Alex Meruelo the new owner of the Arizona Coyotes

[The Feckless Puck]

For instance, Mexico City has a population of 20 million, and while a lot of people live in poverty there are still millions that could afford an NHL ticket. Could an NHL franchise work there?

I don't think it could yet. Mexico's national team would have to make some huge strides in IIHF play just to get the country's attention. They're still in Division IIB and have never finished higher than 32nd in IIHF standings. They did win the Pan American Games gold medal in 2017, but it'd take a Miracle on Ice situation to happen before hockey would make a dent on soccer in the national consciousness. Right now the Liga Mexicana Élite (their top-level league) only has four teams (their logos and team names are fantastic) and they're still trying to figure out how to get a youth hockey pipeline going.

 

[johnjm22]

I think another problem with Mexico City is how far away it is. It'd be one thing if it was close to the border, but it's all the way in Southern Mexico.

The nearest NHL city to it is Dallas which is 1100+ miles away.

 

[member 157595]

That can be applied to the Coyotes franchise or expansion as a whole.

IMO it's not exactly the same thing, because broadening a current team's demographic does not generally come at anyone else's expense, while expansion as a whole may involve the inclusion of one or more markets at the expense of other candidates.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

TL;DR - winning seems to transcend everything else in Arizona.

When I moved to AZ in 94 the NFL Cardinals had been here for 6 years already, but the area was still Dallas Cowboys country, big time (Cowboys @ Cardinals was like Red Wings or Blackhawks @ Coyotes ). It took a good 20 years, plus years of Cowboy mediocrity, plus Cardinals finally being worth cheering for (largely due to a genuine good-guy future hall-of-famer in Larry Fitzgerald), plus moving from sizzling ASU Sun Devil Stadium to climate-controlled State Farm Stadium for the NFL fan base here to finally turn in the red birds's favor. Which they have rewarded by reverting to form the last couple of years, but there's hope now. I live in the middle of a fairly heavily hispanic part of town (central Chandler), and you see a lot more Cardinal logos on their big pickup trucks than you used to.

 

[awfulwaffle]

When I moved to AZ in 94 the NFL Cardinals had been here for 6 years already, but the area was still Dallas Cowboys country, big time (Cowboys @ Cardinals was like Red Wings or Blackhawks @ Coyotes ). It took a good 20 years, plus years of Cowboy mediocrity, plus Cardinals finally being worth cheering for (largely due to a genuine good-guy future hall-of-famer in Larry Fitzgerald), plus moving from sizzling ASU Sun Devil Stadium to climate-controlled State Farm Stadium for the NFL fan base here to finally turn in the red birds's favor. Which they have rewarded by reverting to form the last couple of years, but there's hope now. I live in the middle of a fairly heavily hispanic part of town (central Chandler), and you see a lot more Cardinal logos on their big pickup trucks than you used to.

I remember growing up as a kid when they played at sun devil stadium, the only team they would make the field look good for was when they played the cowboys. I went to a Redskins cardinals game, there was maybe 15,000 people there, probably being generous. This isn't a coyotes issue, it's a phoenix issue. Look at the dbacks when the cubs come to town.

 

[aqib]

As posted in other thread, the entire league is starting Spanish language coverage this season.

A few teams (San Jose, Vegas, among others) already have Spanish pxp (at least for radio, sometimes SAP).

I vaguely recall the Panthers having a Spanish language radio broadcast at first

 

[Dirty Old Man]

I remember growing up as a kid when they played at sun devil stadium, the only team they would make the field look good for was when they played the cowboys. I went to a Redskins cardinals game, there was maybe 15,000 people there, probably being generous. This isn't a coyotes issue, it's a phoenix issue. Look at the dbacks when the cubs come to town.

And the Suns. Especially the Suns. The Charles Barkley Suns and the Steve Nash Suns were in both cases a Big Deal, cap B, cap D.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

I can't believe I'm the one bumping the Arizona thread, but here goes...

Hey, @aqib, that Mexico City team might be closer than you think,

Coyotes team president Ahron Cohen said Thursday that he is lobbying the NHL hard to become a part of (the NHL Global) series next season...

Alex Meruelo is the first Hispanic majority owner in the NHL. Cohen believes that presents the Coyotes with a unique opportunity. “The other thing that we’d like to explore, especially with our focus on Hispanic marketing, is Mexico City, but this, of course, needs to fit with the NHL’s global strategic initiatives,” Cohen said. “They’re going to hear from me and know we want to be playing there because it would be a great way to connect with fans in Mexico.”

