Why the NHL is not leaving Phoenix

Just two weeks ago, Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs responded with little joy to residents' questions about the Coyotes during a community meeting.

Then, just as the team was heading into its first home game of the regular season, the National Hockey League and Glendale issued statements about progress on the deal. On Saturday, Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer, who began talks for the team in late summer, flew in for the game, a sign that talks were going well.

The NHL and Glendale say their preliminary agreements with Hulsizer are oral. Setting words to paper could present more challenges. The purchase price appears to be $165 million or more, including team losses from last season. Why would Hulsizer pay that much? Who knows.

There is talk that Ice Edge Holdings could become a minority owner.

The key point of negotiation has been the $25 million that Glendale promised to the NHL in May to pay for team losses this season. The city took the money out of an account dedicated to future water and sewer improvements to buy extra time to negotiate through Dec. 31. Glendale has said it would require a buyer to reimburse the money.

That requirement was seen by some as a stumbling block to the sale.
So here we are again on this two year merry-go-round.

Most hockey fans keep asking why doesn't the league give up on Phoenix?

Well the reason is that the NHL seems to feel that Phoenix is an important market to be in as they continue to try to land a TV contract with a major network in the U.S. Phoenix is considered the 14th largest media market in the U.S. according to ProAdvance Event Resource Guide. The NHL doesn't have teams in 10th (Houston) and 13th (Seattle) largest markets. Not operating in top media markets makes it difficult to sell ads which in turn makes it difficult to land that major TV contract.

So it seems the NHL would be happy to have the Coyotes play in empty arena if it helps them get back onto to Fox, NBC or ESPN. If it's so important to be in Phoenix then why doesn't the league underwrite the team. Instead they continue to hunt for an owner who will be happy to eat $25 million in losses each year. In turn, prospective owners want the 250,000 residents of Glendale to each the losses. So around and around we go on the merry-go-round.