet? Information is leaking slowly like a punctured tire but only the positive stuff that the groups believe will advance their bid before the public eye. That’s not the eye with which they should concern themselves. The Pastor group’s blitz with the media and fans may have earned them a few new friends but not the ones that count.
Until such time as we can see whom the NHL blesses and the kind of deal it is I, like everyone else, will just have to wait it out. Some of you will relate to this analogy. It’s like being pregnant. Your due date is June 1. You’re in the home stretch. You’re tired of being miserable and you just wish this baby would get on with it, quit fooling around and be born. I know the fans are stretched thin and are just wishing this baby would be born. Until then speculation is about as good as using a Ouija board.
Post Script: Just learned NHL rejected Pastor bid. This makes the case that speculation is useless. NHL has their own agenda and will accept a bidder that most closely meets that agenda. Do you know what the NHL’s agenda is? If so, would you please share it with all of us?
NHL wants to sell the Coyotes to a party for $170 million, who are willing to abide by the NHL standards. This party must prove they have the ability to absorb losses into the tens of millions, as to not find the team back into bankruptcy again. The league wants to keep the team in Glendale, but this has been the case for 4 years now and time is running out before the league considers plan b.
I have visited Westgate several times…never a Coyotes game…each time Westgate was busy…as a Glendale taxpayer…no need to subsidize NHL…time for city of Glendale to work for taxpayers.
I do not agree with your premise of “subsidizing the NHL.” You are ill informed if that is what you believe. As for Westgate, I live a mile away. I am over there all the time. Westgate is often deserted even during lunch hour. If you are referring to Tanger OutletMall Westgate, it is always busy but it does not drive traffic over to Westgate proper.
Ummm it will cost taxpayers around $54 dollars for the team to be here as opposed to around $74 dollars if they leave. Obviously them staying here is the better deal. Why don’t you go to Westgate on a gameday and see how packed it is.
Joyce,
Do you ever think details of Pastor’s bid will see the light of day? I was rooting for him even though I don’t know much about him. Something about the Renaissance Group makes me not trust them.
Bernadette,
I’m at Westgate a couple of times every week, whether its for happy hour or Friday and Saturday night partying, and Westgate can be a ghost town. It does seem to have gotten better since Tanger opened up, but Westgate still needs the Coyotes in order to reach its full potential. More events at the arena would do a lot of good as well. It also needs more offices in the area – the restaurants are dead during the day.
Berndette,- I am not sure when you go Westgate, but I am there all the time and the place is like a ghost town when the Coyotes are not there. It’s just a simple fact. Talk to the owners of the restaurants around there. Westgate does not stand a chance without the Coyotes plan and simple.