WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.799 Imagine imagine for just a second a multimillion 00:00:03.799 --> 00:00:06.900 dollar professional sports franchise. OK. They 00:00:06.900 --> 00:00:10.039 employ elite world class athletes. They have 00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:12.820 these incredibly lucrative national television 00:00:12.820 --> 00:00:15.699 deals. Right. And they possess a deeply dedicated 00:00:15.699 --> 00:00:18.579 fan base. Right. The standard pro sports set 00:00:18.579 --> 00:00:21.059 up. Exactly. But when the players step out onto 00:00:21.059 --> 00:00:23.980 the ice for a home game they aren't skating out 00:00:23.980 --> 00:00:26.420 into some massive state of the art sports palace. 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:29.559 No. They are stepping out into a 5 ,000 -seat 00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:32.020 college arena. For all intents and purposes, 00:00:32.219 --> 00:00:36.079 this major league, globally recognized team is 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:38.219 effectively homeless. It genuinely sounds like 00:00:38.219 --> 00:00:41.310 the premise of a... like a goofy sports comedy 00:00:41.310 --> 00:00:43.549 movie. It really does. But this wasn't fiction. 00:00:43.649 --> 00:00:46.070 This was the incredible chaotic reality for the 00:00:46.070 --> 00:00:48.530 Arizona Coyotes at the end of their nearly three 00:00:48.530 --> 00:00:51.149 decade run in the desert. Welcome to this deep 00:00:51.149 --> 00:00:53.490 dive. Today, we are looking through extensive 00:00:53.490 --> 00:00:56.390 historical overviews of the Arizona Coyotes franchise, 00:00:56.789 --> 00:00:58.909 pulling primarily from their documented history. 00:00:59.070 --> 00:01:01.670 And it is quite a history. It is. Our mission 00:01:01.670 --> 00:01:03.689 today is to unpack how a professional hockey 00:01:03.689 --> 00:01:07.329 team survives almost 30 years of bankruptcy courts. 00:01:08.010 --> 00:01:11.810 bizarre arena configurations, and endless ownership 00:01:11.810 --> 00:01:14.530 drama before suddenly vanishing into the Utah 00:01:14.530 --> 00:01:17.230 mountains. And, as we'll find out, why their 00:01:17.230 --> 00:01:19.890 story might not actually be over. Right. So whether 00:01:19.890 --> 00:01:22.829 you are a diehard sports fan or just someone 00:01:22.829 --> 00:01:25.870 who is fascinated by the messy intersection of 00:01:25.870 --> 00:01:28.510 big business, urban planning, and civic identity, 00:01:28.769 --> 00:01:31.989 this deep dive is your ultimate shortcut to understanding 00:01:31.989 --> 00:01:34.780 one of the wildest sagas in sports history. To 00:01:34.780 --> 00:01:36.900 truly understand how they ended up in a tiny 00:01:36.900 --> 00:01:39.540 college arena, we really have to set the stage 00:01:39.540 --> 00:01:41.260 by looking at where they started. Yeah, take 00:01:41.260 --> 00:01:44.060 us back. The year is 1996, and the National Hockey 00:01:44.060 --> 00:01:46.340 League is facing a massive logistical challenge. 00:01:46.620 --> 00:01:49.260 They are executing the Winnipeg Jets' relocation. 00:01:49.379 --> 00:01:52.120 Okay, let's untag this. Because to grasp the 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:54.760 identity of the Coyotes, you really have to understand 00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:57.000 why the Jets had to leave Canada in the first 00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:59.920 place. What was driving that NHL relocation? 00:02:00.189 --> 00:02:02.489 It all came down to the shifting economics of 00:02:02.489 --> 00:02:05.569 professional sports in the 1990s. The original 00:02:05.569 --> 00:02:08.669 Jets had incredible success in the 1970s playing 00:02:08.669 --> 00:02:10.909 in the World Hockey Association. That was the 00:02:10.909 --> 00:02:12.990 rival league that eventually merged into the 00:02:12.990 --> 00:02:16.120 NHL. Right, exactly. But by the mid -90s, the 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:18.099 financial landscape of hockey had completely 00:02:18.099 --> 00:02:21.180 transformed. The league did not have a salary 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:23.819 cap back then. Oh, wow. Yeah, which meant player 00:02:23.819 --> 00:02:26.539 salaries were untethered and just skyrocketing. 00:02:26.539 --> 00:02:28.819 So the cost of running a team was just exploding 00:02:28.819 --> 00:02:32.000 year over year. Exponentially. And to bridge 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.280 that massive financial gap, teams... absolutely 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:38.000 had to have modern luxury suites to generate 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:39.939 corporate revenue. Which Winnipeg didn't have. 00:02:40.120 --> 00:02:43.879 Right. Winnipeg was playing in an aging 15 ,400 00:02:43.879 --> 00:02:47.219 seat arena that had virtually zero premium seating. 00:02:47.580 --> 00:02:50.259 Without that luxury suite revenue, the business 00:02:50.259 --> 00:02:52.599 model simply collapsed. Even with a packed house 00:02:52.599 --> 00:02:54.620 every night. Yeah. Despite having an incredibly 00:02:54.620 --> 00:02:56.960 passionate fan support system, the owners were 00:02:56.960 --> 00:02:59.159 bleeding money and simply had to sell the team 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:01.159 to buyers who could provide a modern infrastructure. 