CXLVIII - NHL BOG approves sale and relocation of Coyotes to Ryan Smith, league announces establishment of franchise in Utah

[rsteen]

If they keep the management in place I think the Draft would go smoothly... everything else? Yeah... going to take a lot of work within a few short months.

Bill Armstrong and his staff probably just need to pick out their matching suits for this year.

 

[TheLegend]

A week ago you were sure this wouldn't be an issue.

A week ago I said it was something they were looking into. Do try to keep up.

 

[rojac]

I wonder if the request from SEG in late January to formally open the expansion request marks the formal beginning of work on the deal. I'm speculating here that the formal request opened certain avenues for the NHL to work with SEG.

In any event, my guess is that SEG has been quietly preparing for this for months if not back to last spring when it seemed clear that there was mutual interest b3ween the NHL and SEG. In fact, I suspect the relocation of Coyotes was part of the discussion almost the beginning.

 

[dj4aces]

The $2B was just a number they threw out there.

It's also a figure "someone connected to ownership" allegedly told Allan Walsh, who mentioned it the other day on the Agent Provocateur podcast.

 

[rojac]

It's also a figure "someone connected to ownership" allegedly told Allan Walsh, who mentioned it the other day on the Agent Provocateur podcast.

I wonder if that $2B could be a future goal. For example, if they are looking at going to 36 teams, maybe they're picturing the expansion fee going up for each team. That is, 1.25B for team 33, 1.5B for team 34: 1.75B for team 35: and 2B for team 36.

 

[dj4aces]

I wonder if that $2B could be a future goal. For example, if they are looking at going to 36 teams, maybe they're picturing the expansion fee going up for each team. That is, 1.25B for team 33, 1.5B for team 34: 1.75B for team 35: and 2B for team 36.

I suppose it's possible. At this point, I think $2bn is going to be a way to "soft cap" the league, because at that point, they're pricing themselves out of other markets that may want a team, especially if that $2bn figure is adjusted for inflation over time.

 

[PredsHead]

One thing I have been thinking about is what were the Arizona player's agents were telling their clients the last few months? Bettman, Gutierrez and Walsh were all saying before the start of the season that they needed an answer to the arena issue by mid-season. Once that didn't happen you have to think the agents knew this was at least a real option. Did some players have a better idea of what was happening than others based off who their agent is?

 

[PredsHead]

 

[Fenway]

Another casualty of this is Vegas loses a big part of its TV network

Vegas Golden Knights Schedule | Utah 16

Utah 16 is your new one-stop shop for local and national news, TV entertainment, and sports in Utah including the Vegas Golden Knights.

utah16.com

 

[Yukon Joe]

So I was listening to the most recent 32 Thoughts Podcast, which did a bit on moving to Utah.

What struck me though was that now that this is in the open Friedman several times said that Alex Meruelo was a "bad" owner, but he didn't really elaborate on that. The one thing he did say was that players did feel deceived because Meuelo and Guttierez kept talking up this land auction even after they were negotiations with Ryan Smith.

I also heard something similar from Edmonton Sports Talk - that AM was not a good owner.

Can anyone elaborate?

 

[GKJ]

So I was listening to the most recent 32 Thoughts Podcast, which did a bit on moving to Utah.

What struck me though was that now that this is in the open Friedman several times said that Alex Meruelo was a "bad" owner, but he didn't really elaborate on that. The one thing he did say was that players did feel deceived because Meuelo and Guttierez kept talking up this land auction even after they were negotiations with Ryan Smith.

I also heard something similar from Edmonton Sports Talk - that AM was not a good owner.

Can anyone elaborate?

Went through this in detail earlier, in this thread

 

[Ernie]

Another casualty of this is Vegas loses a big part of its TV network

Vegas Golden Knights Schedule | Utah 16

Utah 16 is your new one-stop shop for local and national news, TV entertainment, and sports in Utah including the Vegas Golden Knights.

utah16.com

That's interesting, do they receive any compensation?

 

[Lions67]

A week ago I said it was something they were looking into. Do try to keep up.

If you are the fan I think ( know ) you are, then this is absolutely killing you.
Yet here you are still talking rationally without emotion while guys like Ernie are roasting you over coals.
Takes a special person to take all that and still keep yourself calm and cool.
I tip my hat to you, because I couldn’t do it. Pretty sure you know that about me lol
I hope you stick around
And you have my condolences on the relocation.
I’m super glad it’s happening, but it’s a tad bittersweet to see fans like you take the hit.

 

[Yukon Joe]

That's interesting, do they receive any compensation?

Well the obvious question would be who gets to be the "local" team in Arizona now.

That being said I don't think regional TV rights are worth as much as they used to be - even more so regional rights for areas not really in your region (like Utah would be for Vegas).

 

[Ernie]

Well the obvious question would be who gets to be the "local" team in Arizona now.

That being said I don't think regional TV rights are worth as much as they used to be - even more so regional rights for areas not really in your region (like Utah would be for Vegas).

Yeah I guess it depends on the location. Like regional broadcasting rights for Quebec City would be a huge loss for the Canadiens if that ever came to pass.

 

[GKJ]

 

[KevFu]

I think they have to keep management in place. The Jets changed out management but they had the management team from the Moose they just swapped them in. Smith doesn't have a hockey org in hand, plus the Coyotes front office seems to be doing a good job so there wouldn't be a reason to get rid of them.

