The Phoenix Coyotes Neverending Sale Ends--For Now

((ht: yahoosports/puckdaddy))

Yes, it's a story that we've repeatedly reported on. And hockey fans have lamented the fate of the owner-less Phoenix Coyotes for over three years now.

That wait is over.

The NHL has approved the purchase of the Coyotes by a group called "Ice Arizona", headed by George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc. Their group was "formerly" known as Renaissance Sports. And while Brother Jon might know why they changed their name, I don't, so I won't get into that.

Of course, like all the other proposed sales of the team, there is a catch.

The team has an out clause that states if they lose more than $50 million or after 5-years if there was a fair reason, the team can leave.

Which is exactly what we think will happen.

Oh, did we mention the city is paying the ownership group $15 million to manage the jobing.com arena? That deal was made under the premise of getting extra money on ticket surcharges, parking fees and naming rights.

Hmmm...

Does this sound right to you?

Here's USA Today's explanation of the events RIGHT HERE

My thoughts--This deal smells. Yes, it gets Glendale a primary tenant for their pink elephant of an arena And it might, if they are lucky, give them a way to recoup the gazillions of taxpayer money spent to keep the team in their current boondoggle.

But we'd be willing to bet money, after 5-years, they're gone. The minute someone offers them a new arena in a more northern climate where people are really into hockey, they're gone.

And the people on the hook: The taxpayers of Glendale. Many of whom will never see, want to see and in some cases can't afford to go.

No, we aren't stating a case here for no new arena's or anything like that. What we are saying is the city is already out nearly $60+ million just trying to find someone to buy the team and supplementing the NHL for running it for them, yes, city services and things that are needed for everyday life have been cut-back, but hey, it's for the Coyotes, why shouldn't you live in poverty if you can have the NHL?

Here's the early celebration out of Arizona...
((HT: 12News))

So, Did Glendale Violate Open Meeting Laws...???

((HT: AZCentral.com/Giblin))

It was a question the HQ had in all of its coverage leading up to the city of Glendale prostituting itself to the National Hockey League to the tune of keeping the (now) Arizona Coyotes at jobing.com arena a few weeks ago...

As the league set its ideas in motion, Commissioner Gary Bettman and Number Two Bill Daly met with city council members in groups of two or three (or individually) as a way to get around the Open Meetings Law, having any minutes available for future reference, or having (frankly) any kind of record on paper to see just what back door dealings were cut to keep Glendale with a hockey team, keep the league from having to move a hockey team at the last minute, and keep Renaissance Sports and Entertainment from getting a hockey team.

Meetings held in secret and out of the public eye are always on the up-and-up, aren't they...???

A complaint has been filed by a Glendale resident with the state Attorney General's Office on just that very idea.

A July 2 letter by Assistant Attorney General Christopher Munns was sent to interim City Manager Dick Bowers.

It said, according to Giblin:

“The complaints allege that the council violated the Open Meetings Law by conducting sequential meetings of council members in a number less than a quorum in order to discuss official town business without needing to comply with the requirements of the law,” Munns states in the letter.

Munns asked Bowers to provide additional information about the serial meetings by July 26.

If Glendale violated the Open Meetings Law, penalties range from fines of as much as $500 per person, repaying the state for their attorney fees during their investigation, and removal from public office...

How that would affect the deal with RSE is anyone's guess...

While the interim city attorney for the city of Glendale only describes the meetings as meet-and-greet, resident Ken Sturgis, who said he filed a complaint, thinks otherwise...

“It’s hard to believe that this kind of contract that was put together and presented later wasn’t talked about. I find that very hard to believe,” he told Giblin.

As does the HQ... but what will happen probably won't have much impact on what has already gone down...