00:03:01.539 --> 00:03:03.800 So they pack up the moving trucks, head south. 00:03:04.349 --> 00:03:06.569 And we witnessed the birth of hockey in the desert. 00:03:06.710 --> 00:03:09.669 A completely non -traditional, sun -drenched 00:03:09.669 --> 00:03:12.210 market. Now, they arrive in Phoenix with this 00:03:12.210 --> 00:03:15.469 immediate, heavy pressure to succeed. I have 00:03:15.469 --> 00:03:18.509 to imagine the team itself struggled out of the 00:03:18.509 --> 00:03:20.830 gate, trying to build a fan base from scratch, 00:03:20.909 --> 00:03:23.490 while dealing with the culture shock of moving 00:03:23.490 --> 00:03:26.449 from Manitoba to Arizona. Actually, that's the 00:03:26.449 --> 00:03:28.169 surprising part of the story. On the ice, they 00:03:28.169 --> 00:03:30.509 were instantly competitive. Really? Yeah, the 00:03:30.509 --> 00:03:32.449 transition didn't seem to faze the players at 00:03:32.449 --> 00:03:36.110 all. They brought in a dynamic trio of offensive 00:03:36.110 --> 00:03:39.270 powerhouses. You had Jeremy Roenick, Keith Tkach, 00:03:39.530 --> 00:03:41.669 and Rick Tachet. That's a serious lineup. It 00:03:41.669 --> 00:03:44.430 was. Plus, they had a fan -favorite goaltender 00:03:44.430 --> 00:03:47.689 in Nikolai Khabibulin, who the fans affectionately 00:03:47.689 --> 00:03:50.210 dubbed the Bullen Wall. The Bullen Wall. That 00:03:50.210 --> 00:03:52.349 is a phenomenal nickname. It really is. And that 00:03:52.349 --> 00:03:54.729 core group produced results. They posted six 00:03:54.729 --> 00:03:58.189 consecutive seasons playing .500 -0 -0 hockey 00:03:58.189 --> 00:03:59.620 or better. Meaning they were... They were winning 00:03:59.620 --> 00:04:01.900 at least half their games or earning half the 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:03.979 available standings points. Exactly, which made 00:04:03.979 --> 00:04:06.539 them a consistent playoff threat in their early 00:04:06.539 --> 00:04:09.439 years in Arizona. But off the ice, the situation 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.180 was completely different. The sources detail 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:15.120 their very first home, America West Arena in 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:18.259 downtown Phoenix, and the setup sounds like an 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:20.879 absolute disaster for a hockey team. It was a 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:22.660 beautiful building, but it suffered from one 00:04:22.660 --> 00:04:26.600 massive, unfixable flaw. It was designed exclusively 00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:30.300 for the NBA's Phoenix Suns. And a professional 00:04:30.300 --> 00:04:32.879 basketball court is significantly smaller than 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:35.920 a 200 -foot NHL hockey rink. I'm trying to picture 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:38.399 how you even force a full -sized hockey rink 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:40.920 into a space that was fundamentally poured and 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:42.740 built for basketball. You practically have to 00:04:42.740 --> 00:04:45.399 cram it in. When they tried to fit the boards 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:47.560 and the ice into America West Arena, they had 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:50.160 to hastily re -engineer the entire floor plan. 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:53.199 Which didn't go well. Not at all. The configuration 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:55.800 was so fundamentally poorly suited for hockey 00:04:55.800 --> 00:04:58.600 that a large portion of the upper deck actually 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:01.420 hung over the ice surface. Wait, literally over 00:05:01.420 --> 00:05:03.680 the ice? Literally over the ice. I'm trying to 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:06.899 picture... Paying NHL prices for a ticket, looking 00:05:06.899 --> 00:05:09.699 down and literally not being able to see the 00:05:09.699 --> 00:05:12.120 goal your team is defending. It's almost comical. 00:05:12.259 --> 00:05:14.120 If you were sitting in those sections, almost 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:17.379 a third of the rink and an entire goal was completely 00:05:17.379 --> 00:05:19.459 obstructed from your view. You would have to 00:05:19.459 --> 00:05:21.379 look up at the jumbotron just to see if a puck 00:05:21.379 --> 00:05:23.980 went in the net right beneath you. Exactly. Because 00:05:23.980 --> 00:05:25.879 of this, they had to cut the listed capacity 00:05:25.879 --> 00:05:29.500 down to just over 16 ,000 seats, making it the 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:31.980 second smallest arena in the league at the time. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:34.660 They had to do that just so they weren't selling 00:05:34.660 --> 00:05:37.660 thousands of tickets to people staring at a concrete 00:05:37.660 --> 00:05:41.139 overhang. So right from day one, their main source 00:05:41.139 --> 00:05:43.720 of revenue is handicapped. This raises an important 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:45.959 question for you, the listener, to consider from 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:49.180 a business perspective. What happens when your 00:05:49.180 --> 00:05:52.379 physical foundation is literally hiding the product 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:54.660 from the consumer? It's doomed from the start. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:57.360 It's a classic case of trying to force a product 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:00.740 into an incompatible infrastructure and set off 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:03.819 a chain reaction of financial losses that the 00:06:03.819 --> 00:06:06.300 franchise would spend decades trying to recover 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:09.420 from. Which brings us to the wild ownership carousel 00:06:09.420 --> 00:06:12.279 of the 2000s. And you cannot talk about this 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:15.040 era without bringing up the great one. Oh, yeah. 00:06:15.629 --> 00:06:19.449 Wayne Gretzky. In 2005, Wayne Gretzky, universally 00:06:19.449 --> 00:06:21.490 considered the greatest player in the history 00:06:21.490 --> 00:06:23.910 of the sport, becomes a part owner of the team. 00:06:24.089 --> 00:06:28.009 Right. And then he steps behind the bench and 00:06:28.009 --> 00:06:31.959 names himself head coach. What was the strategy 00:06:31.959 --> 00:06:34.660 there? Was he just trying to inject some star 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:37.319 power into a struggling market? It was a massive 00:06:37.319 --> 00:06:40.199 marketing play. Having Wayne Gretzky as the face 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:43.139 of your franchise brings immediate national television 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:45.560 coverage and buzz. Sure, he gets eyes on the 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:48.500 product. But the issue was Gretzky had zero coaching 00:06:48.500 --> 00:06:51.610 experience at any level of hockey. The hype was 00:06:51.610 --> 00:06:54.529 massive, but the on -ice product began to suffer, 00:06:54.629 --> 00:06:56.990 and behind the scenes, the finances were bleeding 00:06:56.990 --> 00:06:59.230 out at an alarming rate. Let's talk about those 00:06:59.230 --> 00:07:01.089 numbers, because the financial situation during 00:07:01.089 --> 00:07:03.410 this era is staggering. What's fascinating here 00:07:03.410 --> 00:07:05.910 is the sheer scale of the financial ruin taking 00:07:05.910 --> 00:07:08.209 place while the media spotlight was focused on 00:07:08.209 --> 00:07:09.949 Gretzky's coaching. They were losing money fast. 00:07:10.189 --> 00:07:12.949 Very fast. By this point, the team had moved 00:07:12.949 --> 00:07:15.310 out of downtown Phoenix to a new building in 00:07:15.310 --> 00:07:17.490 the suburb of Glendale. This is what we came 00:07:17.490 --> 00:07:20.069 to know as Gila River Arena. Okay, so they finally 00:07:20.069 --> 00:07:22.769 had... have a proper hockey arena. Yes, but they 00:07:22.769 --> 00:07:25.649 were trapped in highly unfavorable leases and 00:07:25.649 --> 00:07:28.589 dealing with plummeting attendance. During this 00:07:28.589 --> 00:07:31.050 era, the Coyotes were reportedly losing as much 00:07:31.050 --> 00:07:35.470 as $40 million in a single year. $40 million. 00:07:35.910 --> 00:07:38.930 A year. Every single year. That is unsustainable 00:07:38.930 --> 00:07:41.189 for any business, let alone a new sports team 00:07:41.189 --> 00:07:43.779 in a non -traditional market. And all of that 00:07:43.779 --> 00:07:46.379 financial pressure eventually boils over into 00:07:46.379 --> 00:07:49.740 the chaotic bankruptcy of 2009. It did. The owner 00:07:49.740 --> 00:07:51.959 at the time, Jerry Moyes, had essentially thrown 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:54.939 his hands up, right? He had. Things were so dire 00:07:54.939 --> 00:07:57.620 that Moyes had secretly handed operational control 00:07:57.620 --> 00:08:00.160 of the team over to the NHL just to keep the 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:02.579 payroll moving. Wow. But then Moyes pulls an 00:08:02.579 --> 00:08:05.079 astonishing, almost unbelievable maneuver. Walk 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:07.620 us through what happened. So the NHL, led by 00:08:07.620 --> 00:08:09.959 Commissioner Gary Bettman, was working on finding 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:13.480 a new, stable buyer. They had Jerry Reinsdorf 00:08:13.480 --> 00:08:15.500 lined up to make an offer. He's the one who owns 00:08:15.500 --> 00:08:17.199 the Chicago Bulls and White Sox, right? Exactly. 