True South
Registered User
- Apr 10, 2015
- 32
- 51
Atlanta fan here, Coyotes are a fave West team for me. I am so very sorry about everything that happened and I hope you all get a new team in the next five years. Without Meruelo.
Atlanta went through something similar...
When we started out, owned by Turner, things were okay. Not great. But okay. It was poorly run, but it was run all the same.
Then, the team was sold to the Atlanta Spirit Group. They never had enough money. The roof leaked onto fans during games, while they burned through millions making it the first LEED certified arena in its class. Never had a #1 D. Never had a goalie coach until the last year.
But here's why I mention it: Bettman let them buy The Thrashers illegally. A Dallas Car Dealer, David McDavid (no relation) had a higher bid, but Bettman gave the cash-poor Atlanta Spirit Group a sweetheart deal. McDavid sued turner for over $200 MM. My recollection is that they settled in court, but some people in Atlanta say that McDavid won outright.
This is significant, because right after the Thrashers were sold to Winnipeg in 2011, ALEX MERUELO tried to buy the Atlanta Hawks and get 50% control. It was a heavily leveraged deal, some say up to 40% leveraged. The Hawks announced Meruelo as the new owner, and even had Hawks legendary players do testimonials for him. Then the league started looking into the deal and his finances. Once they did that, he abruptly withdrew his bid. Even though he was announced and articles from the media announcing his ownership are still easy to find online.
Bettman KNEW Meruelo was a con artist, and still sold to him.
Bettman KNEW the consequences of selling to a cash-poor owner, because he did it with Atlanta.
I don't think Bettman is going to be commissioner in five years. Here's hoping.
Meruelo wrote to the mayor of Phoenix to get together on April 5th, and again on the 10th. No response.
That he fired the whole media team before the last game, and canceled his press conference is a sign that he's done. After his expenses since 2019, He'll leave Phoenix with a few hundred million dollars profit after this sale technically goes through. The NHL will never hear from him again. If he still bids on the land parcel, he'll just flip it.
Again, very sorry to all of you. You deserve much, much better.
Atlanta went through something similar...
When we started out, owned by Turner, things were okay. Not great. But okay. It was poorly run, but it was run all the same.
Then, the team was sold to the Atlanta Spirit Group. They never had enough money. The roof leaked onto fans during games, while they burned through millions making it the first LEED certified arena in its class. Never had a #1 D. Never had a goalie coach until the last year.
But here's why I mention it: Bettman let them buy The Thrashers illegally. A Dallas Car Dealer, David McDavid (no relation) had a higher bid, but Bettman gave the cash-poor Atlanta Spirit Group a sweetheart deal. McDavid sued turner for over $200 MM. My recollection is that they settled in court, but some people in Atlanta say that McDavid won outright.
This is significant, because right after the Thrashers were sold to Winnipeg in 2011, ALEX MERUELO tried to buy the Atlanta Hawks and get 50% control. It was a heavily leveraged deal, some say up to 40% leveraged. The Hawks announced Meruelo as the new owner, and even had Hawks legendary players do testimonials for him. Then the league started looking into the deal and his finances. Once they did that, he abruptly withdrew his bid. Even though he was announced and articles from the media announcing his ownership are still easy to find online.
Bettman KNEW Meruelo was a con artist, and still sold to him.
Bettman KNEW the consequences of selling to a cash-poor owner, because he did it with Atlanta.
I don't think Bettman is going to be commissioner in five years. Here's hoping.
Meruelo wrote to the mayor of Phoenix to get together on April 5th, and again on the 10th. No response.
That he fired the whole media team before the last game, and canceled his press conference is a sign that he's done. After his expenses since 2019, He'll leave Phoenix with a few hundred million dollars profit after this sale technically goes through. The NHL will never hear from him again. If he still bids on the land parcel, he'll just flip it.
Again, very sorry to all of you. You deserve much, much better.