Here were the questions Glendale mayor Jerry Weiers had a few months ago- and, probably, still does...
((HT: AZPBS))

Glendale Signs Lease Deal With Renaissance, Will Goldwater Respond To Bad Bonds...? (UPDATED: Goldwater Speaks)

((HT: Sportsnet.ca))

The wanna-be/almost/soon-to-be owners of the Phoenix-slash-Arizona Coyotes have signed their lease agreement for Jobing.com Arena and the city of Glendale, Arizona.

Daryl Jones, one of the partners with Renaissance Sports & Entertainment, tweeted on Monday that the lease agreement with the City of Glendale has been executed.

We have executed the lease for http://Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The long term home of the Coyotes ! Howlllll!

The Glendale City Council approved a 15-year, $225 million arena lease deal with RSE during a special session last week, RSE still has to complete its purchase of the team and get approval from the NHL’s Board of Governors.

Sportsnet's Roger Millions caught up with Renaissance's George Gosbee who thinks the Coyotes can be profitable- even as his own home got wiped out by the floods in Calgary...
 The interesting play in the Millions piece is the possible response from the Goldwater Institute... Here's Carrie Ann Sitren, Goldwater's lead attorney in their original case, from a little over a year ago... Let's just see if some of these same points come up in the near future... ((HT: Goldwater Institute their own selves)) Mike Ozanian, over at Forbes, is also writing that bond holders don't like the deal, either... evidenced by the yield jumping a full percentage point since the restructuring came into play- at the beginning of the calendar year...  The middle paragraph: ...the upside of the deal tilts heavily towards the team’s potential buyers, and the risk towards the city’s taxpayers. Not only does the agreement requires the city to pay $15 million a year to Anthony LeBlanc’s group to manage the city-owned Jobing.com Arena, but RSE is not guaranteeing it will pay the city money it says it will generate from non-NHL events that will reduce the burden on taxpayers, and RSE can bolt Glendale should its losses reach $50 million in five years. Oops... THURSDAY UPDATE: Goldwater spoke... and they okayed it for now... Based on the information available to us at this time, we do not believe that the Glendale arena management deal would be held unconstitutional. Changes made to the agreement during the course of negotiations partially bridged the gap between the market cost of arena management and the amount of the payment to the team owner, thus bringing the deal into conformity with cases interpreting the Gift Clause of the Arizona Constitution. The initial deal proposed several years ago would have included not only a substantial annual arena management fee, but a $100 million up-front payment to subsidize the purchase of the team. We are proud to have played a constructive role in protecting the taxpayers and taking an illegal deal off the table. Glendale’s long and painful experience illustrates why local governments should focus on providing basic and essential public services and avoid the temptation to subsidize private enterprises such as sports teams.

Let's Be Negative For A Minute: Coyotes In Glendale

Let's get the positive part of this out of the way...

Here was the post mortem on the vote to keep the "Arizona" Coyotes in Glendale led by FOSG Bruce Cooper...
((HT: AZCentral.com))


 The larger question: The Coyotes are safe in jobing.com arena for another five years and until the point where losses accumulate to US$50-million- which, in reality, could happen in half that time... it has in the past as teams have lost as much as US$30-million in a season... And the idea that Global-Spectrum was brought in as a partner for Renaissance seems to have swayed at least one voter in this whole thing to make it a 4-3 on the positive side for Glendale...

 It's a 15-year lease, sure... and if the Renaissance owners and, presumably, the NHL want to be greedy about the whole thing, the owners can keep getting checks from the city of Glendale (which may or may not bounce considering just how much debt they themselves are in) past that five-year mark and get fat off the city for another decade without having to say they're sorry.

 Well done, Glendale... even as newly-minted mayor Jerry Weiers voted against the idea- as he well should have... It was admitted by city officials that services may have to be cut this year to make ends meet- including cutting a check to Anthony LeBlanc and his partners. That's things like police, fire, libraries, sanitation... you know, things that make a city function. But it's clear that everything in and around Westgate City Center revolves around an arena that is only used a handful of times in a calendar year. A bad idea usually begat more bad ideas... and this is no different... 