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:19.839 So hours before Bettman was supposed to present 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:22.920 Moyes with Reinsdorf's offer, Moyes suddenly 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:25.220 throws the team into bankruptcy court entirely 00:08:25.220 --> 00:08:27.720 on his own. Wait, he just bypassed the league 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:30.220 entirely. How did he think the NHL was going 00:08:30.220 --> 00:08:32.100 to react to him trying to sell the team out from 00:08:32.100 --> 00:08:35.039 under them? He was desperate. He was betting 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:37.299 that the bankruptcy court would prioritize his 00:08:37.299 --> 00:08:40.399 massive financial losses over the NHL's internal 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:43.639 constitution. What was his endgame? Moyes wanted 00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:46.639 to bypass the league's relocation rules and sell 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:49.299 the team to a Canadian billionaire named Jim 00:08:49.299 --> 00:08:52.559 Balsillie. Balsillie was the co -CEO of the company 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:54.700 that made BlackBerry smartphones. Oh, right. 00:08:55.340 --> 00:08:58.279 And Balsillie's explicit stated plan was to buy 00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:00.960 the team out of bankruptcy and immediately pack 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:03.700 them up and move them to Hamilton, Ontario. But 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:05.639 the NHL wasn't just going to let a rogue owner 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:07.860 dictate the location of one of their franchises 00:09:07.860 --> 00:09:10.740 through a legal loophole. Not a chance. The league 00:09:10.740 --> 00:09:13.500 fought back fiercely in court and ultimately 00:09:13.500 --> 00:09:16.840 the bankruptcy judge sided with the NHL. So you 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:19.159 can't just ignore the league rules. Right. The 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:21.919 judge ruled that you cannot use bankruptcy to 00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:24.600 circumvent a sports league's established relocation. 00:09:24.620 --> 00:09:27.519 rules. The judge voided the sale to Ball Silly, 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:29.980 leaving the team in total limbo. Who actually 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:32.299 owns the team at this point? That resulted in 00:09:32.299 --> 00:09:35.399 the NHL itself stepping in. They bought the Coyotes 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:37.980 and assumed all of their debts just to keep them 00:09:37.980 --> 00:09:40.159 in Arizona and prevent the franchise from folding 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:42.639 entirely. Unbelievable. For the next several 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:45.220 years, the franchise was effectively a ward of 00:09:45.220 --> 00:09:47.460 the league. It became this exhausting parade 00:09:47.460 --> 00:09:51.600 of failed potential buyers. Like who? You had 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.440 Jerry Reinsdorf's group again. investment firm 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:57.379 called Ice Edge, a Chicago businessman named 00:09:57.379 --> 00:10:00.320 Matt Holsizer, former San Jose Sharks owner Greg 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:03.009 Jamison. And none of them worked out. None of 00:10:03.009 --> 00:10:05.149 these complex deals could quite cross the finish 00:10:05.149 --> 00:10:07.370 line. The only thing keeping the arena lights 00:10:07.370 --> 00:10:10.230 on was a very tense reliance on millions of dollars 00:10:10.230 --> 00:10:12.590 in taxpayer subsidies from the city of Glendale. 00:10:12.710 --> 00:10:15.169 So the team is living paycheck to paycheck on 00:10:15.169 --> 00:10:18.110 city subsidies owned by the league and constantly 00:10:18.110 --> 00:10:20.950 rumored to be moving to Seattle or Quebec or 00:10:20.950 --> 00:10:23.289 Hamilton. A total circus. You would think the 00:10:23.289 --> 00:10:24.950 players on the ice would be completely distracted. 00:10:25.409 --> 00:10:27.649 But this is where the story gets incredibly ironic. 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:30.559 During this absolute peak period of ownership 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:33.220 chaos, the Coyotes managed to put together their 00:10:33.220 --> 00:10:36.019 best run in franchise history. It is one of the 00:10:36.019 --> 00:10:39.279 great paradoxes of this entire saga. Under head 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:42.440 coach Dave Tippett, the team completely insulated 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:44.639 themselves from the boardroom drama. They just 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:47.259 played hockey. And played it well. In the 2011 00:10:47.259 --> 00:10:50.720 -2012 season, they rallied. They won their first 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:53.659 and only division title. They marched all the 00:10:53.659 --> 00:10:55.840 way to the Western Conference Finals. I remember 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:57.820 that. They beat heavyweights like the Chicago 00:10:57.820 --> 00:11:00.179 Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators before 00:11:00.179 --> 00:11:02.980 finally falling to the eventual Stanley Cup champion 00:11:02.980 --> 00:11:06.720 