It is going to be a long time before the NHL returns to the Phoenix market.
It is going to be a long time before the National Hockey League will drop a puck in the Phoenix market at some rink and there is a reason for that. Phoenix and Arizona political leaders have flunked the sports test. David Stern, the National Basketball Association commissioner between 1984 and 2014, once explained there are three essentials for a successful franchise. Local government support, a multimillion-dollar local media deal and major corporate partnerships that included a massive amount of spending on the local team. Phoenix and Arizona politicians did not pass the government support part. Alex Meruelo wore out his welcome with politicians in Glendale where his hockey team played. Glendale threw Meruelo out of the city’s arena as soon as the franchise’s deal with local officials was done. Meruelo failed to win a referendum in Tempe where he wanted to build an arena village in May 2023 and some faceless bureaucrat blew up Meruelo’s plan to obtain state land in North Phoenix where he intended to build an arena-village. The bureaucracy provided cover for Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego who was not ready to play ball with Meruelo with her statement that no public money should go into Meruelo’s arena-village concept.
What is interesting about Gallego’s no public money statement is that the owner of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks franchise, Ken Kendrick, is looking for public money to either renovate the Phoenix facility that his team presently uses and is contractually obligated to use until 2027 or get a new stadium entirely. If Gallego does an about face it means politicians did not want to play ball with Meruelo. The NHL may publicly support the Phoenix market but Bettman, and a good many owners are annoyed with Arizona politicians and that does not bode well for a quick return to the market.
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Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
