It’s been a whirlwind of a week for the Arizona Coyotes franchise, with rampant reports of the team being sold and moving to Salt Lake City at the end of this season.
But on Saturday, the Phoenix mayor’s office released two letters sent by the Coyotes, one from April 10 asking for a meeting with the mayor about a proposed arena and entertainment district in northeast Phoenix. That raises additional speculation about whether, if the current franchise is moving, Arizona might get a new team in the future.
While it’s common for the Coyotes to deal with relocation rumors, speculation heated up earlier this week about the NHL franchise potentially moving to Utah.
Dailyfaceoff.com reported Wednesday that the NHL was drafting two versions of the Coyotes’ schedule for next season, one with the team playing at ASU’s Mullett Arena, and the other with the team playing in Salt Lake City at Delta Center, the home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
Since then, more outlets have confirmed that report and the franchise looks to be moving after the final regular season game on April 17 at Mullett Arena.
Coyotes owner has meeting set with Phoenix mayor, city says
Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo has a meeting scheduled with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego later this month, according to Arielle Devorah, Gallego’s spokesperson.
Meruelo sent the mayor a letter dated April 10 saying, “We see this as our home … and I am very excited about the opportunity to build a world class sports facility and entertainment district in the City of Phoenix.”
The letter was sent to The Arizona Republic through the state’s public records law.
Meruelo previously sent the mayor a letter April 5. In it, he said he planned to successfully bid on the state land in north Phoenix and invest at least $68.5 million in cash to build the arena.
The plan would avoid taxpayer funding or property tax cut incentives, he said, but he wanted the mayor’s support toward establishing a special taxing district, called a theme park district. The taxing district would establish a board that could issue tax-free bonds to finance construction.
The April 5 letter also shows a hiccup in communication. Meruelo wrote he had been trying to set up a meeting with Gallego for three weeks, to no avail, and was “deeply disappointed.”
The tone changed in the April 10 letter, which praised Gallego’s “incredible leadership.”
Devorah said the mayor’s office had not received any meeting requests before to Meruelo’s first letter but reached out after receiving it to set up the meeting.
The mayor first met with Coyotes CEO Xavier Gutierrez in September and learned about the team’s plans for north Phoenix.
Gutierrez, reached Saturday, declined comment on the letters but did not dispute the information released by the mayor’s office.
When did Salt Lake City become a destination?
Many different cities have been floated around as potential relocation spots for the Coyotes in the team’s 27 seasons in Arizona, from Houston to Quebec City.
But Salt Lake City is the spot that has stuck. Back on January 24, the NHL announced that Smith Entertainment Group (SEG), the parent company of the Jazz, formally requested to initiate an expansion process for the purpose of bringing an NHL team to Utah.
It was revealed that Ryan Smith, chairman of SEG and governor of the Utah Jazz, has been in discussions with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman since 2022. Smith is the executive chairman and co-founder of Qualtrics, an experience management company based in Provo, Utah, and is worth $2.2 billion.
SEG told the NHL it can welcome a franchise to Salt Lake City as soon as next season, using Delta Center as an interim home arena.
Since then, Smith has been actively sharing his thoughts on bringing an NHL team to the city on his X account. On April 8, two days before the initial relocation reports were shared, Smith asked for a fan survey on what a potential team would be named.
What else is happening with the potential arena plans in Phoenix?
Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo, through a law firm, applied to buy state trust land last June to turn into a $3 billion entertainment district with restaurants, stores and apartments, as well as a 17,000-seat professional hockey arena.
The Coyotes hope to buy the property from the Arizona State Land Department at auction in June. The starting bid will be nearly $70 million. The proposed project is for about 100 acres of land near Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road, on the Phoenix side of the Phoenix-Scottsdale city line.
While Meruelo won’t have a team for the arena, it’s being reported that the reported $1 billion sale to Smith would give him the right to reactivate the franchise within five years through an expansion franchise if an arena is built.
What the players know
The Coyotes were in the middle of a five-game road trip and were set to play the Vancouver Canucks when reports of a move were swirling on Wednesday. The players and coaching staff knew as much as fans did at that time.
“Throughout this entire time, there hasn’t been a ton of discussion around what’s going on,” forward Clayton Keller said at Friday’s morning skate in Edmonton. “We’ve just been taking it day by day and heard different things here and there. None of them are really true, so we’ve just learned from that and take it day by day.”
However, the players and staff reportedly learned more after.
Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong flew to Edmonton to address the team about the relocation rumors ahead of the game against the Edmonton Oilers Friday night, and multiple reports later said he told players the team was moving.
A report on Sportsnet Friday evening, citing only “several sources” said Armstrong informed the team it would be relocating to Salt Lake City and the move would be official after the team’s final game of the season, at Mullett Arena on Wednesday. The report said Armstrong told the team they would have a chance to check out the new location after the final game.
ESPN also reported that the team was told about the move.
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What could happen to the Tucson Roadrunners
One team that might not leave Arizona would be the Tucson Roadrunners, the Coyotes American Hockey League affiliate. It was reported that Meruelo would maintain the Coyotes’ name, logos and trademarks, plus ownership of the Roadrunners in a sale to Smith.
However, there are reports that the Roadrunners could move to Tempe, according to a Wednesday report from InsideAHLHockey.com. The Coyotes are currently scheduled to play at Mullett Arena through at least the 2024-25 season.
The team’s future in Tucson has not been confirmed.
“At this point, nothing has trickled down to (the city or Tucson Convention Center) that would give us any information that has the Roadrunners relocating,” City of Tucson spokesman Andy Squire told the Arizona Daily Star Thursday.
Reporter Taylor Seely contributed to this story. Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com.