Los Angeles Kings. That playoff run felt like 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:09.399 magic. It felt like they had finally cemented 00:11:09.399 --> 00:11:11.799 their place in the desert and proved that hockey 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:13.480 could thrive there. It brought the community 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:15.259 together. And it seemed to help the business 00:11:15.259 --> 00:11:18.919 side, too, because shortly after, in 2013, the 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:21.580 NHL finally found a stable buyer in a group called 00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:24.059 Renaissance Sports and Entertainment. Yes, finally 00:11:24.059 --> 00:11:26.480 some temporary stability. As part of that new 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:29.519 era, in 2014, they officially changed their name 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:31.879 from the Phoenix Coyotes to the Arizona Coyotes. 00:11:32.460 --> 00:11:34.879 Why the rebrand? The logic there was twofold. 00:11:35.019 --> 00:11:37.259 First, they wanted to reflect their actual physical 00:11:37.259 --> 00:11:40.059 location, which was in the city of Glendale, 00:11:40.059 --> 00:11:42.779 not Phoenix proper. OK, that makes sense. Second, 00:11:42.919 --> 00:11:45.159 they wanted to market the team to the entire 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:48.919 state of Arizona, hoping to draw fans from Scottsdale, 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:52.139 Mesa and Tucson. broadening their revenue base 00:11:52.139 --> 00:11:54.460 and we have to take a moment to mention the aesthetics 00:11:54.460 --> 00:11:57.000 here yeah because during this era they eventually 00:11:57.000 --> 00:11:59.639 brought back the beloved kachina logo oh it's 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:02.200 iconic for anyone who hasn't seen it it's this 00:12:02.200 --> 00:12:08.289 incredibly unique retro southwest Native American 00:12:08.289 --> 00:12:12.129 -style coyote wearing ice skates. It is universally 00:12:12.129 --> 00:12:14.490 considered one of the coolest, most defining 00:12:14.490 --> 00:12:17.190 jersey designs in all of professional sports. 00:12:17.370 --> 00:12:19.970 It gave them a distinct, hyper -local, civic 00:12:19.970 --> 00:12:22.509 identity that fans absolutely rallied around. 00:12:22.750 --> 00:12:25.210 It's an essential piece of Arizona Coyote's history. 00:12:25.509 --> 00:12:27.629 Absolutely. But if we connect this to the bigger 00:12:27.629 --> 00:12:30.250 picture, a cool jersey and a statewide rebrand 00:12:30.250 --> 00:12:33.190 cannot fix a fundamentally broken municipal relationship. 00:12:33.429 --> 00:12:36.889 Ah, yes. The Glendale divorce. What exactly caused 00:12:36.889 --> 00:12:38.409 it? caused the relationship between the city 00:12:38.409 --> 00:12:40.950 and the team to fracture so permanently. It was 00:12:40.950 --> 00:12:44.779 a bitter, protracted fight. In 2015, the Glendale 00:12:44.779 --> 00:12:47.539 City Council voted to terminate a massive 15 00:12:47.539 --> 00:12:51.220 -year, $225 million arena management agreement 00:12:51.220 --> 00:12:53.360 they had with the team. On what grounds? The 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:55.679 city cited a conflict of interest, claiming that 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:58.100 former city employees were improperly involved 00:12:58.100 --> 00:13:00.620 in negotiating and securing the deal for the 00:13:00.620 --> 00:13:03.860 Coyotes. That is messy. Very. The two sides eventually 00:13:03.860 --> 00:13:06.879 reached some short -term lease patches, but the 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:09.740 trust was entirely gone. And that leads to the 00:13:09.740 --> 00:13:13.559 ultimate breaking point. Yes. In 2021, Glendale 00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:16.259 drew a firm line in the sand. They completely 00:13:16.259 --> 00:13:18.740 refused to renew the arena operating agreement, 00:13:19.059 --> 00:13:21.720 effectively evicting the Arizona Coyotes from 00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:25.320 Gila River Arena after the 2021 -2022 season. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:27.879 So the city essentially changed the locks on 00:13:27.879 --> 00:13:30.759 a major league sports franchise. Now it feels 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:33.179 like when the physical foundation of a team crumbles, 00:13:33.179 --> 00:13:35.779 the front office loses its grip too. Did this 00:13:35.779 --> 00:13:38.139 constant chaos bleed into their hockey operations 00:13:38.139 --> 00:13:40.730 and decision making? A glaring example of this 00:13:40.730 --> 00:13:43.070 organizational instability happened off the ice 00:13:43.070 --> 00:13:46.090 during the 2020 NHL draft. Right. The team drafted 00:13:46.090 --> 00:13:48.210 a player named Mitchell Miller. This immediately 00:13:48.210 --> 00:13:50.629 sparked widespread public backlash because Miller 00:13:50.629 --> 00:13:52.870 had a documented history of severe bullying. 