Things are looking even worse for the debt-ridden Phoenix Coyotes, as they’ve reportedly taken an advance on league revenue from the NHL after pledging virtually all of the team’s other revenues as collateral on an $80 million loan. And it looks like the team is even closer to asking its public landlords for a bailout, according to the Globe and Mail:
A third source said the Coyotes have already approached the city of Glendale about renegotiating their 30-year lease at Jobing.com Arena. While the lease does give the team most of the revenue from the arena operations, there are items such as parking in which the city takes money from the Coyotes.
The only way the team can break its lease and relocate is by declaring bankruptcy.
Let this be a reminder to cities considering building arenas in exchange for “ironclad” agreements that the team won’t move: It’s always possible to play the threat card, lease or no lease.
I must not have noticed the city taking parking money away from the Coyotes. That part of the article did give me quite a laugh though!
Parking has been free ever since the Westgate complex opened. My understanding is that they can’t charge for parking because it would put all the shops and restaurants out of business. Since parking is free virtually everywhere in the Valley, it’s hard to imagine anyone paying to park at a movie or restaurant simply because the “Ice Cardinals” play nearby. If Mayor Scruggs had come up with a way to charge for parking without affecting the other businesses, you can rest assured that she would have done it a long time ago.
Just as a man shouldn’t trust a woman who left her husband to be with him, no city should trust a franchise that left another city for it.
Maybe they can move the Coyotes back to Winnipeg.
For the 475279th time, Winnipeg’s days as an NHL city are history.