That's where Global-Spectrum comes into play... Allegedly... They manage over 100 arenas around the country and own the Philadelphia Flyers- in a building they manage. The Hockey News Ken Campbell raises an interesting theory: But it is interesting to note that last September, Global Spectrum signed on to manage and operate the GTA Centre in Markham, Ont., once it opens. The GTA Centre is a 20,000-seat arena that is in its infancy and would provide a ready-made building if the NHL ever decided to relocate or expand to the largest and most under-serviced hockey market in the world. Is it a stretch to suggest that if the Coyotes fail, Global Spectrum and its owner might want to see them move to an NHL-sized building that it already manages?

So, when time and patience runs out in Glendale- which it will...

Guess who jumps to the front of the line over Seattle and Quebec City...???

And when the league expands to 32 teams- which it will...

Look for those other two markets and wanna-be owners to have to cut big checks to play in the NHL sandbox instead of getting a cheap tenant on a move-in like Global and the Coyotes Canadian owners...

And The Future Of The Coyotes Is...???

There was an evening of discussion for the Glendale City Council to determine whether or not Renaissance Sports and Entertainment would come to some kind of agreement with the city on a lease agreement on jobing.com arena in Westgate City Center.

The City Council put in a last-minute provision on having their own back out if the deal soured in five years time- the same provision RSE made in front of the City Council. Knowing that RSE would turn the two-sided out clause deal down, RSE came back with a "make whole" idea where, if team leaves after 5 yrs, RSE would reimburse the city up to US$6-million a season for the five years the team would have been active.

Wait... weren't we in this situation before...? The point surrendered in the meeting has been a big selling point for some of the council members about having an NHL franchise around.

Glendale city staffers, the City Manager, and City Attorney are all warning against the Coyotes deal. But all it was going to take was a simple 4-3 vote by the looks of things to lock in the Phoenix Coyotes current location for the near future.

From the appearance of things, the yes votes would be Sherwood, Knaack, Martinez and Chavira. The no votes will be Alvarez, Weiers and Hugh...

Hugh is concerned about budget cuts if the deal is approved and a staff member says it's possible.

Global Spectrum as a partner for RSE late in the game might be a bit of a game-changer... and any kind of transaction around the team and arena has to go through NHL vetting. But Global Spectrum could assist in bringing in more dates to be filled more than the 41 regular season dates the Coyotes are bringing to the table.

All this with the looming spectre of city workers not getting paid (or laid off) or any other first responder getting treated for his home visit before transporting people to local hospitals. There are talks about combining or eliminating resources should his perennial-loser of a deal goes through.

Services could be cut as a result...and the HQ knows how well that will go for a city hemorrhaging trying to pay for public services instead of allocating US$25-million to the league every year.

But voting happened in the 1:00 AM hour eastern time. It appears that the provision the city wanted in the deal having their own out clause equal to RSE's was pulled off the table- the deal breaker coming into tonight...

What this appears to be is another five-year holding pattern for the franchise... and when the Coyotes discussion occurs again in five years (or less if losses accumulate faster than US$10-million which the team traditionally has), the two cities who will be ready for the NHL (Seattle and Quebec City) will be ready for pro hockey - in whatever form available.

Unless expansion has taken those two places, Kansas City would be in play.

Hugh is evolving as a "no," Sherwood a "yes," Alvarez a "no," Martinez a "yes," Chavira (a fireman, by the way, as the swing vote) an evolving "yes," Knaack is an evolving "yes," and Weiers is a "no..."

Even as Weiers says: "I know how this vote's gonna go. I'm still very uncomfortable we're going to take all of the risk."

Chavira to LeBlanc: "If you fail, we fail, correct? I know you wouldn't get involved in this if you plan to fail."

The vote was 4-3 "yes" on resolution on roll call vote...
"Ayes" carry the resolution without roll call...