00:13:53.070 --> 00:13:55.350 He specifically targeted an African -American 00:13:55.350 --> 00:13:57.350 classmate with a learning disability back in 00:13:57.350 --> 00:13:59.009 high school. And the response from the team. 00:13:59.149 --> 00:14:01.990 Following the intense public uproar, the team 00:14:01.990 --> 00:14:05.190 swiftly renounced his draft rights. We aren't 00:14:05.190 --> 00:14:07.330 digging into the broader societal debates here. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:10.659 looking at the historical timeline. And this 00:14:10.659 --> 00:14:13.279 incident is heavily cited as indicative of a 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:15.460 front office that was in constant turbulence. 00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:18.159 Making rapid decisions under pressure. Exactly. 00:14:18.539 --> 00:14:21.700 Poorly vetted decisions during an era of extreme 00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:24.379 stress. They were a franchise that simply could 00:14:24.379 --> 00:14:27.340 not find stability, not in the boardroom, not 00:14:27.340 --> 00:14:30.100 in the draft, and certainly not in their physical 00:14:30.100 --> 00:14:32.440 arena. Which leads to the most surreal chapter 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:34.480 of their history. Here's where it gets really 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:36.519 interesting. Right. Because they are evicted 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:39.639 from Glendale. They have no NHL caliber arena 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:43.399 to play in. So for the 2022 -2023 season, they 00:14:43.399 --> 00:14:45.600 are forced to move into Mullet Arena. Right. 00:14:45.659 --> 00:14:47.879 Mullet Arena is located on the campus of Arizona 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:50.299 State University in Tempe. It was built specifically 00:14:50.299 --> 00:14:52.440 for college hockey. And what was the capacity 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:54.740 of this college venue? It held between 4 ,600 00:14:54.740 --> 00:14:57.360 and 5 ,000 people. That is tiny. To put that 00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:59.879 in perspective for you, a standard NHL arena 00:14:59.879 --> 00:15:03.720 holds roughly 18 ,000 people. The Coyotes were 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:05.899 playing in a venue that was a fraction of the 00:15:05.899 --> 00:15:08.259 size of the next smallest building in the entire 00:15:08.259 --> 00:15:11.360 league. How does the NHL justify putting generational 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:14.039 superstars, guys like Sidney Crosby or Connor 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:17.120 McDavid, into a college rink where the locker 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:19.559 rooms and facilities are completely scaled down? 00:15:19.820 --> 00:15:21.940 The NHL only allowed it because it was presented 00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:24.740 to them as a temporary Band -Aid. The Coyotes' 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:27.139 ownership group had proposed... a massive $2 00:15:27.139 --> 00:15:30.720 .1 billion privately funded arena and entertainment 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:33.379 district in the neighboring city of Tempe. So 00:15:33.379 --> 00:15:35.259 they were selling a vision of the future. Yes. 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:37.600 This project was supposed to be the ultimate 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:40.419 permanent savior for hockey in the desert. The 00:15:40.419 --> 00:15:42.039 league was willing to endure the embarrassment 00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:45.120 of the 5 ,000 -site arena for a few years if 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:47.299 it meant a billion -dollar palace was waiting 00:15:47.299 --> 00:15:49.820 at the end of the tunnel. But then came May 2023. 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:53.059 The Tempe Arena proposal wasn't just a boardroom 00:15:53.059 --> 00:15:55.480 decision. It had to go to a public vote by the 00:15:55.480 --> 00:15:57.980 city's residents. And the voters soundly rejected 00:15:57.980 --> 00:16:00.980 it. Why? If it was privately funded. Concerns 00:16:00.980 --> 00:16:03.460 over traffic, noise, and the allocation of public 00:16:03.460 --> 00:16:06.139 resources, even for a privately funded arena, 00:16:06.419 --> 00:16:09.120 there are infrastructure costs swayed the electorate. 00:16:09.220 --> 00:16:12.200 The no vote won out. That has to be a devastating, 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:15.240 almost fatal blow for a front office that had 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:17.360 banked their entire future on that one plot of 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:20.440 land. What was the fallout? It was the absolute 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:22.950 turning point. The team scrambled desperately. 00:16:23.289 --> 00:16:25.529 They looked at sites in nearby Mesa. They looked 00:16:25.529 --> 00:16:28.029 at tracts of land in North Phoenix. But everywhere 00:16:28.029 --> 00:16:30.370 they turned, they faced immediate municipal opposition, 00:16:30.789 --> 00:16:33.450 infrastructure issues, or massive zoning delays. 