(paywall) Neutral Zone: An unwanted start, plans for Hayton and...

 

[TheLegend]

I can't believe I'm the one bumping the Arizona thread, but here goes...

Hey, @aqib, that Mexico City team might be closer than you think,



(paywall) Neutral Zone: An unwanted start, plans for Hayton and...

First...... SHAME ON YOU for bumping!!!


Second.... I hadn’t seen that article yet. But I know a small group of citizens out on social media from a French speaking provence who have been hysterically casting their version of shade over the notion of the Coyotes tapping into the Hispanic market.

But it makes sense to reach out beyond the Arizona borders.

 

[aqib]

I can't believe I'm the one bumping the Arizona thread, but here goes...

Hey, @aqib, that Mexico City team might be closer than you think,



(paywall) Neutral Zone: An unwanted start, plans for Hayton and...

Haha its amazing to me that no one gets the sarcasm behind my Mexico City line...

 

[TheLegend]

Haha its amazing to me that no one gets the sarcasm behind my Mexico City line...

Or that the sarcasm seriously backfired???

 

[Dirty Old Man]

Or that the sarcasm seriously backfired???

Yeah, we get all the reasons you've said that over the years. Wasn't funny or relevant then and isn't now. Short sighted and reactionary? Yes.

 

[TheLegend]

Coyotes create first Hispanic Advisory Board.

GLENDALE, ARIZONA --- In an effort to improve relations with the Latino community in the Valley, the Arizona Coyotes announced today the formation of the club's Hispanic Advisory Board. The board will be led by Coyotes Majority Owner, Chairman and Governor Alex Meruelo, who became the first Hispanic majority owner of an NHL team on July 29, 2019.

"We are very fortunate to have Mr. Meruelo as the first Hispanic owner of an NHL team," said Coyotes President & CEO Ahron Cohen. "We finally have the right person in place to connect with the Hispanic community and build a genuine relationship. I'm very proud of the board we've assembled and look forward to working with these great business leaders to develop authentic strategies for reaching out to the Latino community. Our primary focus will be to earn their trust and get more people excited about our team and our great game."

Joining Mr. Meruelo on the Arizona Coyotes Hispanic Advisory Board are Coyotes' President & CEO Ahron Cohen, and community leaders from the Phoenix area, Northern Arizona, and Southern Arizona. The current board is comprised of members from organizations including Chicanos Por La Causa, the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, iHeartMedia, Visit Tucson, Valle de Sol, Univision, and City of Tucson Council Member Regina Romero.

Given the makeup of the council this effort is state wide.

 

[PredsHead]

I know its still very early but its nice to see the Coyotes drawing over 15,000 a game on average. I believe both the Saturday games have sold out and there were around 13,000 for the weekday games which really isn't bad.

 

[awfulwaffle]

I know its still very early but its nice to see the Coyotes drawing over 15,000 a game on average. I believe both the Saturday games have sold out and there were around 13,000 for the weekday games which really isn't bad.

I commented on this in the arizona forum. The front office and management have done a bang up job. Cohen is a god send. But we always draw better on weekends because.....well, arena location. 34% of our remaining games(including tonight) are on weekends. I'm not saying they will be sellouts. But it was nice to see that both our games against vegas and Nashville, which were on Thursdays, had 13k+ and both over 80% capacity. It's just a matter of the team being successful. When we were in the hunt last year, the Minnesota wild game in particular in the afternoon was a madhouse. This hot start, will only help the buzz and attendance. That's all it is. Coyotes fans haven't had a lot to cheer for in a while. We finally have a solid owner with money that cares, and he came in at a time when the team was set up to succeed by GMJC. Our new owner helping to get Kessel, by god, it propelled the belief in the fans here. As long as the team keeps playing well, the fans will show up. But again, that's like any fan base.

 

[PredsHead]

I commented on this in the arizona forum. The front office and management have done a bang up job. Cohen is a god send. But we always draw better on weekends because.....well, arena location. 34% of our remaining games(including tonight) are on weekends. I'm not saying they will be sellouts. But it was nice to see that both our games against vegas and Nashville, which were on Thursdays, had 13k+ and both over 80% capacity. It's just a matter of the team being successful. When we were in the hunt last year, the Minnesota wild game in particular in the afternoon was a madhouse. This hot start, will only help the buzz and attendance. That's all it is. Coyotes fans haven't had a lot to cheer for in a while. We finally have a solid owner with money that cares, and he came in at a time when the team was set up to succeed by GMJC. Our new owner helping to get Kessel, by god, it propelled the belief in the fans here. As long as the team keeps playing well, the fans will show up. But again, that's like any fan base.