And there you go...

Mayor Weiers sat down a few months ago to discuss the on-again, off-again stuff in Glendale...
((HT: AZPBS))


More when we know more after sunrise...

Glendale Issues Counter Proposal To RSE, Makes It Public

And the first thing they did was make it public...

Craig Morgan from Fox Sports Arizona and his Twitter will get the credit for this series of details...

RSE spokesperson David Leibowitz was hot since it went public before it went to RSE:

"If you want to talk about transparency then perhaps the people you’re negotiating with should enjoy such transparency.”

Mayor Jerry Weiers, who claims that the City Council is unified in their presentation of the counter to RSE came back with:

“What we worked on this morning extensively and what we’re proposing to them is some red lines that they took out that we put back in; some things that they put in that we took back out. (We’re) trying to make certain that the city is left as whole as possible because right now the city is carrying all the burdens; has all the liabilities and that’s not a good place for the city to be.”

The full counter proposal is hyah, thanks to the transparency of the City of Glendale...

Weiers continues with Morgan: "This is the way it should have been. We should had an agreement with the council, we should have had an agreement with (RSE) and everybody is in lockstep and understands, then we take it to the public.

"We were pushed into a situation that wasn’t right. It was very unprofessional -- should have never happened, but it is what it is and here we are.”

Weiers also says that the counter is what the City Council has to vote on. It can't be anything else... even if Renaissance doesn't agree with the counter put forth by the city that they are voting on...

Got all that...???

Most parties involved in this: Glendale, RSE, and the NHL have somewhat circled July 2nd since that's the date of the Glendale meeting. But, according to Morgan once again, Weiers called that an "artificial deadline" in his point-of-view.

The HQ doesn't know how wise that is to call it "artificial" since the NHL has a lot of work to do in the upcoming off-season (like "scheduling" so the teams know who they're playing and stuff like that...). Realignment was supposed to happen. What now...???

Just more questions- since questions always begat more questions...

Here's coverage from ABC15 in Phoenix


And also from AZCentral and News 12

TSN's Darren Dreger, in New Jersey for the 2013 NHL Draft, maintains that the July 2 deadline is solid- he doesn't expect the league to budge far from it and that Seattle is far from a done deal...

Renaissance Requests July 2 Endgame On Jobing.com Arena, Terms Released By Glendale...Bettman Speaks...City Manager Not Sold

Here is a release from RSE, in full, from Fox Arizona's Craig Morgan (@cmorganfoxaz), where Renaissance wants to see this whole thing come to a positive result...

RENAISSANCE REQUESTS ARENA LEASE PROPOSAL BE SENT TO GLENDALE CITY COUNCIL; JULY 2ND “YES” VOTE WOULD KEEP COYOTES IN ARIZONA

GLENDALE, ARIZ. – The four-year saga surrounding Jobing.com Arena and the Phoenix Coyotes appears poised to reach a conclusion on July 2nd. Last night, Renaissance Sports & Entertainment Group (RSE) formally requested that the City of Glendale put to a vote of its City Council a 15-year arena management agreement between RSE and the City. Additionally, three Glendale members have reportedly asked for the agreement to be put to a vote.

The management agreement – which RSE requested be agendized for a special Council meeting set for July 2nd or 3rd – is a prerequisite of RSE’s purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team from the National Hockey League.

The proposed deal takes into account the City’s financial challenges as well as RSE’s need to satisfy the NHL, financial institutions and its investors. Thus, the agreement balances an annual $15 million arena management fee with a series of revenue streams directed back to Glendale to defray the city’s costs.

Just as importantly, the agreement keeps the Coyotes – the arena’s anchor tenant 41 nights a year – playing in Glendale.

Anthony LeBlanc, managing partner of the Renaissance group, emphasized the agreement’s comparative value against previous offers to buy the Coyotes and operate the arena.

