Six Possible Places to Keep Coyotes in Arizona

Nashville – The Arizona Coyotes have six potential sites for a new arena in the Phoenix area and should submit a plan to the NHL by January 1, said team president Xavier Gutierrez.

The latter adds that the organization is following the same approach as the old runway project in Tempe. However, the leaders want to avoid a referendum, after residents rejected the latest proposal from Tempe Sports and Entertainment.

Although the NHL expects to receive a plan by January 1, no specific timeline has been provided.

We are in constant contact with [la Ligue] About our options,” Gutierrez said before the start of the first round of the 2023 NHL Upper Deck Draft. “They trust us. »

The project for the former runway in Tempe was expected to cost $2.1 billion, an amount funded entirely by private funds. The new construction was to include, in addition to a 16,000-seat arena, a training complex, two hotels, shops, 1,600 apartments, a performance hall, and a sports betting center. It would have taken a year to rehabilitate the site, a former dump on the edge of Tempe Municipal Lake.

“We want to get the means of our ambitions and build something first class,” Gutierrez said. For our supporters, we promise this is the case.

“We were disappointed with the outcome of the Tempe vote, but moved on quickly. We went back to work with several potential sites already in the cards. We are confident that one of the potential sites will be selected by the deadline.”

The Coyotes played their home games at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, in the West Phoenix area, from 2003 until the city stopped renting the arena at the end of the 2021-22 season. They played their final season at Mullett Arena, home of ASU, in Tempe.

Gutierrez said the Coyotes have spoken with representatives from more than a dozen locations and are in the final stages of discussions for six locations in the East Valley region, where the majority of season ticket holders and the team’s business partners are from.

“In all honesty, this is where a company like ours should be,” he said.

Gutierrez added that the Coyotes would like to accomplish what they set out to do in Tempe, but now they can do more at the same time. Few sites offer more than 48 acres of land than the Tempe site, and none require a year’s repair as was the case at Tempe.

“What you’ve seen in terms of overall supply continues to be our vision,” Gutierrez said. It’s not just an arena. It is a training, theater and entertainment complex. Vision is still getting all these facilities.

“Then, if what we’re seeing is amazing, it’s more attractive with the sites we’re currently evaluating.”

The Coyotes can field the NHL with a plan with more than one location.

Gutierrez explained: “We can present several options and state what is necessary to finish the project. We don’t want to find ourselves in a situation where there is only one solution, which is why we present several options. […]

No one wants to handle the situation more than we do. Uncertainty is not good for us, so we do everything we can to create certainty. »