But now Pandora's box has been opened and GWI can still get on the horn to find some aggrieved firm to come up with their numbers and discuss that even with overhead it still costs this much. And you're going to tell me a witness from a Livenation or some other outfit would not be qualified or ultra persuasive.
The city has to think of these evidentiary issues strongly before they jack up a tab.
Even so, if they perhaps were an aggrieved bidder who put in and obviously can be extremely persuasive for artists and events, GWI can cause serious problems... add in if the judge is a resident and potentially sympathetic...this could get nasty.
Even a non-bidder who could march in as an expert.
This could be like a rest stop named the crap bar for the **** show this will be
I don't think that a bidder for the arena management RFP will be all that relevant. The language of the RFP makes it very clear that it can be amended, cancelled, etc. a the discretion of the COG. An agreement with the Coyotes is qualitatively (and quantitatively) different from an arena management deal without the Coyotes - Apples and Oranges.
However, I think that the clear details about the actual cost of managing the arena will make it difficult to negotiate an AMF much above $6 million without being in clear violation of the gift clause. Perhaps the GWI has no more interest in this, but if anything their position would be stronger than ever, particularly with the dire financial situation of the COG.
Beyond that, there will be some real losers in the budget process if the COG carves out several more millions annually to pay the AMF for the Coyotes. It seems highly likely that any lease would face another petition to put it to a referendum, and it seems possible that it won't be a single old man taking this on.
Since either a credible legal challenge or the prospect of a petition would cast doubt on the lease and likely create an untenable delay, I can see the NHL requiring the following commitments from the COG.
1) A lease agreement with a generous AMF, as has been noted in several media reports.
2) Approval of the lease as an Emergency Ordinance, which would require 5/7 votes from city council. This would be to deal with the potential uncertainty/delay that a petition would have created.
3) Some assurance from the GWI that they'll leave this alone.
Perhaps they would forego #3, but I am not so sure that the COG wants to tangle with the GWI, if only for the political ramifications of having to publicly defend a deal while dealing with a mess of a budget and substantial service cuts.
I think that this has been exactly the NHL's end game since Jamison failed. Leaving this until this late was "brinksmanship", to create a sense of urgency in negotiations, and so that any unpleasant alternatives (such as relocation) can happen quickly. It helps that it is the off-season, and that the Coyotes weren't nearly as much of a story in a shortened and less successful season.
I still think that things might work out in Glendale, assuming that city council members just won't be able to deliver the final blow to the Coyotes. The NHL is certainly hoping for that. If they don't agree to the NHL's terms, it will be interesting to see how various factions assess blame. I would put it largely on the shoulders of Bettman and the NHL, who will have taken the COG for a harrowing ride. It's been shameful every step of the way.
ya, it should be. Im guessin here, but Id imagine Gary Bettman's strategy is to circumvent & render moot, eliminate the need to open up those envelopes containing the bids altogether. Convince Glendale to send them all back still sealed: "silly RFP". None the wiser.... Then, once again over-promising and never delivering on an actual owner. His left arm propping up Le Blanc, his right Gosbee, a master of ventriloquism speaking outta both sides of his mouth while drinking water, lips not moving. Yes, Id pay folding money to be privy to that show. That episode with the Jamison press conference singular, imagine it with not one but two Dummies? Like Edgar Bergen with twinned Charlie McCarthy's. Ed Sullivan Show. Daly doing his Topo Gigio impressions.