“The proposed agreement respects the City and Glendale’s taxpayers and creates a path to financial success for the arena, the team and our investors,” said LeBlanc. “Our deal represents the best value Glendale has had in an offer, and the most equity anyone has brought to the table in four years. The sooner this deal gets comes before Council for approval, the sooner we can aim for the Coyotes winning a Stanley Cup and get the arena headed toward profitability.”

The revenue streams for Glendale negotiated within the RSE proposal include ticket surcharges on hockey and non-hockey events, parking proceeds, shared proceeds from naming rights and rent paid to the City for the Coyotes’ use of the arena 41 nights a year. Projections estimate that revenues back to the City should total between $8.5 and $11 million annually. That leaves the net financial impact of the arena on the City between $4 and $6.5 million annually.

Glendale has budgeted $6.5 million to manage the arena this fiscal year.

“There have been a series of suitors trying to buy the team and manage the arena during the past four years. The Renaissance agreement is exponentially better than the two previous deals that nearly came to pass,” said LeBlanc. “The total cost of the arena management lease is tens of millions of dollars less than previous proposals. The net annual cost to the City is millions of dollars less.

“I believe in this team, I believe in this deal and I believe in this City,” said LeBlanc. “That’s why Renaissance is willing to take on the risk of managing the Coyotes franchise and the Glendale arena. They’ve been money-losers in the past. But with leaner, smarter management, we have tremendous upside for the team, the City and the Westgate region. We absolutely will be successful here.”

The HQ isn't really holding its breath on this one...
But the play is interesting by RSE to try and put pressure on the Glendale City Council to vote "yes..."

They look like the bad guys, now, if the vote goes negative...

1400 UPDATE: Mike Sunnucks has a look at the "deal..."

The deal includes an out-clause after five years if losses exceed $50-million...which they would, in about half that time frame

Glendale is, admittedly, squeamish... from Sunnucks:

Those include guaranteeing Renaissance a $15 million annual arena management payment before revenue sharing money comes to the city. The revenue sharing money in the deal slated for Glendale is not guaranteed and some of those funds are not necessarily new money.

Glendale officials are also concerned about the tight time frame for working out a $225 million deal and meeting a July 2 deadline set by the NHL.

Here are the current set of documents from the City of Glendale concerning the lease ideas...
And here is the Commish discussing the ideas before this weekend's NHL Draft
((HT: NHL.com))
And in a letter from the Glendale City Manager to the Council (and any other interested parties), Richard Bowers stil doesn't think this is anything close to a done deal...

Well, So Much For That Idea: Coyotes Back Up In The Air And Whither Seattle...???

((HT: Arizona Republic/Bickley))

The number that Renaissance Sports and Entertainment says they need to run jobing.com arena has always been in the neighborhood of $15-million. But the city of Glendale is looking for something in the $6.5-million range.

There was talk that the two sides had figured out a way to bridge that $8.5-million gap through things like parking, naming rights, ticket surcharges, and all that other stuff they could dream up...

But... and this is Bickley's big but...

But word is, the city of Glendale wants that number guaranteed. RSE won’t go down that road. And some fear that snag could be a potential deal-killer.

RSE’s Anthony LeBlanc wouldn’t comment on negotiations, but wanted to address his group’s intentions and loyalty to the Phoenix market.

“We’re not doing this to relocate the team,” LeBlanc said. “If we end up exercising an out clause, it’s going to mean that we lost a whole lot of money. And the way things are trending, we really believe this franchise will be in the middle of the pack in the NHL in terms of revenue generated.”

There is a closed-door meeting set for tomorrow to figure out some things for the city council's Tuesday meeting. And the NHL, really, wanted an answer by the Board of Governors meeting on the 27th. But they may not even get that now. It's looking more and more like July 2.

The league needs to put a schedule together fairly soon...

But that brings the next question...

The Seattle Times Percy Allen dives into Bartoszek and Lanza, the prospective buyers of the Coyotes, who want to move the team to Seattle.

