Quote:
Originally Posted by getbak
There was no chance the Coyotes were ever going to play anywhere in the Phoenix area other than Glendale.
They didn't renew their deal, they renegotiated it. The old deal had them locked into Glendale for 30 years to pay off the arena, with severe penalties for leaving early. Now, they're at a point where Glendale wants to get rid of them.
I've never understood why that keeps getting overlooked. If Balsillie's ploy had worked years ago and the League had allowed the Coyotes to move, they'd probably still be fighting lawsuits from the City of Glendale for breaking what was a pretty ironclad lease.
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The way I remember it the bankruptcy ended the long term deal. Bettman (or Balsillie if he had gained control of the team) could have moved the team any time he wanted after the bankruptcy. Bettman chose to keep the team in Glendale as part of the agreement with the new owners.