[News] Alex Meruelo buys 95% stake in Arizona Coyotes

[Joborule]

Yeah. I'm not the type to actively cheer for a franchise to fail (except for Edmonton and Vancouver in terms of on ice success), and the league is better off if the Arizona region are strong supports of hockey, than without it.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by landshark

Well, I'll give you what you came for, Bouw N Arrow - congratulations!

It looks like most people don't get the significance of this. You now have a BILLIONAIRE in charge. That means that he can wait out ANY length of rough times. He has the power to get people in biz & gov't to get moving unlike a committee of ownership.

Hockey in Phoenix CAN work. It will take time. You folks up north don't get it. Hockey is NEW and exciting (to people down here) and once people see it, they get hooked. There is no maybe - if you got deep pockets, you can make it work. All PHO needs is commitment. Come down south... go to a hockey game and talk to people. Find someone who is at their first game (it's not hard to do) and ask what they think.

From what I ready, hockey at lower levels has already started catching on a lot in Arizona. It's the Coyotes that stagnated and not the sport itself.

But I get it. It's difficult for a team to grow support when their future is questionable. Who wants to get attached to a teams that might move? And how can an ownership group be committed to winning when they are always trying to sell the team?

There are hardly any markets that could endure that for several years and not see a skeleton crew fan base.

[jayswin]

For all the **** the Coyotes take, I'm not sure even a Canadian market would be drawing well with that history of poor records and far away games.

How many people here would travel to Airdire or further from central/south Calgary all season with season tickets? Probably not a lot. Going from Phoenix to Glendale was basically this. Get a downtown Phoenix arena, a team on the rise and a new owner with deep pockets to compete with the cap teams and I could easily see the Coyotes becoming a strong hockey market.

[troutman]

How much patience does a billionaire have for a department that loses $30-$50 M per year?

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by jayswin

For all the **** the Coyotes take, I'm not sure even a Canadian market would be drawing well with that history of poor records and far away games.

How many people here would travel to Airdire or further from central/south Calgary all season with season tickets? Probably not a lot. Going from Phoenix to Glendale was basically this. Get a downtown Phoenix arena, a team on the rise and a new owner with deep pockets to compete with the cap teams and I could easily see the Coyotes becoming a strong hockey market.

Completely agree with this. When the team was in Phoenix, they did better at the gate IIRC. Put them back somewhere more central and convenient, and they will once again do better. With a new owners with deep pockets and a willingness to spend to get better, only a matter of time until they are consistently competitive at least, and will start drawing more fans.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Bouw N Arrow

“We are Coyotes Nation, I sure as #### want to win!”

I’m crying over here

[Jordan!]

Originally Posted by troutman

How much patience does a billionaire have for a department that loses $30-$50 M per year?

Watch the press conference if you get some time.

We got a unicorn of an owner who has made a career of making a success of poorly managed depressed assets.

edit:

or just watch this run down:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmqxid1f23Q

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by troutman

How much patience does a billionaire have for a department that loses $30-$50 M per year?

Well he did just buy the team after knowing exactly what they've been hemorrhaging for years, so he'd have to have patience or else why buy the team with that knowledge?