And the larger question will be whether or not the two can tweak the MOU that the city has with Chris Hansen and his new arena- contingent on an NBA client first.

From Allen:

"Still, (Councilman Tim) Burgess said the mayor’s office and the potential hockey owners “have a framework, an understanding as to what the lease agreement would look like and how they could use KeyArena for two, three or four seasons if a team were awarded here.” Burgess said Bartoszek and Lanza agreed to assume financial responsibility for improvements to KeyArena if the NHL team began playing in Seattle next season.

The New York investors also asked about the Memorandum of Understanding between Hansen, the city and Metropolitan King County Council on a $490 million downtown arena. The agreement demands Hansen acquire an NBA franchise before construction begins.

Burgess said changing the MOU and starting the project early for hockey “would present some significant questions and challenges.”

The larger question is: Who are these guys who seem to have used an initial introduction from Hansen's people, really don't have a lot of sports ownership cache, and claim they want to bring hockey to Seattle...??? They say they'll eat initial losses at Key Arena, but it sounds like they want a new barn.

Hansen's barn...

But will Hansen want a barn that has only hockey and not an NBA team...??? And can he wait long enough with hockey before the next round of NBA expansion can put a team in his barn...???

And they will...

Here was your early week update from Seattle and Chris Daniels...
((HT: KING-TV))

And, much like what happened when the Atlanta Thrashers left HQ's territory, there has been one group that hasn't said word one in all of this- Quebecor Media, the bunch that wants a team in Quebec City.

Remember, True North said less than nothing before swooping in to buy the team- with the NHL's approval...

Food for thought...

Seattle Mayor Acknowledges NHL Talks As Coyotes Plan B

((HT: KING-TV))

Chris Daniels is on top of it again...

All of the HQ's talk about Seattle being an under-seated Plan B for the Phoenix Coyotes is now out there again...

Daniels caught up with the mayor of Seattle, Mike McGinn, whose response was understandably wary and tempered...
Welcome to your Monday, Phoenix... Mark Brown of Bleacher Report has the lowdown on the last public version of the deal that Renaissance has with the city: The latest deal on the table was outlined in the May 30, 2013 edition of Forbes Magazine. The transaction calls for Renaissance to put up $45 million in equity. Fortress Investment Group, with assets of $55.6 billion as of March 31, 2013, would provide $120 million, and the NHL would make $85 million available through a loan. The Fortress dollars would be repaid by a fee the citizens of Glendale incur to operate the arena. Currently, that would be the $6.5 million allocated in the preliminary budget. At this point, the proposed $120 million from Fortress and a combined $32.5 million over the next five years from the Council appear wide apart. The proposed package of $250 million far exceeds the Forbes value of $170 million placed on the franchise alone.
No word on just how much the Bartoszek-Lanza deal would be straight up cash, no NHL loan, and sans leverage from a hedge fund.

Coyotes Plan B: Seattle...???

((HT: Yahoo!Sports/Leahy))

In the Puck Daddy section, Sean Leahy now seemingly has more details on the Phoenix Coyotes situation...
Let's back track a few days here to Mike Sunnucks work in the Phoenix Business Journal...

Thursday's article had Glendale's concerns over the deal with Renaissance:

• The lack of equity and personal investments from Renaissance principals in their bid.

• The bid’s reliance on financing and loans from the National Hockey League and private equity investment firm Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE: FIG).

• Renaissance using funds from an arena deal with Glendale to pay debt service on their financing.

• A possible relocation of the team to Seattle or another market after a few more years in the West Valley.

We may not even get to point four...

On the "Satellite Hotstove" segment last night on CBC's "Hockey Night in Canada," FOSG Elliotte Friedman and Glenn Healy explained how we're getting to the idea of Phoenix to Seattle...

