The ongoing saga of Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo trying to build an arena in the Phoenix area has taken another twist. The Arizona State Land Department decided on Friday to cancel the June 27 land auction, which Meruelo was going to attend to attempt to win the 95 acres of land. The cancellation of the auction puts a once-possible Coyotes return into more of a dream at this point.
ASLD Cancels the Auction
PHNX’s Craig Morgan was the first to report that the State Land Department canceled the auction on Friday. After the cancelation announcement, the State Land Department released a statement directed at the Miracle Development LLC, the Meruelo/Coyotes ownership group, which provided an update on the situation. The Miracle Development group was the only group to be registered to bid. The statement requested that the Coyotes obtain a special use permit needed to build the proposed arena. The statement also stated that the State Land Department had just recently discovered that the group would require the permit to build the arena, thus canceling the auction.
Under the current zoning, previously used for a planned youth hockey facility, the Coyotes would not be allowed to build an arena. This means Meruelo would need to obtain a special permit through a rezoning process. The rezoning process could take up to seven months due to a series of public hearings, which is time Meruelo and the team don’t have. This is a reminder that the Coyotes’ owner has around three and a half years to notify the NHL to start the expansion process, and one of the stipulations is that the arena must be 50% completed before he can notify the league.
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“We understand the delay in an auction is a disappointment for our applicant and members of the public, but the change in timing is the prudent decision for the Trust,” a department spokesperson said in a news release. The state trust “remains open to working with our applicant to bring the land forward to auction in the future if a special use permit is received.”
The news release also stated that it’s not uncommon for the State Land Department to request applicants secure zoning/use permits before an auction. Phoenix Councilman Jim Waring, representing the district where the arena would be built, says the Coyotes should get a zoning attorney. They currently don’t have one.
Coyotes Release Aggressive Statement
Shortly after the cancellation, the Coyotes released a statement in response to the Land Department. The team stated, “This unprecedented action by the State of Arizona seriously jeopardizes the future of NHL hockey returning to the desert.” The team went on to state that they had made it clear to the state that they were committed to building the arena the right way.
In their next paragraph, the Coyotes claimed they were on track to win the auction on Thursday and had worked in good faith with the Land Department. They then said the state is potentially losing billions of dollars that would’ve gone to K-12 education and creating numerous jobs.
The team concluded its statement: “The Arizona Coyotes are exploring all of our legal options given this shortsighted decision by the State.” It’s unclear what the team will do next at this point.
Numerous fans and people online slammed the Coyotes after they released their statement. Former Coyotes executive vice president of communications Rich Nairn slammed Meruelo on X, formerly Twitter, saying, “Hopefully, he will finally bow out so that the NHL can begin discussions with other real potential owners.”
What’s Next for the Coyotes?
It’s unclear what the Coyotes will do next. Meruelo’s group is quickly running out of time to build an arena and hasn’t even reached a point where they can purchase land. The State Land Department said they were open to rescheduling the auction. However, that was before the Coyotes slammed them in their statement.
Other than the land in North Phoenix, the Coyotes could return to Mesa, where they had a letter of intent to purchase land. However, putting shovels in the ground still takes time, which isn’t Meruelo’s friend right now. The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community has been reported interested in building an arena. However, there have been no discussions between that group and Meruelo, most likely because he can’t build a sports betting facility on reservation land.
The biggest winner right now is the NHL. It’s definitely possible that the NHL foresaw this issue, which prompted them to facilitate a sale of the team to Ryan Smith to relocate the Coyotes’ hockey operations to Salt Lake City. If the Coyotes were still in Arizona through this issue, it would’ve been absolute chaos.
Meruelo can’t have that much help to try to raise money to keep the dream going. Per his agreement with the NHL, the owner can only bring in a partner or partners to own up to 20% of the franchise. If he cannot secure an arena within the next five years, Meruelo will lose the rights to the team, and Arizona will become just like any other potential expansion city. It has been rumored that other people are interested in luring the NHL back to the area.
It doesn’t look good for Meruelo and the inactive Coyotes. Friday’s announcement is another installment in Meruelo’s history of failing to obtain land to build an arena. It’s unclear what comes next, but as of right now, it appears that Coyotes fans will have to wait even longer for a chance to get an NHL team back in the Valley.
