First, Alex Meruelo needs to get a piece of property for an arena.
National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman probably is not thrilled with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego at the moment. The Phoenix mayor shares the belief with Bettman that an NHL franchise could thrive in the desert, but Gallego does not “support using taxpayer funds, including property tax abatement, for sports arenas.” It is a message that Bettman has heard from other municipal officials before but somehow sports franchise owners have gotten municipal help in paying for a sports venue. The mayor’s statement though may be premature because the owner of the inactive Arizona Coyotes franchise, Alex Meruelo, does not have any land to use to build an arena or an arena-village in Phoenix. Meruelo is hoping to succeed in his bid in an auction on June 27th to get Arizona state owned land in Phoenix. The 110-acre parcel would be used to build an arena. The opening bid for the land is $68.5 million.
If Meruelo gets the property, he will be given five years by the league to build a new arena and then he will receive an expansion team. If Meruelo fails to win the bid, there is a good chance that he will walk away from the National Hockey League with a billion-dollar parting gift. The NHL is convinced Phoenix is a good market and if Meruelo cannot win the land auction, the league will just let the market stay barren for a while and maybe look for another owner at some point. Bettman does not have to deal with Gallego and her negotiating team until Meruelo gets the land. But someone involved with a sports franchise in Phoenix probably is very interested in Gallego’s statement. Ken Kendrick, the owner of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks franchise, is looking to get public money for a new or renovated Phoenix stadium. Gallego’s statement is not what he wanted to hear.
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