The Vancouver Canucks were looking for a home for their AHL franchise after they bought the Peoria Rivermen, and understandably, they wanted to put the team in Seattle. Strangely, it ended up in Utica, New York because the Key Arena folks said that the arena wasn't available for hockey.

Introducing your Utica Comets... complete with $5-million in state aid to renovate the arena in town that only seats 4,000 people...
((HT: WKTV-TV))


Even as KING-TV's Chris Daniels reported last week that the Key Arena has its ice-making equipment still in place and was functional:

Deborah Daoust spokesperson for Seattle Center, says ice making equipment and chilling system at #KeyArena is still operational

Reason being, according to Friedge and Glenn Healy, through Leahy:

Plan B for the NHL and Coyotes, if the latest candidate doesn't go through with the purchase, is to sell the team to investors Ray Bartoszek and Anthony Lanza, who previously engaged in discussions to purchase a 49-percent stake in the New York Mets in 2011, for $220 million. According to Glenn Healy, if those two do not get what they want by July 2 from the city of Glendale, then they would move the team to The Emerald City. Part of the new ownership group would be former NHLer and current NBC analyst Jeremy Roenick, who would help run the hockey operations department.

Whither Chris Hansen in all of this...???
Daniels sat down with him after the SacKings quest stopped...
((HT: KING-TV))

Let's see how Tuesday winds itself up...
Quoting Ol' JR: "Business is about to pick up..."

Glendale Claims Another Buyer Exists For Coyotes (UPDATE: There May Be A Deal)

((HT: Arizona Republic/Bickley))

All this stems from Bickley's column from yesterday...

And stop the HQ if you've heard this a billion times over the last four off-seasons...

There's a meeting of the Glendale City Council on Tuesday- and the HQ had no idea who the four groups are that have bid on the idea of running jobing.com arena without an anchor tenant until today. And that, we're fairly sure is a violation of the state's Sunshine Laws...

The Arizona Republic got the list: One of the four bidders is Phoenix Arena Development Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of the NBA's Phoenix Suns that manages US Airways Center.

The other three are Philadelphia-based SMG and two local firms -- the Phoenix Monarch Group and R Entertainment.

Anyway, the HQ digresses:

From Bickley and his conversation with Councilman Gary Sherwood...

a mystery candidate that Sherwood would not reveal, one with a lot of cash and better terms for his city.

The mystery buyer told Sherwood he’d have his bid together by Friday. It sounded too good to be true.

I’ll pause while you roll your eyes.

“But that’s part of the problem,” Sherwood said. “There are other groups lurking that the NHL hasn’t brought to us. They have their one candidate. And the way I look at it is, maybe Renaissance (Sports and Entertainment) is the best for the NHL, but maybe only second- or third-best for Glendale.”

Another source said the mystery buyer is real and would bring real money to the table. Renaissance’s deal is heavy on loans, short on equity, and no person has more than a $10 million stake in the game. They want an out clause after four to five years, creating fears that they conceivably could run the team into the ground and bail.

Which, the HQ thinks, is the re-emergence of Matthew Hulsizer and his folks...

So, the larger thought is: Will Glendale do an end run on the NHL to get their Coyotes to stay, or are they screwed as a lame duck franchise that will be heading to Quebec City or Seattle...???

Remember, realignment hasn't officially taken hold, and all it really takes is for the west to stay west and for a midwest team to slide (or a Dallas)... it won't be hard...

PM UPDATE: Sportsnet's John Shannon is saying that Renaissance and the city of Glendale have agreed in principle to a deal of some sort that includes the closing of the gap between the $6-million the city has budgeted for managing jobing.com arena and the $15-million RSE was reportedly looking for...

Somehow...

But the vote is still supposed to be made Tuesday at the city council meeting... it may not be a done deal for a city operating at a deficit already...

Shannon says the deal is for 15 years- pending approval...