00:16:33.610 --> 00:16:35.470 The walls were closing in. They were running 00:16:35.470 --> 00:16:38.009 out of time, and the NHL's patience had finally 00:16:38.009 --> 00:16:40.570 expired. Why? The league was growing increasingly 00:16:40.570 --> 00:16:43.149 uncomfortable having a flagship franchise playing 00:16:43.149 --> 00:16:46.429 in a 5 ,000 -seat college arena with no concrete 00:16:46.429 --> 00:16:48.830 exit strategy. Which brings the hammer down in 00:16:48.830 --> 00:16:52.330 April 2024. essentially steps in and brokers 00:16:52.330 --> 00:16:56.389 a complex, highly unusual $1 .2 billion transaction. 00:16:56.990 --> 00:16:59.110 Walk us through how you even sell a team under 00:16:59.110 --> 00:17:02.029 these circumstances. The NHL essentially brokered 00:17:02.029 --> 00:17:04.670 a deal to split the franchise in half. The actual 00:17:04.670 --> 00:17:06.990 hockey assets, meaning all the players on the 00:17:06.990 --> 00:17:09.190 roster, the coaching staff, the scouting department, 00:17:09.450 --> 00:17:12.609 and the future draft picks were sold to Ryan 00:17:12.609 --> 00:17:15.170 Smith. He's the billionaire owner of the NBA's 00:17:15.170 --> 00:17:18.240 Utah Jazz. Exactly. Those assets were immediately 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.299 moved to Salt Lake City to become a brand new 00:17:20.299 --> 00:17:22.559 expansion franchise, which has since been named 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:25.319 the Utah Mammoth. Leaving the Arizona Coyotes 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:27.940 as a team that exists entirely on paper. Right. 00:17:28.059 --> 00:17:30.079 But before the players packed their bags for 00:17:30.079 --> 00:17:33.339 Utah, there was one final game at Mullet Arena 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:37.960 on April 17th, 2024. And the details from the 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:40.259 source material about this night are just incredibly 00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:42.700 profound. It was a very emotional night. They 00:17:42.700 --> 00:17:45.880 played the Edmondson Oilers and won 5 -2. The 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:48.460 5 ,000 fans in attendance organized a massive 00:17:48.460 --> 00:17:50.839 whiteout in the stands. Which is a beautiful 00:17:50.839 --> 00:17:53.380 nod to their history. The whiteout is a legendary 00:17:53.380 --> 00:17:55.359 fan tradition they actually carried over from 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:57.559 their Winnipeg days, where every single fan in 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:00.000 the building wears white, creating this blinding, 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:03.099 unified wall of noise and support. They chanted, 00:18:03.099 --> 00:18:06.079 we love you, Coyotes, all night long. And there 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:09.059 was this incredible moment for Shane Doan. Ah, 00:18:09.059 --> 00:18:11.940 yes. Doan was the ultimate franchise loyalist. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:14.660 He was drafted by the original Jets, moved with 00:18:14.660 --> 00:18:17.380 the team to Phoenix, and played his entire two 00:18:17.380 --> 00:18:20.160 -decade career with the franchise. Apparently, 00:18:20.359 --> 00:18:23.359 his officially retired jersey banner had been 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:26.000 lost during the chaotic eviction and move to 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:28.180 Mullet Arena. Which tells you a lot about how 00:18:28.180 --> 00:18:30.700 rushed that move was. Completely. But a local 00:18:30.700 --> 00:18:33.079 fan had discovered it, and Doan actually received 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:35.740 his lost banner back during that final emotional 00:18:35.740 --> 00:18:38.460 game. And after the final buzzer sounded, the 00:18:38.460 --> 00:18:40.759 players didn't retreat to the locker room. They 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:43.579 stayed out on the ice for over an hour. An hour. 00:18:43.859 --> 00:18:46.400 Yeah. They were taking off their game -worn jerseys, 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:48.599 handing out their sticks and equipment right 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.119 over the glass to the 5 ,000 fans who had stuck 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:53.859 with them through decades of turmoil, right to 00:18:53.859 --> 00:18:56.240 the bitter end. It was a profound release of 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:59.559 30 years of frustration and love. Just a surreal, 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:02.059 heartbreaking way for an era to end. But the 00:19:02.059 --> 00:19:04.279 named Coyotes didn't go to Utah with the players. 