NHL commissioner: Arizona Coyotes ‘cannot and will not remain in Glendale’
The Arizona Coyotes “cannot and will not remain in Glendale,” the commissioner of the National Hockey League wrote in a letter to the Arizona Legislature on Tuesday.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman wrote a letter to members of the Arizona Senate and House of Representatives urging them to pass Senate Bill 1149, which would help fund a $395 million arena for the Coyotes.
Bettman said the NHL is committed to keeping the Coyotes in the Phoenix area, but stressed that the “Gila River Arena is not economically capable of supporting a successful NHL franchise.”
“For the past 15 years, a succession of ownership groups and the league have tried everything imaginable to make the Glendale location financially sustainable,” part of the letter read. “Our combined efforts have yielded the same result — a consistent economic loss.”
Kern Warns Of Procedural Tricks Regarding Taxpayer-Funded Arena
Arizona Rep. Anthony Kern is warning the public that a strike everything amendment to SB1149 has reopened the discussions for the Arizona Coyote’s relocation plans, which previously were stalled by an assignment of the original bill to the Senate Commerce & Public Safety Committee.
The “Community Engagement District” as outlined in SB1149, resembles another scheme; Rio Nuevo, which has been the most notorious waste of taxpayers dollars in Arizona history.
“Procedural tricks in the Senate are now being used to circumvent the legislative process and hide the grim reality from the taxpayers directly affected by these bills,” said Representative Kern. “The original bill, SB 1474, could not stand on its own merit and didn’t have the correct number of votes necessary to advance the Senate Commerce & Public Safety Committee it was originally assigned to. This disservice to the citizens of the state who should not be responsible for funding yet another sports arena.”
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