Ticket sales and marketing will be a bigger challenge for Smith vs TNSE because the arena was already a full time hockey venue

. and they already had a list of Moose season ticket holders/sponsors/suite holders. Sure Smith has the Jazz customers but its not going to have the same cross over list.

I have a feeling marketing of tickets won't be a big deal. The market is already thrilled with the rumours of the yotes moving - it's also a winter sports town too. But regardless of that information they also can provide offers to Jazz Season seat holders like other teams have done with PSLs.

You really need to divide the organization into thirds.


The Jets had the Moose organization, but Smith has the SEG organization doing all kinds of things for both the Utah Jazz and Real Salt Lake teams.

The executive part of the organization, the decision makers. That switches from AM to Smith at the top, and the hockey GM and some other key people join from ARZ.

You have the Arizona Coyotes hockey operations. They're fine. That's the GM, scouts, players. They're getting ready for the draft. No big deal. Their bosses are now SEG in Salt Lake instead of AM in Phoenix.

You have the Game Day operations, like tickets and marketing.
The Arizona group is split: Some stay put (reassigned to the Roadrunners either in Tucson or if they move to Tempe) and others get hired by Smith.

Those hired by Smith supplement the Utah Jazz/Real Salt Lake Game Day operations staff. Which have a third team to sell tickets for; but they have people and systems in place to sell tickets at two venues.

The big deal here is the marketing/branding responsibility to create a hockey team brand in such a short time.

 

[Melrose Munch]

This should be done shortly, so Meruelo can sell the Roadrunners and move one.

 

[JKG33]

I think they have to keep management in place. The Jets changed out management but they had the management team from the Moose they just swapped them in. Smith doesn't have a hockey org in hand, plus the Coyotes front office seems to be doing a good job so there wouldn't be a reason to get rid of them.

Ticket sales and marketing will be a bigger challenge for Smith vs TNSE because the arena was already a full time hockey venue. and they already had a list of Moose season ticket holders/sponsors/suite holders. Sure Smith has the Jazz customers but its not going to have the same cross over list.

Cheveldayoff was outside both the Moose and Thrashers organizations, coming from the Blackhawks. But really not much different than any team changing GMs after the season before the draft.

If they keep the management in place I think the Draft would go smoothly... everything else? Yeah... going to take a lot of work within a few short months.

Yea the hockey ops part, if it sees minimal changes will be buisness as usual. If there are changes, it's no different than any other team bringing in new management.

The rest of the stuff beyond getting the arena ready isn't that serious either. Worst case they play a season without a name. But if I remember right TNSE pivoted to the Jets at the last minute, and still had branding ready in time for the season.

 

[JKG33]

Another casualty of this is Vegas loses a big part of its TV network

Vegas Golden Knights Schedule | Utah 16

Utah 16 is your new one-stop shop for local and national news, TV entertainment, and sports in Utah including the Vegas Golden Knights.

utah16.com

Would they not gain Arizona instead? Seems like a win for the Knights.

Plus Utah was predominantly Avs and Kings fans anyway

 

[madhi19]

So I was listening to the most recent 32 Thoughts Podcast, which did a bit on moving to Utah.

What struck me though was that now that this is in the open Friedman several times said that Alex Meruelo was a "bad" owner, but he didn't really elaborate on that. The one thing he did say was that players did feel deceived because Meuelo and Guttierez kept talking up this land auction even after they were negotiations with Ryan Smith.

I also heard something similar from Edmonton Sports Talk - that AM was not a good owner.

Can anyone elaborate?

The reason they gave the exclusive reactivation window to a guy who is more trouble than he might be worth is the fear of litigation. The NHL has too many skeletons in the Coyotes closets to go into discovery... Again. They likely don't believe he get anything build in five years. Or meet milestones even before that window is over. So it's a face saving, grease the wheels gesture that everybody expect will be forgotten in short order.

 

[rojac]

That's interesting, do they receive any compensation?

It's possible that SEG agrees to share Utah with Vegas, but that may be unlikely. SEG may want exclusive rights in their home state.

In any event, with Arizona moving to Utah, I miagime the Knights will have Arizona added to their TV territory, maybe New Mexico as well.

 

[GKJ]

This should be done shortly, so Meruelo can sell the Roadrunners and move one.

One of the things that came up on the Jeff Marek Show is that in order for Meruelo to own a sportsbook in Arizona, he has to own a pro sports team. So he may be incentivized there. Though, the sportsbook stinks.

He won’t sell the Roadrunners until after losing the auction.

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

If I were the city of Phoenix, I'd pull the auction altogether after the announcement.

 

[DustyDangler]

One of the things that came up on the Jeff Marek Show is that in order for Meruelo to own a sportsbook in Arizona, he has to own a pro sports team. So he may be incentivized there. Though, the sportsbook stinks.

He won’t sell the Roadrunners until after losing the auction.

He does not intend to sell the Roadrunners from the sound of it. It would appear he wants to screw over Tucson as well.

What is the Roadrunners future in Arizona?

Alex Meruelo will maintain ownership of the Tucson Roadrunners after the sale of the Coyotes to Ryan Smith, with the Roadrunners continuing to serve as the

gophnx.com