00:19:04.809 --> 00:19:08.130 No, it didn't. The owner at the time, Alex Murelo, 00:19:08.309 --> 00:19:11.289 retained the Coyotes name, their logos, including 00:19:11.289 --> 00:19:14.930 that iconic Kachina design and all of the franchise's 00:19:14.930 --> 00:19:17.170 historical records. So he kept the brand. He 00:19:17.170 --> 00:19:20.569 did. The NHL gave him a very specific five year 00:19:20.569 --> 00:19:24.289 window. The deal was if Murelo could successfully 00:19:24.289 --> 00:19:26.970 build a state of the art arena within five years, 00:19:27.150 --> 00:19:29.750 the NHL would reactivate the Coyotes as a new 00:19:29.750 --> 00:19:32.309 expansion team. So after the tears of the final 00:19:32.309 --> 00:19:35.049 game, there was a glimmer of hope. Morello still 00:19:35.049 --> 00:19:37.369 had a path forward for Phoenix sports arenas. 00:19:37.470 --> 00:19:40.230 Briefly, Morello banked everything on winning 00:19:40.230 --> 00:19:43.349 a land auction for a 110 -acre parcel of state 00:19:43.349 --> 00:19:45.970 -owned land in North Phoenix. He needed that 00:19:45.970 --> 00:19:48.269 specific land to build the arena. Okay, so it 00:19:48.269 --> 00:19:50.650 all comes down to an auction. But in June 2024, 00:19:50.990 --> 00:19:53.130 the Arizona State Land Department suddenly canceled 00:19:53.130 --> 00:19:54.950 the auction, citing the need for more special 00:19:54.950 --> 00:19:57.150 use permits and infrastructure planning. Oh, 00:19:57.170 --> 00:19:59.089 wow. So the rug gets pulled out from under them 00:19:59.089 --> 00:20:01.859 one last time. Without that land, Marolo realized 00:20:01.859 --> 00:20:05.200 he had no viable, realistic path to build an 00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:07.900 arena within the league's time frame. So shortly 00:20:07.900 --> 00:20:09.559 after the auction was canceled, he completely 00:20:09.559 --> 00:20:11.759 relinquished his rights to the franchise back 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:14.579 to the NHL, walking away from the team entirely. 00:20:14.980 --> 00:20:17.880 It felt like the absolute final nail in the coffin. 00:20:18.380 --> 00:20:20.819 But as we look toward the future, the historical 00:20:20.819 --> 00:20:23.059 sources note that the story might not be totally 00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:26.400 over. That's right. In 2025, an advisory panel 00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:28.819 was formed with the explicit goal of bringing 00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:31.539 an NHL expansion team back to the Phoenix area. 00:20:31.900 --> 00:20:34.539 And the head of that committee, Andreda Doan, 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:37.779 the wife of Coyotes legend Shane Doan. It shows 00:20:37.779 --> 00:20:40.059 that the organic desire for professional hockey 00:20:40.059 --> 00:20:42.400 in Phoenix hasn't evaporated, even if the physical 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:45.259 team did. So what does this all mean? We've covered 00:20:45.259 --> 00:20:48.019 everything from the economics of the 1990s NHL 00:20:48.019 --> 00:20:50.559 to Wayne Gretzky coaching to playing in front 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:53.440 of 5 ,000 fans in a college barn. What is the 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:55.799 ultimate takeaway for you, the listener, from 00:20:55.799 --> 00:20:59.109 this massive timeline? The Coyote Saga is a masterclass 00:20:59.109 --> 00:21:01.849 in the intersection of sports, municipal politics 00:21:01.849 --> 00:21:04.670 and real estate. We tend to think of pro sports 00:21:04.670 --> 00:21:07.829 franchises as these untouchable money printing 00:21:07.829 --> 00:21:10.329 machines that operate above normal business rules. 00:21:10.470 --> 00:21:12.589 Why? They seem invincible. But this story proves 00:21:12.589 --> 00:21:15.170 that even in the incredibly lucrative world of 00:21:15.170 --> 00:21:17.619 major league sports. If you have a bad physical 00:21:17.619 --> 00:21:19.900 location like an arena with obstructed views 00:21:19.900 --> 00:21:22.940 or a stadium placed too far from your core demographic 00:21:22.940 --> 00:21:25.940 and you lack a stable, trusting partnership with 00:21:25.940 --> 00:21:28.819 your local municipality, it can absolutely sink 00:21:28.819 --> 00:21:31.380 a multimillion dollar asset. You simply cannot 00:21:31.380 --> 00:21:33.619 force a physical infrastructure that doesn't 00:21:33.619 --> 00:21:36.460 work. Exactly. It's a massive cautionary tale 00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:39.059 about the harsh realities of the business of 00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:41.579 sports. It is. And it leaves us with one final 00:21:41.579 --> 00:21:44.859 provocative question to ponder. If the NHL does 00:21:44.859 --> 00:21:47.210 eventually grant an expansion team to that 2025 00:21:47.210 --> 00:21:50.650 revival committee? Will a new franchise be able 00:21:50.650 --> 00:21:52.930 to shed the heavy baggage of three decades of 00:21:52.930 --> 00:21:55.670 instability? Or does the ghost of the coyote's 00:21:55.670 --> 00:21:58.109 chaotic past permanently haunt the ice and the 00:21:58.109 --> 00:22:00.150 desert? That is a fascinating thought to leave 00:22:00.150 --> 00:22:03.650 on. Can a market truly get a clean slate? Thank 00:22:03.650 --> 00:22:05.349 you so much for joining us on this deep dive 00:22:05.349 --> 00:22:07.589 into the wild, unpredictable history of the Arizona 00:22:07.589 --> 00:22:10.349 coyotes. Keep questioning, keep exploring, and 00:22:10.349 --> 00:22:11.349 as always, stay curious.