NHL Kinda Admits Glendale May Have Problems (UPDATED With Seattle POV And Bettman On Seattle)

((HT: TSN))

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and Commissioner Gary Bettman had their press conference of the "State of the State" in Chicago before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. And they're now admitting that there might be a problem in Phoenix with the Coyotes and their lack of an owner.

Maybe...

Maybe big enough to do something about it...

Like move them... or something... if a new ownership group (aka- Renaissance) can't reach a deal to keep the team in Glendale at jobing.com Arena.

Commissioner Bettman said at the press conference that "time is getting short" finding a solution to keep the team in Arizona. And Daly admits that the new schedule release will be pushed back because of the Coyotes' situation- and there might not even be a team to call Phoenix's next season...

"It certainly means that it's possible that the team won't play there next year," Daly said.

But the place where the Coyotes could land- if at all- is an unknown...

Asked if there must be some kind of an answer by the June 27 NHL Board of Governors meeting, Bettman told the assembled media "maybe."

You'll recall that Daly and Bettman held meetings with the Glendale City Council late last month- separately, not as a group of seven. Some say that the reason was to avoid the Open Meetings Law in the state of Arizona. Others say it was because the scheduling just... didn't... work... out...

Choose your version...

The city of Glendale is budgeting only $6-million where the Anthony LeBlanc-led group Renaissance Group is looking for a figure closer to $15-million. The city is looking to award the contract for managing jobing.com by June 25th. Four companies have bid, but none of the names have been made public.

Which is another problem in Glendale...

All this could go down...
Two days before the BOG Meeting...

Here's Dan Bickley talking about the shenanigans from a while back...
((HT: azcentral.com))
“The puck is in the City of Glendale’s end,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said. Indeed... PM UPDATE: Chris Daniels from KING-TV in Seattle, who monitored the whole SacKings to Seattle idea, has checked with the folks that run Key Arena... through his Twitter... Deborah Daoust spokesperson for Seattle Center, says ice making equipment and chilling system at #KeyArena is still operational Key Arena hosted a 'Stars on Ice' show back in 2012. Obviously, not hockey. Daoust also says the Key Arena dates, that were being held for an NBA team, have been freed up. Not being held for any other reason So, the short version is that Seattle looks like they're clearing the runway just in case... And, so is Quebec City... Here's an interview that Bettman did with KING-TV when discussing Seattle...

Possible Coyotes Owners Looking For Separate Arena Deal...? (OR: Is Glendale Looking For a Back-Up Plan...?)

((HT: Phoenix Business Journal/Sunnucks))

Interesting thoughts from the mandatory reading of Mike Sunnucks in Phoenix on the state of the Coyotes...

It appears that the new contender for wanting to buy the team is not one of the bidders to manage Jobing.com Arena at the same time...

The Anthony LeBlanc-led Renaissance Sports & Entertainment still seems to be interested in working out a deal with the city of Glendale to run jobing.com, but they're not on the list of having sent in a proposal to do it. There's no word on whether or not they want someone else to do their bidding for them.

The city of Glendale hired an outfit called Beacon Sports Capital Partners, LLC to sort through the bids and bidders.

But, here's the hook from Sunnucks:

The names of those bidders have not yet been disclosed. They could include groups offering alternative uses to Jobing.com Arena if the Coyotes end up moving out of the Phoenix market.

Past Coyotes bids that failed also have hinged on getting favorable arena terms and other financing from Glendale.

So, could this mean that the Glendale folks are trying to get a back-up tenant anticipating a Coyotes move since Renaissance wants to split hairs with their bid...???

The American Hockey League is out since the Houston Aeros have been turned into the Iowa Wild
The ECHL could be a contender if someone wants to move...

But the HQ's money is on something close to the Central Hockey League... Jim Treliving is one of those kind of guys that will be more than happy to create an arena management situation complete with tenants...

The Sundogs hosted the 2012 CHL All-Star Game in Prescott in the past...
((HT: Arizona Sundogs))