Absolutely, really interested to see how they are able to draw over the whole season but at least the first few weeks have them heading in the right direction. You have to really start giving credit to the job that Cohen has done, and to Meruelo for recognizing that and not wanting everything to be about him and his status. Meruelo could have easily came in spouting about how much different everything is and all the changes he will make, but that is not the tactic he took and I think it was probably pretty wise. Let this year be a "prove it" year for all parties, the players, the fans, the coaches, the front office, the marketing people, everyone even for Meruelo himself. Then when once he has a better idea of what to expect from the others he can start to make any necessary changes and plan for how he wants his franchise to look going forward.

 

[awfulwaffle]

Absolutely, really interested to see how they are able to draw over the whole season but at least the first few weeks have them heading in the right direction. You have to really start giving credit to the job that Cohen has done, and to Meruelo for recognizing that and not wanting everything to be about him and his status. Meruelo could have easily came in spouting about how much different everything is and all the changes he will make, but that is not the tactic he took and I think it was probably pretty wise. Let this year be a "prove it" year for all parties, the players, the fans, the coaches, the front office, the marketing people, everyone even for Meruelo himself. Then when once he has a better idea of what to expect from the others he can start to make any necessary changes and plan for how he wants his franchise to look going forward.

The way it should be. He's a successful businessman. He did dive into the deep end starting the Hispanic market outreach. But beyond that, I'm looking forward to what him and his associates, that have been successful, have in plan down the road to just keep improving the situation here in the desert.

 

[TheLegend]

I know its still very early but its nice to see the Coyotes drawing over 15,000 a game on average. I believe both the Saturday games have sold out and there were around 13,000 for the weekday games which really isn't bad.

Saturday was officially a sellout but there were quite a few resale tickets out there. So expect the empty seat picture crowd to chime in.

Coyotes began selling a weekender package last year and it did so well that they ran it again this year. Right after Phil Kessel was signed the sales jumped on that package. Last I’d read sales of that package were double over the previous season.

Next home game is against the Habs on October 30th which is historically a horrible date for attendance (due to Halloween the next night). So we’ll see how it goes.

 

[Ernie]

Coyotes attendance at 14,322 avg per game so far, first time it's been above 14,000 since the bankruptcy mess unfolded a decade ago.

Any reasons for this increase? New ownership, better team?

 

[CoyoteUgly]

Coyotes attendance at 14,322 avg per game so far, first time it's been above 14,000 since the bankruptcy mess unfolded a decade ago.

Any reasons for this increase? New ownership, better team?

winning

 

[GuelphStormer]

Coyotes attendance at 14,322 avg per game so far, first time it's been above 14,000 since the bankruptcy mess unfolded a decade ago.

Any reasons for this increase? New ownership, better team?

folks have been chatting about Meruelo's outreach to the Hispanic community. does anyone know if this has been successful? are there more Hispanics attending games? who is buying these seats?

 

[Llama19]

folks have been chatting about Meruelo's outreach to the Hispanic community. does anyone know if this has been successful? are there more Hispanics attending games? who is buying these seats?

Winning, and some of the opponents draws, have had something to do the higher average...
so averages can be deceiving due to the bundling of games and promotional events...
but the one promotional night for the Hispanic outreach...Noche De Los Yotes...
was the lowest attended at 12,115 (70.7%)...

 

[Ernie]

I believe that average attendance across the NHL usually rises as the season progresses due to less competition from the NFL etc.

Has this been the case for the Coyotes?

I see that there have been 3 sellouts so far this year, compared to just one at this time last year.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

folks have been chatting about Meruelo's outreach to the Hispanic community. does anyone know if this has been successful? are there more Hispanics attending games? who is buying these seats?

We can't know how these efforts have been working until at least couple more years. its a slow process.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Any reasons for this increase? New ownership, better team?

winning

All of these, with winning probably being the top reason.

But you also can't discount the fact that people are a little less scared to buy tickets now that the team looks like it's staying put.