TEMPE, Ariz — After 28 years, The Arizona Coyotes will be leaving the desert, 12News can confirm.
12News journalist Cameron Cox confirmed with an NHL source that the Coyotes will be sold to the Smith Entertainment Group, a company owned by billionaire Ryan Smith, who also owns the NBA's Utah Jazz, and moved to Salt Lake City.
The plan is for the Coyotes to play at home arena of the Jazz, the Delta Center, in Salt Lake City, according to ESPN.
The deal will reportedly be facilitated by the NHL, meaning that current owner Alex Meruelo will sell the team to the NHL, who will in turn sell the team to Smith.
Meruelo will receive $1 billion from the sale. The league is expected to sell the team to Smith for $1.2 billion, with the extra $200 million being used as a relocation fee.
The source also confirmed to Cameron Cox that the deal to sell the Coyotes is not yet complete, but should be finalized by early next week.
Reports have previously said that the sale will be officially announced on April 17 or 18.
Arizona Sports 98.7 FM's John Gambadoro was the first to report these details.
Will the Coyotes name and Kachina logo be sold?
Coyotes players were told of the move before their game against the Edmonton Oilers by General Manager Bill Armstrong, according to PHNX Sports' Craig Morgan. The decision to fly to Edmonton, Alberta, to address the team was made by Armstrong, according to the source.
As part of the sale, the Coyotes franchise will be marked as inactive by the NHL, meaning the name, logos and business side of the organization will remain in Arizona and will not be sold. Smith will be purchasing the hockey operations side of the Coyotes organization, which includes the players, front office personnel and support staff.
What brought about the end of the Coyotes era in Arizona?
This will bring an end to the Coyotes' 28-year run in Arizona, which began in 1996 at America West Arena, which is now called the Footprint Center, in downtown Phoenix after the team relocated from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The Coyotes played in downtown Phoenix until 2003 when they moved into what was then called Glendale Arena in 2003. That arena was later named Jobing.com Arena (2006-14) and Gila River Arena (2014-2022) while the Coyotes played there.
The Coyotes were kicked out of the West Valley arena in 2022 and ended up moving to Tempe to play in Arizona State University's brand-new stadium, Mullett Arena. However, the arena only has 4,600 seats for NHL games, which is more than 10,000 seats smaller than the Winnipeg Jets' home rink, Canada Life Centre, which has a capacity of 15,321 and is the league's next-smallest arena. The NHL's largest arena, the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, has a capacity of 21,105.
According to the NHL source, the league no longer wanted to play in a rink built for college hockey and after seeing the vote for an arena and entertainment complex in Tempe fail in May 2023 along with not having a timeline for construction of a new arena at the moment, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman convinced Meruelo that selling the team would be in the best interest of the players.
Will Alex Meruelo still bid on land for an arena in north Phoenix?
Yes, Meruelo still plans to move forward with the planned auction for a 95-acre plot of land in north Phoenix on June 27.
The plot, which is at Scottsdale Road and the Loop 101, was valued by the Arizona State Land Department at $68.5 million. That price will be the starting bid for the auction.
The sale of the Coyotes will give Meruelo a five-year window to build an arena. If he is successful, Meruelo would be able to bring an NHL expansion team to the Valley. If he does that, he would have to pay the league back the $1 billion he made from this sale.
Is Alex Meruelo planning to meet with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego?
On Saturday, two letters were released from Meruelo to Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. The Arizona Republic was the first to report on the letters. The mayor's office has confirmed to 12News that they are real.
The first letter, dated April 5, says that Meruelo had been trying to set up a meeting with Gallego to ask her to publicly endorse him, the Coyotes and the NHL in building the new arena and entertainment district in north Phoenix.
"As you are aware, for the past three weeks, we have, through one of your department heads, attempted to meet with your to discuss our proposed project at the northwest corner of the intersection of Scottsdale Road and State Highway 101," the letter read.
Meruelo then details how he intends to win the auction for the land and invest at least $68.5 million to build the project, which he claimed a market study showed would generate more than $15.5 billion in spending, $580 million in taxes and create 10,800 jobs in the 30 years after it is completed.
"However, it's critically important to me, to my family, and to the NHL and Commissioner Gary Bettman that you, as the Mayor of Phoenix, are fully committed to publicly taking the lead to help us reach the finish line," the letter continued.
Five days later, on April 10, Meruelo sent a second letter to the mayor to ask for a meeting.
"While we have not had the opportunity to spend time together, I have been a long admirer of the incredible leadership that you have provided the City of Phoenix and the entire Valley," the second letter read in part. "Indeed, I am excited about the potential to work alongside you to continue the amazing work you have done to position Phoenix as a global city and a shining example for other communities to follow."
Meruelo went on to say that he asked politicians in Nevada whom he has relationships with to contact the mayor to talk about him.
"There are a lot of misconceptions about me and the type of business and community leader that I have been. I have been very fortunate that through hard work and perseverance, I have enjoyed much success in business for over 40+ years," The second letter continued. "I am fortunate enough to have a gaming license, banking license, FCC license--and many instances being the largest/only Latino-owned and led enterprise within the industry."
Meruelo then asked once again to meet with the mayor.
Just two days after the second letter was sent, reports surfaced that a sale and relocation of the team was imminent.
12News received a statement about the letters from the mayor's office on Saturday, which reads:
Last September, the mayor met with Coyotes President Xavier Gutierrez and learned the team was working with the Governor’s Office and the State Land Department to secure a parcel in north Phoenix. She had agreed to meet with the team’s owner in the coming weeks. Our office learned about the team’s potential relocation from media reports.
You can read the full letters from Meruelo to Mayor Gallego below.
What's next for the Tucson Roadrunners?
The NHL source also confirmed to Cameron Cox that one of the goals of this move is to bring the Tucson Roadrunners, the Coyotes' AHL affiliate, up to the Valley to play at Mullett Arena.
This would allow current Coyotes staff to keep working, keep hockey in the desert and would allow the organization to continue to invest in youth programs, like the Arizona Kachinas.
Bettman and Meruelo are expected to speak after the sale is finalized.
Has Alex Meruelo said anything about the sale and relocation of the Coyotes?
Meruelo released a statement on Saturday, which reads:
There has been a lot of discussion in recent days about the future of the Arizona Coyotes. I understand and empathize with the concerns of our fans, our community, our partners, our players, our front office, and all of our team members. I hope to address these issues as soon as I am able to speak on the topics.
We are focused on a myriad of issues that are unresolved and therefore we are unable to make any official public comments at this time. However, you have my commitment that I am going to speak on all of these issues and publicly address all of your concerns as promptly as possible.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale. The Coyotes play at Mullett Arena on ASU's Tempe campus.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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