Last week Coyotes fans were devastated by the Tempe Entertainment District (TED) vote being an overwhelmingly no. Things seemed bleak for us Coyote faithful when Mike Gould of the Daily Faceoff who attended the vote party said people began to share memories like it was a funeral. All seemed bleak until shortly after, and the reason I release this article so late, there began to spring up many Plan B’s and C’s. The Coyotes, as Randy Marsh of South Park would say, “didn’t hear no bell”.
I’ll come right out and say it: my favorite of these potential moves is buying the Fiesta Mall location from the City of Mesa and the mayor has even commented on this stating it would not require a public vote and that he wanted the Coyotes to call.
The Mayor stated the importance of hockey in Arizona with the Kachina girls’ hockey playing in Mesa already which is a successful program thanks in part to Lindsay Fry and especially the late Matt Shott. The location is perfect, off 3 major freeways and 20 mins from 2 major airports.
Another option is working with the native reservation similar to what Phoenix Rising did. This, however, will affect Coyotes’ owner’s sportsbooks which makes me believe this would be a last resort and only a last resort.
Another popular idea is the Phoenix Suns and Mercury’s new owner Mat Ishibia buying the Coyotes and having them share an arena again while getting a new arena for all 3 teams. There is also the theory of Ishbia and Meruelo co-funding a new arena in the Phoenix area. An idea I also like as Los Angeles teams similarly pull off an arrangement like that.
Truth of the matter is, the next location for our Coyotes will be in Arizona to the dismay of Canadians and Houstonians everywhere.
With Maricopa County being the fastest growing county in the UNITED STATES, the influx of snowbirds during hockey season, the growth of ASU and youth hockey, Arizona is becoming a hockey hub.
Sports betting will also be a factor that is in the Coyotes’ favor. In the next few weeks the Coyotes should present a new idea to the public and the NHL Draft is next month with the Coyotes having prime draft capital, this is the time to get on the Coyotes wagon.
